In the spring of 1938, Nazi Germany annexed Austria. At the time the von Trapps were so popular they were actually asked to perform at Hitler’s birthday celebration, but because of their disdain for the Nazi party, the family declined. George von Trapp even refused to hang the Nazi flag on their home, a decision which was potentially dangerous.
Paranoia set in as neighbor began spying on neighbor, and Nazi anti-religious propaganda ran rampant, causing children to turn on their parents. The von Trapps had a hard time accepting the harsh reality of what the Nazis were doing to their country.
Opposites Attract
Another difference between the Hollywood version and the real story are Georg and Maria’s temperaments. The film shows Georg as the stern and distant Captain, but in fact he was a warm and loving father to his children and spent a lot of his time doing things with them. Maria, who in the film was warm and fuzzy, actually had a more volatile personality.
Maria, the second eldest daughter, in an interview from 2003, remarked that her stepmother “had a terrible temper… And from one moment to the next, you didn’t know what hit her. We were not used to this. But we took it like a thunderstorm that would pass, because the next minute she could be very nice.”
Maria Took Charge
When Maria joined the family, she made a lot of changes to the von Trapp household, and that’s without counting her angry outbursts or door slamming. She took charge of the family finances and let all of the household staff go. She also decided to take in boarders for extra income. This was actually a smart idea, because there was a worldwide depression at the time, and the bank where the von Trapps kept their fortune had collapsed, leaving them in dire financial straits.
As another source of income, the family started singing professionally. After their first prize win at the music festival, they booked performances all over Europe.
Nazi Recruitment Efforts
The Nazis made every effort to keep the von Trapps in Austria. They offered to make their singing troupe even more famous and to give Georg a position in their naval fleet working with submarines. They went so far as to offer to send one of the children to medical school. These were tempting offers, but in the end, George decided he could not support the Nazi regime and the family decided to leave Austria.
Their method of getting out wasn’t quite as dramatic as the movie made it out to be and definitely did not include walking across the Alps with all their belongings. So how did they really do it?
The Not So Great Escape
Maria the daughter told the story to Opera News in 2003, “We did tell people that we were going to America to sing. And we did not climb over mountains with all our heavy suitcases and instruments. We left by train, pretending nothing.” The von Trapps, their secretary and their musical director traveled to Italy by train, where they purchased tickets to America.
Then they made their way to London and quickly boarded a ship heading for New York. After their arrival, they had a concert tour in Pennsylvania planned. What did the von Trapps think of America and how was their life after they arrived?