For reason of being a German, she was sent to the Gurs internment camp in France, from which she was finally released with the help of fellow dancer Marcel Neydorf.
[3] Regarded as a potential enemy alien in the United States, she was initially interned in Fort Howard until she was granted refugee status.
[3] She moved to New York, married Edgar Trier and supported herself in the United States as a dancer, acrobat, and most notably a roller-skating contortionist.
[1] According to second-generation master teacher Jillian Hessel, Trier was "the first person to open a studio with Joe Pilates' blessing".
[3] Trier later furthered her anatomical knowledge at New York City’s Lenox Hill Hospital, where she aided Dr. Henry Jordan with patient rehabilitation and research.