René Lagrange

René Lagrou is a Belgian collaborationist who reappears in the novel’s account of postwar escape networks as both a fugitive and an organizer. After entering Argentina under a false Spanish passport, he joins the circle that secures political protection for wanted Europeans and helps turn that protection into an operating system for migration.

Identity and Background

Before the war, Lagrou was a prominent leader of the Flemish National Union, despite his French-sounding name. The novel identifies him as a Belgian political figure whose postwar movements were shaped by the prospect of prosecution: a court in Antwerp sentenced him to death in absentia in 1946.

Flight to Argentina

Lagrou arrived in Buenos Aires in July 1947 using a passport issued under the name Reinaldo van Groede. The Spanish passport gave him legal cover while concealing the identity under which Belgian authorities sought him. His case forms part of a broader pattern: five of the six men received by Juan Perón in the account had entered Argentina with Spanish passports covering false identities, and all five were wanted in their home countries for collaboration or crimes against humanity.

Political Protection and the SARE

Lagrou was among the European fugitives received by Perón at the Casa Rosada. The gathering brought together men from different countries whose shared circumstances were more consequential than their differing nationalities: they faced justice at home and sought a safe route into Argentina. The network’s discussions continued across two audiences, and Perón became personally involved in shaping a reserved official body to receive such immigrants.

On 28 June 1948, Lagrou attended the meeting at Radu Ghenea’s home where the committee’s statutes for the Argentine European Reception Service (SARE) were signed. Pierre Daye, the organization’s designer, and Lagrou represented the Belgian exile community. The organization soon received official recognition to handle residency applications, and the archbishopric provided a building on Canning Street for its headquarters. Lagrou’s role thus extends beyond obtaining refuge for himself: he participated in a structure that could process applications for fugitives from multiple European countries.

Narrative Significance

Lagrou’s passage from an in-absentia death sentence to Buenos Aires, under a legally issued passport bearing another name, makes the gap between formal legality and justice central to his story. The SARE’s official capacity to manage residency applications gave an organized administrative form to a network serving people pursued for collaboration and grave crimes. The novel places Lagrou within that machinery as a representative of Belgian exiles, showing how protection depended not only on clandestine escape but also on political sponsorship and institutional procedure.