Fraulein

Foster MacLain, an American prisoner of war, escapes in Cologne near the war’s end and seeks shelter with Professor Julius Angermann. Angermann hides him from German soldiers pursuing him. The fragile shelter sets off a tense dynamic between an American fugitive and a hesitant German intellectual.

Angermann’s daughter Erika is wary of the American fugitive and not welcoming. Nonetheless she hides MacLain from the soldiers as danger closes in. The shelter reveals a clash of loyalties between personal risk and moral duty.

A bomb strikes Angermann’s house, killing the professor and leaving Erika and MacLain to face a new danger. The attack forces Erika to flee and reconfigure her loyalties. The tragedy also removes a crucial ally from MacLain’s side.

Erika travels to Berlin to live with her cousin Karl after the bombing. In the city, Karl’s lodgers, the Graubachs, reveal themselves as fervent Nazis. Erika’s safety becomes precarious as political tensions rise.

Karl’s tenants Fritz and Berta Graubach, outspoken Nazi supporters living with Karl, become a looming threat to Erika. Their unwavering ideology pushes Erika into greater danger as Berlin’s loyalties shift. Erika’s safety hangs on the precarious front lines of the city.

As Soviet forces close in on Berlin, Erika hides in the attic to avoid rape and persecution. Berta betrays Erika to protect herself, prompting a drunken corporal to ascend the stairs and threaten her. Karl is killed while trying to stop him, and Erika is forced onto the roof where a Russian soldier pursues her, only to fall to his death.

Colonel Dmitri Brikett is attracted to Erika and saves her life, though his insistence on a sexual reward complicates their relationship. Erika survives the encounter and continues to navigate the dangerous city. The encounter shifts dynamics and foreshadows future aid from unexpected quarters.

Erika escapes to the American-controlled sector of the city with the help of Lori, a nightclub pianist. In the new zone, she faces new temptations and dangers as she searches for safety. The escape marks a turning point in her situation and introduces the possibility of help from the Americans.

In the American sector, the Graubachs reappear, now claiming to oppose the Nazis but actually running a brothel. They press Erika to stay with them as an employee, and she flees when their true intent becomes clear. They register her as a prostitute with the American authorities, and a kindly Corporal Hanks intervenes to block them.

MacLain uses his wartime networks to locate Erika, who is working in a nightclub. He offers to help her and asks Erika to meet her fiancé Hugo. The emotional reunion complicates his own feelings as she harbors hope for a future.

Erika finds Hugo, now a crippled war veteran living in a makeshift shelter with another woman. He is embittered and resentful about Erika's relationship with an American. He asks for the engagement ring to buy an artificial arm, and Erika gives it to him and leaves.

As MacLain spends time with Erika, he falls in love and proposes marriage. Erika accepts and envisions a life in the United States with him. They face the looming obstacle of her immigration, which hinges on her ability to clear her record.

Erika discovers she would be denied a passport due to her prior registration as a prostitute. In a pivotal moment, Corporal Hanks, the same officer who processed her papers earlier, erases her occupation and issues the necessary documents. Erika can finally start her new life in the United States with MacLain.