In July 1941 Boetticher joined the Waffen-SS, where he made it as far as Unterscharführer. Since 1940 he was co-author of the Lexikon der Juden in der Musik. In 1942 he was promoted to Reichshauptstellenleiter of the ERR, and from 1944 he worked as a private lecturer in Berlin. In 1943 he was awarded the Robert Schumann Prize of the City of Zwickau.
