Mystery of bloodied and bruised 'lost German girl' following Nazi surrender sparks host of wild theories
For years, ever since footage appeared in TV documentaries and online, the identity and fate of the so-called 'Lost German Girl' has proved captivating.
Dressed in a nondescript dark uniform, she had a swollen face from a possible savage beating, the woman was seen walking on a road in liberated Czechoslovakia, which was split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.
The date was May 7, 1945, the same day that Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies after the suicide of Adolf Hitler in his Berlin bunker.
As captured German troops fled in the opposite direction of Russian soldiers, the U.S. Army was at hand to witness the chaos.
The footage featuring the woman was shot by U.S. Army captain Oren W Haglund on a road towards Pilsen, around 50 miles from Prague.
Lost German Girl, also known as LGG, inspired works of art, poems, guitar compositions, and even an entire blog dedicated to tracking her down.
But even almost 20 years on from the first attempt by Internet sleuths to find her, the identity and fate of the featured woman remained a mystery.
Some claimed she was as described by Captain Haglund in the footage's original short cards an 'SS girl'.
Others said she was an innocent victim of the wave of mass rape that advancing Russian troops inflicted on hundreds of thousands of women.
However, no definitive proof of either her identity or what happened to her had ever emerged.
Captain Haglund's clip, 25 minutes of which could be found on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's website, started by showing captured Germans, including fresh-faced teenagers, as they milled around while being guarded by American troops.
Some ate, while others sat on the grass in the rural area.
Later, the film showed locals cheering and waving white handkerchiefs before more German troops were seen, marching under guard.
When the recording took a darker turn, there were scenes of dead and gravely wounded Germans strewn around.
What exactly happened to them remained unclear, but the scenes of death and grave injury were not the reason Captain Haglund's clip took the Internet by storm.
Just over 17 minutes into the clip, Haglund's camera settled on the 'Lost German Girl' as she swept her matted hair to the side to reveal more of her swollen black eye.
Grouped: The woman's shown again sat with a group of male captives, holding what appears to be a cloth in her hands and she half-smiled as she spoke, despite her battered appearance
It's known that 'Lost German Girl' had been with Germany's fleeing troops but her nondescript uniform did not give any hint of what role, if any, she had in the military.
There's also no evidence to back up Captain Haglund's description of her as an 'SS girl'. She could have once been a medic, or even an aide.
In the footage, she stared into he camera with one hand in her pocket and the other resting across her chest.
In almost drunken fashion, she stepped forward, still staring intently, and clasps her hand to her swollen eye then tilts her head down, which caused her hair to flop over her face.
The footage then cut again to focus just on her face.
She was then seen holding what appeared to be a deck of cards, and appeared emotional like she was going to cry as the camera remained on her.
As if embarrassed, she moved her head down towards her clasped hands.
The camera then panned down to show the woman's pants and suspenders, which hung around her waist.
Around 40 seconds later, after the footage cut to show a bloodied, half-naked man in a blanket laying on the ground, the woman appeared again.
She was sat amongst a group of male captives, and she held what looked like a cloth.
Despite her battered appearance, she offered a half-smile as she spoke to one of the men.
That's the last we see of the 'Lost German Girl'.
Captain Haglund remained in Germany until the end of the war in Europe.
He was discharged in December 1945 and became a TV production manager.
He died in 1972, aged 66, and he's not known to have commented on or even discussed the 'Lost German Girl' any further.
Some people who saw the footage claimed the woman was named either Lara or Lore Bauer and born in 1921. She was said to have been a helper for the German air force, the Luftwaffe.
Photos of a woman said to be Bauer looked similar to the woman in Captain Haglund's video, but there were no known documents to back up the theory that it was her.
German man Carlos Xander spent almost two years documenting his attempts to find the identity of 'Lost German Girl' on his blog of the same name.
He recounted how the first attempt to trace her in the Internet era was in 2006.
Xander then expanded on the theory that Bauer was the Lost German Girl.
Bauer was allegedly born in Austria in 1921 and was said to have survived the war and gone on to work for U.S. airline Pan Am, retiring in 1985 and passing away in 1994.
The blogger pointed out that there were no records of the described Lore or Lara Bauer in German or Austrian archives.
Xander also recounted a 2013 post from a man who claimed that the Lost German Girl was his grandmother and she was called Mathilde.
