Heinrich Lagerburger is a German expatriate who fell in love with the Argentinian countryside in the 1940s after fighting against the Nazis during World War II. When he got the chance to take on a failing alpaca ranch, he made the move. He made lots of moves. ;) This move allowed him time for his true passion: writing.

He’s resilient because his words made him eternal.

He became obsessed with the possibility of immortality and discovered he could accomplish this through his words. Rekindling the fire he felt during his formative years growing up in Paris in the 1920s with his mother—soaking in the genius of the writing community there—he fell under the annoyed tutelage of figures such as Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Stein (after the destruction of Germany during World War I). This is where his mind was cleaved wide.

After his mother died from tuberculosis, he returned to Germany to live with his father. It was a turbulent time, with struggles both within and without. His fights with his father’s rigidity—intolerable after the laissez-faire time in Paris—drove him into the arms of Inge. With her, he found solace in a darkening world as the clouds of nationalism bore down. Unfortunately, the affair was heated but short-lived. Like all things that burn hot, it burned out quickly, as Inge left him for an SS officer—thus sparking the flame to fight for what was right. He wrote missives pleading for Germans to open their eyes to the rising hate, but soon he grew desolate as he watched the Third Reich gain power. He became part of the White Rose group. His father, terrified of the danger Heinrich was putting himself in, shipped him off to Argentina to an alpaca rancher who was a friend. There, distanced from the “real fight,” he continued writing for the resistance, but as it all fell on deaf ears, he became desolate once again and found solace in the mountains and the quiet life of ranching.

Although it’s never been confirmed, it’s believed that he caused the death or capture of several former SS officers who fled to Argentina after the Nazis lost the war.

When the internet reached the rural mountains of Argentina, Heinrich was tickled by the ability to contact others across the globe. He stumbled into an AOL chat group called Fuck Kafka. Thinking it was porn, he was slightly disappointed to learn it was just a bunch of nerds railing against the late author. After lurking for a while, he started posting—and people responded to his writing. He searched for more, hoping to find writers he had known from Paris. He was saddened to learn of the deaths of so many. Realizing he was one of the few left, he started posting his poems and other writings, where he was eventually discovered by us. Enamored of his writing and craft, we established the Heinrich Lagerburger Society 100 years after his birth. It’s in honor of Heinrich and his memory that his words live on forever, granting him the immortality he sought.