The Trapps fled Austria after the German annexation of Austria, fearing reprisals resulting from declining to sing at Hitler's birthday party and Georg von Trapp's refusal to accept a commission in the German Navy. They went to the United States in 1938, settled in Vermont in 1942, and performed throughout the country. Georg Ritter von Trapp died in 1947 and the family went on performing until 1956; nevertheless, some of the siblings left before the last concert took place on 26 January 1956.