Sleuths also traced the road that the woman was filmed walking down - between Pilsen and Rokycany - and they returned to the site to take photos and videos.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
15 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Hitler's last soldier... in the US: How German tank commander evaded FBI for 40 years by building new life as all-American ski instructor after escaping PoW camp at end of WWII
To his friends, his wife and even local newspapers, Dennis Whiles was everything he claimed to be. He was a dashing ski instructor and tennis pro, living it up in California and Hawaii and even mixing with Hollywood film stars. But anyone who had reason to compare an FBI Most Wanted poster issued in 1945 for an escaped German prisoner of war with Whiles's face might have stopped in their tracks. For as Whiles would tearfully admit to his wife in 1984 - nearly 40 years after he had fled an internment camp in New Mexico - he was really Georg Gaertner, a former tank commander in Adolf Hitler's Wehrmacht. As a new Sky History documentary details tonight, Gaertner had built a new life from nothing, even as the federal authorities searched for him and his real family back in what had become Poland felt his absence keenly. The German spent years perfecting an American accent and a back story that his parents' death in a car crash had left him an orphan. But in September 1985, having told his distraught wife, he opted to 'surrender' on prime time NBC TV programme The Today Show. Rather than deport him, US officials decided he had no case to answer and eventually let him become an American citizen. Anyone who had reason to compare an FBI Most Wanted poster issued in 1945 for an escaped German prisoner of war with Whiles's face might have stopped in their tracks Tonight's programme, Greatest Escapes of WWII: Hitler's last soldier in America who defied the FBI for 40 years, recounts his wife Jean's memory of her husband's admission. She said: 'I remember him being in tears, I remember him sitting up on the kitchen counter, and he was sitting there crying and pouring out this story, just like an avalanche, a waterfall coming out, about what had happened. 'He told me the whole story'. Born in Schweidnitz, Lower Silesia (now Świdnica, Poland) in 1920, Gaertner enlisted in the German army in 1940, aged 19. Having been sent to fight with Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps in North Africa, he was captured by British troops in Tunis in 1943. He was then sent to America to be held prisoner at Camp Deming in the town of the same name. By September 1945, weeks after the Second World War had come to an end, Gaertner had decided that he did not want to grapple with the possible fate that awaited him back home. Świdnica was now controlled by the Soviet regime and would remain under the rule of Poland's puppet Communist government for decades to come. It meant that, as a former soldier, he faced arrest, persecution and even death. So on September 22, Gaertner slipped under the fence of Camp Deming and boarded a freight train to California. He had nothing but the clothes he was wearing. Historian Matt Maclachan says in tonight's programme:'The story of Georg Gartner is almost the antithesis of the escape story. 'A man who was doing everything he could to stay in the country.' The expert adds: 'He had seen the opportunities that America presented for a better life, and he simply didn't want to go home'. Gaertner's first year on the run was perhaps his worst. He needed to make a living without revealing his real identity. And his spoken English was by no means perfect. The FBI's Wanted poster included front-facing and side-on shots of Gaertner, plus a full physical description and scans of his finger prints. So the former soldier kept his head down, finding work as a dishwasher and gardener. Then, after getting a job as an architectural consultant in the construction industry, he assumed the identity of Dennis F. Whiles and perfected his English. In the winter, he worked as a ski instructor in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The fact that the authorities were still looking for Gaertner and dozens of other escaped German prisoners did not deter him doing things that would get him noticed. In 1952, a huge blizzard left a train stranded. Gaertner was among those who took food, medicine and hot drinks to its stranded passengers. He became a local hero, with his photo featuring in the newspapers. But, remarkably, he was not recognised. Then, the following year, Gaertner was flicking through Colliers, a popular national magazine, when he saw a feature about German soldiers who had managed to hide themselves in America. He was stunned to see that his mugshot was among the photos. But again, he remained undetected. Worse was to come when he bumped into a fellow former German soldier who recognised him from North Africa. Remarkably, Gaertner managed to bluff his way out by insisting that he was not who the man thought he was. In 1964, the German met his future wife. Once married, he and Jean set up a tennis centre in Santa Cruz, California, and then moved to Hawaii. Gaertner even played doubles with film stars including Lloyd Bridges. But his wife began to have suspicions about his past, which were fuelled by Gaertner's refusal to expand on his backstory. Historian Kate Vigurs says in tonight's show: 'She knew nothing at all about her husband's past. 