René Lagrou was a Flemish

Flemish people

The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...

-Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 politician and collaborator with Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

. Originating in West Flanders, Lagrou worked as a lawyer in Antwerp.

Lagrou had first came to prominence as a member of the Flemish National Union

Flemish National Union

The Flemish National Union was a Nationalist Flemish political party in Belgium, founded by Staf de Clercq on October 8, 1933. De Clercq became known as den Leider .-Creation:...

. He published his own journal Roeland, which became increasingly anti-Semitic following Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

's rise to power. Following the German occupation of Belgium in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 Lagrou, along with Ward Hermans

Ward Hermans

Cornelius Eduardus Hermans was a Belgian Flemish nationalist politician and writer....

, was the founder of the Algemeene-SS Vlaanderen

Algemeene-SS Vlaanderen

The Algemeene-SS Vlaanderen , later Germaansche SS in Vlaanderen was the Flemish branch of the Germanic SS during the Nazi occupation of Belgium.-History:...

(from 1942 the Germaansche SS

Germanic-SS

The Germanic SS was the collective name given to SS groups which arose in Occupied Europe between 1939 and 1945.The units were modeled on the Allgemeine-SS in Nazi Germany...

 in Vlaanderen), the Flemish SS.

Lagrou saw action with the Waffen SS on the Eastern Front

Eastern Front (World War II)

The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...

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

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 but managed to escape to Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

.

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

Léon Degrelle

Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle was a Walloon Belgian politician, who founded Rexism and later joined the Waffen SS which were front-line troops in the fight against the Soviet Union...

 and Pierre Daye

Pierre Daye

Pierre Daye was a Belgian Nazi collaborator and follower of Rexism, who exiled himself to Juan Peron's Argentina after World War II....

. Soon after he was condemned to death in absentia

Death in absentia

Death in absentia is a legal declaration that a person is deceased in the absence of remains attributable to that person...

 by the war crimes tribunal in Antwerp.

With the possibility of extradition

Extradition

Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...

 from Spain looming Lagrou arrived in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 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 Perón

Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...

 to rescue Nazis

Nazism

Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

 from prosecution in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. 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

Rodolfo Freude

Rodolfo Freude was a close advisor of Argentine President Juan Perón and served as his Director of the Information Division ....

-led División de Informaciones

División de Informaciones

División de Informaciones is a defunct Argentine intelligence agency created by Juan Perón to work within the National Presidential Office.Its director was Rodolfo Freude...

and in this capacity initiated the cases for resettlement for a number of Nazis.