René Lagrou (15 April 1904 – 1 April 1969) was a Belgian politician and collaborator with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

Pre-occupation

Lagrou was born in Blankenberge in

West Flanders West Flanders is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the North Sea to the northwest. It has land borders with the Dutch province of Zeeland to the northeast, the Flemis ...

, Belgium, and worked as a lawyer in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

. Lagrou first came to prominence as a member of the Flemish National Union.David Littlejohn, '' The Patriotic Traitors'', London: Heinemann, 1972, p. 155 He published his own journal ''Roeland'', which became increasingly

anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

following

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

's rise to power.

German occupation, and capture

Following the German occupation of Belgium in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Lagrou, along with Ward Hermans, founded the extremist '' Algemeene-SS Vlaanderen'' (from 1942, the ''Germaansche SS in Vlaanderen''), a Flemish political faction supported by the SS. Lagrou saw action with the

Waffen SS The (; ) was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both German-occupied Europe and unoccupied lands. ...

on the Eastern Front and some initial reports erroneously suggested that he had died in battle. However Lagrou survived and was captured by the Allies in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

but managed to escape to

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

Uki Goñi Uki Goñi (born 17 October 1953) is an Argentine author. His research focuses on the role of the Vatican, Swiss authorities and the government of Argentina in organizing " ratlines"—escape routes for Nazi criminals and collaborators. Perso ...

, ''The Real ODESSA'', London: Granta Books, 2003, p. 112

In exile, ratlines, and death

In May 1946 his was one of three names on a 'black list' sent by the government of Belgium to Spain where he was in hiding, along with Léon Degrelle and Pierre Daye. Soon after he was condemned to death ''in absentia'' by the war crimes tribunal in

. With the possibility of

extradition In an extradition, one Jurisdiction (area), jurisdiction delivers a person Suspect, accused or Conviction, convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforc ...

from Spain looming, Lagrou arrived in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in July 1947 and adopted the false name Reinaldo van Groede. Here he became a leading figure in the ratlines sponsored by

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...

to rescue Nazis from prosecution in Europe.Goñi, ''The Real ODESSA'', p. 113 Given wide powers within the immigration service in Argentina, Lagrou drew up ambitious plans to move as many as 2 million people from Belgium, all either Nazi collaborators or their families. He was also a member of the Rodolfo Freude-led División de Informaciones and in this capacity initiated the cases for resettlement for a number of Nazis.Goñi, ''The Real ODESSA'', p. 175 Lagrou died from cancer in Barcelona, Spain on 1 April 1969.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lagrou, Rene 1904 births 1969 deaths 20th-century Belgian criminals Belgian emigrants to Argentina Flemish lawyers Flemish politicians Belgian Nazi propagandists Belgian expatriates in Argentina Belgian expatriates in Spain Nazis who fled to Spain People from West Flanders Belgian prisoners sentenced to death Belgian Waffen-SS personnel Deaths from cancer in Spain Nazis sentenced to death in absentia by Belgium