One of the fascinating aspects of World War II remains the tens of millions of unique stories. In such an unprecedented situation, with ordinary citizens forced into terrible circumstances, it’s possible to spend a lifetime discovering new and obscure happenings.

An example is with the “Lost German Girl”, the name provided to her during the internet era. She’s become iconic as a mysterious figure wandering alone in a state of disarray.

She’d clearly been attacked, possibly worse, and appeared in a state of shock. You can see from this brief footage below, recorded on 8th of May 1945, near Plzeň in the Czech Republic.

The Internet’s Quest to Identify the Lost German Girl

This footage first appeared in the iconic BBC series The World at War. It’s a brief snippet of only 55 seconds from episode 25, first broadcasted on 1st May 1974. At that point, already almost 30 years after she was filmed. Next month (May 2025) it’ll be 80 years.

What’s struck a lot of people about her is the, unintentionally, modern style she had. Her hair in particular, which wasn’t fastened up in the conservative style women used during that era.

The man who recorded her unexpectedly captured what has become a shocking image of war. Something clearly caught his attention about her and it must have been the stark contrast of one side of her face to the next. In the clip she looks uncertain, dazed, fatigued, and is wearing SS clothes too big for her (suggesting they may not belong to her). In the final frames, she sits on grass by the road and holds a damp cloth/ice pack to her head. Then she smiles.

Many online have said they find the footage haunting.

She was beautiful, which is one of the reasons why there’s been such a big a focus on her—society’s strange obsession with looks and how this can bring out more empathy in people, plus a sharper focus on the history surrounding this woman’s circumstances.

As documented in J. G. Ballard’s Empire of the Sun (1984), the immediate aftermath of WWII ending was hellish. A lawless state, free-for-all battle for survival with mass desperation and starvation. This young woman was one of many thousands of others ambling around, almost listlessly, hoping to find some sort of reprieve.

But there’s also something about the setting. The desolation of the road, a sunny spring day, and her seemingly random place there. She’s at odds with her surroundings. That aligned with her appearance and it creates a disconnect from 1945 to now, as if this could have happened recently.

Given the world’s current political climate, it’s an unpleasant reminder that, in the grand scheme of things, World War II was not a very long time ago.

“SS Girl Walks to Camera”

There have been considerable attempts to work out who the Lost German Girl was. These efforts can be traced back to January 2006.

One story (which appears to have been fabricated) is she was called Lora/Lore Bauer, a young German girl assigned as a Helferin (assistant to the Luftwaffe). It’s claimed after the war she joined Pan Am airlines and lived through to 1994. There’s no hard evidence to support that claim.

But it has led some to believe the picture below is the Lost German Girl.

Another claim is this is her at work. We’re seeing some similarities with both, but none of this is confirmed as an authentic match.

There is one document acknowledging her existence for 100% sure.

What does remain with the footage is the original shot card (describing scene-by-scene of film recorded what was observed). The man who recorded her was an American called Captain Oren W. Haglund. He noted on his shot card:

“MCS ss SS girl walks to camera.”

As dated May 1945.

It’s also possible to locate the exact road where she was on and see it now, 80 years later.

She was on what’s now the 605 road out of Ejpovice as seen on Google Maps. That’s the wonder of modern technology—a bit of research and we could find where she was filmed (click on the below for a closer look).

Yet there’s no proven evidence of who she was and, seeing as this is 80 years later, it will likely remain a mystery.

What we have is a video of a young lady in the chaotic aftermath of WWII, with Germany having surrendered unconditionally on 7th May 1945. The surrender came into effect on the 8th, the day she was filmed.

The shot card from Captain W. Haglund highlights her as “SS girl” and in the two notes below that it states she’s “badly beaten up”. Then:

“VCS on face as she asks for mercy.—panning down to trousers.”

We presume he heard her talking so could claim she was German. There’s no audio with the footage, but she can be seen responding to what must be off-camera questions (a faint smile, a shake of the head). She’s also clutching what were, by then useless, Reichsmarks in her swollen hands.

There could have been various reasons why she was dressed like that. The trousers, for example, are oversized. But due to the available information the immediate theory is she was a far-right Nazi. That once the war ended, she was potentially attacked by Czech citizens seeking vengeance who then forced her out of local towns. Or perhaps she was fleeing the Red Army and was beaten.

From the final frames, it suggests she was picked up by the Americans and would’ve become a POW.

But who she was will likely remain a mystery, which is why the footage is so fascinating.

It’s also upsetting to see someone in that condition. A woman in distress, but we don’t know what happened to her. Whether she was innocent, a Nazi war criminal, or something else. The result is we lean towards an impartial view, which leads to sympathy for her plight.

A vulnerable young woman sporting a painful looking black eye and an uncertain future. That faint smile, in the final section of footage of her ever seen, highlighting she had a fleeting moment of solace.