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

Pre-occupation

Lagrou was born in

Blankenberge Blankenberge (; french: Blankenberghe; vls, Blanknberge) is a city and a municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Blankenberge proper and the settlement of Uitkerke. On 1 December 2014, Bla ...

in West Flanders, Belgium, and worked as a lawyer in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. 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 (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

following Adolf Hitler's rise to power.

German occupation, and capture

Following the German occupation of Belgium in World War II Lagrou, along with Ward Hermans, founded the extremist ''

Algemeene-SS Vlaanderen The Germanic SS () was the collective name given to paramilitary and political party, political organisations established in parts of German-occupied Europe between 1939 and 1945 under the auspices of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). The units were mod ...

'' (from 1942, the ''Germaansche SS in Vlaanderen''), a Flemish political faction supported by the SS. Lagrou saw action with the Waffen SS 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 but managed to escape to Francoist Spain. Uki Goñi, ''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 Pierre Daye (1892, Schaerbeek, Belgium – 1960, Buenos Aires, Argentina) was a Belgian journalist and Nazi collaborator. As supporter of the Rexist Party, Daye exiled himself to Juan Peron's Argentina after World War II. Biography In Worl ...

. Soon after he was condemned to death ''in absentia'' by the war crimes tribunal in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. With the possibility of extradition from Spain looming, Lagrou arrived in Argentina 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 Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected P ...

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 Nazi propagandists Belgian expatriates in Argentina Belgian expatriates in Spain Belgian propagandists 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