Behind the career of ABBA’s Eurovision-winning star lies a tragic past rooted in a secret Nazi project, leading all the way to the European Court of Human Rights.

Decades after achieving global fame with ABBA and becoming an unforgettable Eurovision icon, the personal and tumultuous story of Anni-Frid Lyngstad has come to light. She was born as a result of a secret Nazi project that fostered a relationship between her Norwegian mother and a German soldier during World War II – making her a target for persecution, isolation, and humiliation in her homeland during her childhood.

Did a Eurovision Star Hide a Nazi Past?

Lyngstad is one of thousands of children born under the “Lebensborn” program – a Nazi initiative aimed at creating a “master race” through relationships between SS soldiers and Scandinavian women. Approximately 12,000 children were born in Norway alone as part of this program, and at the end of the war, they were marked as “children of the enemy.” Many were sent to closed institutions, subjected to experiments, and faced decades of social exclusion.

The Swedish star, born in Norway in 1945, lost her mother at the age of two and was separated from her biological father, whom she met only in her thirties. Later, she was placed in the custody of her grandmother in Sweden. The reunion with her father, Alfred Haase, generated widespread media attention but, in her words, led her into a deep depression – resulting from a belated encounter with a father she never knew.

A Global Fight for Justice – and Shocking Social Consequences

Today, in her seventies, Lyngstad is not only a musical icon but also a symbol of the struggle of the Lebensborn children. Their fight is for recognition, compensation, and justice for those once branded as “little Nazis”. This legal battle represents a group of 122 plaintiffs, who have revealed chilling testimonies of torture, sexual abuse, drug experiments, and systematic neglect by state institutions – often with the encouragement of entities such as the Norwegian military, the University of Oslo, and even the CIA.

From the Eurovision Stage to the Annals of Forgotten History

For many, Lyngstad’s face – once seen on the Eurovision stage in 1974 as part of ABBA performing “Waterloo” – also represents the collective pain that many European governments have tried to conceal. Her story reflects a reality in which a celebrated Eurovision star carries an unhealed scar: a childhood trauma rooted in destructive racial and political policies.

Unlike countries such as Sweden, which opened its doors to children like her, Norway continues to claim these are “historical events that have expired”. Yet the legal struggle is far from over – and the European Court of Human Rights is set to become the next arena.

Eurovision 2025: This was Sweden’s 64th participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Sweden joined the competition in 1958 and has won it seven times over the years. Sweden’s most recent victory was at Eurovision 2023 with the song “Tattoo,” performed by the singer Loreen.