'He had no childhood, no youth, he didn't tell her anything about his life, basically before he met her. 'This drove her to distraction. She got to the point where she was ready to leave him.' Jean had even tried to find the orphanage where Gaertner claimed he was raised. But she found it did not exist. Knowing that his wife was on the verge of quitting their marriage, Gaertner finally owned up to both his wife and the authorities. Dr Vigurs adds: : 'He was essentially, four decades later, the last German soldier to surrender from the Second World War. And the story went wild. 'A biography was written, Hitler's Last Soldier in America, and finally, he was able to tell the truth.' By then, the US authorities had no interest in Gaertner. He was never charged with an offence because he had been brought to the US against his will. And all German prisoners of war had long since been repatriated. He finally became a US citizen in 2009 and died aged 92 in 2013.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
'Dead' woman, 88, wakes up inside COFFIN after coroner's blunder
It is the stuff of anybody's nightmare - being buried alive. For one 88-year-old, that was nearly a reality after she woke up in a coffin. The elderly woman had appeared unresponsive after her partner could not wake her one morning at their home in Pilsen, Czech Republic. Fearing the worst, he called emergency services who rushed to help the distressed pensioner but a coroner soon declared her dead. As her body was being prepared by funeral workers, the woman suddenly opened her eyes when they placed her in the coffin. The pensioner was then taken to hospital where she is reportedly doing well. Local police have launched an investigation into how the woman could slip through still alive and the coroner is being suspected of failing to offer aid. The company that the coroner belonged to has apologised and insisted there will be consequences. In 2022, another man woke up in a coffin but managed to smash his way out after he was offered as a 'sacrifice to mother earth'. Víctor Hugo Mica Alvarez, 30, had passed out while drinking at the opening of the Mother Earth Festival in El Alto, Bolivia, when he found himself 50 miles away inside a casket in Achacachi. The Mother Earth Festival sees people giving thanks to Pachamama, the goddess of earth and fertility, where they give offerings, also known as a 'sullu', to the planet. Indigenous Bolivians believe the goddess 'opens her mouth' for offerings in August, and many will give anything from live animals to sheep foetuses, as well as cocoa leaves and sweets. Some say ancient human sacrifices and offerings are still carried out in secret. Alvarez believes that other party-goers had buried him alive as a 'sullu', sacrificing him to mother earth. The 30-year-old told local Bolivian news outlet Página Siete: 'Last night was the pre-entry [of the festival], we went dancing. And afterwards I don't remember. 'The only thing I remember is that I thought I was in my bed, I wanted to get up to go urinate and I couldn't move. After passing out the night before following a heavy drinking session at the opening of the Mother Earth Festival, Alvarez found himself 50 miles away inside a casket Indigenous Bolivians believe the goddess 'opens her mouth' for offerings in August, and many will give anything from live animals to sheep foetuses, as well as cocoa leaves and sweets 'When I pushed the coffin, I was able to break a glass that it had and that way I was able to get out.' 'They wanted to use me as a sullu.' But to add insult to injury, when Alvarez reported his burial to police they refused to believe him saying he was too drunk. The offerings to Pachamama continue all year round, with many indigenous people taking part in folk dances and ritual ceremonies.
The Independent
4 days ago
- The Independent
Czech justice minister resigns over a donated bitcoin scandal
Czech Republic Justice Minister Pavel Blažek resigned from his post over a bitcoin-related scandal on Friday. Blažek was under fire from the opposition after his ministry accepted a donation of bitcoins and sold them for about 1 billion Czech koruna (more than $45 million) earlier this year. Blažek said that he wasn't aware of any wrongdoing, but didn't want the four-party coalition government led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala to be harmed by the scandal. Fiala said that he appreciated his resignation and believed that Blažek acted with goodwill. Blažek was a close ally of Fiala in the government, and also in his conservative Civic Democratic Party. It's not clear who might replace him. The issue focused on the fact that the bitcoins were donated to the ministry by a person who was previously convicted of drug dealing and other crimes. The opposition has accused Blažek of possible money laundering, because it wasn't clear where the bitcoins came from. It was also not clear why the person donated the bitcoins to the ministry. The issue has been investigated by the police organized crime unit. The scandal took place just months before the Oct 3-4 parliamentary election. The main opposition ANO (YES) party led by former populist Prime Minister Andrej Babiš is predicted to win the vote.
