Olivos is the setting of a pivotal visit on October 2, 1949, where the false Adrián Gallardo accompanies Clara Stauffer to meet Rodolfo Freude. In the garden of Freude’s sumptuous estate, Clara discloses the political purpose behind her travels through South America and signals that her work—and the network she serves—extends beyond Argentina.

Setting and Visit

The scene takes place at Freude’s lavish quinta in Olivos. He waits at the entrance as the false Gallardo offers Clara his arm to cross the garden. The formal, generous hospitality of the gathering contrasts with the political business behind it: Clara has asked for the visit, and Gallardo cannot refuse her favor.

The occasion follows a period in which the false Gallardo has kept his contact with Buenos Aires’s Nazi circle limited. He attends some of Walter Kutschmann’s Wednesday gatherings and makes regular visits to Sofía Ferreti, to whom he contributes each month to a solidarity fund that had helped him shortly before. At Olivos, however, he is drawn into a gathering hosted by Freude, a powerful protector of Nazis and collaborators arriving in Argentina through SARE.

Clara’s Explanation

After coffee, as the guests disperse around the pool—some resting on loungers, others continuing to drink—Clara invites Gallardo to walk with her in the garden. She tells him she will return to Madrid in December, but first intends to make another long journey. Her South American trip, she explains, was not a vacation: she has been contacting local members of the network, visiting people already settled in the region, preparing for future arrivals, and meeting with a government that has been assisting them.

Clara’s itinerary reveals the reach of that work. She is due to leave for Lima within days, attend the October Fair, and consolidate the network’s activity first in Peru and then in Bolivia. Before returning to Buenos Aires to board a ship for Spain, she also expects to visit Santiago de Chile. The leisurely garden walk thus becomes the setting for a concrete account of the organization’s regional ambitions.

Narrative Significance

Olivos brings private hospitality and political coordination into the same frame. The poolside gathering appears relaxed, but Clara’s account exposes the practical work being conducted beneath that ease: maintaining contacts, arranging future arrivals, and securing governmental support. For the false Gallardo, accompanying Clara means entering a setting where her apparently personal travel plans resolve into a wider operation extending across several South American countries.