Rudolf Lange

Dr. Rudolf Lange (1910-1945) was Commander of SD and SIPO in Riga, Latvia.

Dr. Lange was born in Weisswasser in 1910. He studied law and became a member of the secret police. He joined the SS and NSDAP in 1937. He then served for a time as deputy head of police for Berlin. In 1941, he joined Einsatzgruppen A in the Baltic region, mostly Latvia (Riga) He was called to the Wannsee Conference, as he had done mass killing in Latvia. He had been in charge of the mass killings on the outskirts of Riga that liquidated 35,000 people in two days. At the time of the Wannsee Conference he was Deputy Head of task forces in Latvia. He was a Sturmbannfuhrer in the SS (Major) and in charge of Einsatzgruppen A EK2 (Sub section 2). In 1942, he became a Obersturmbannfuhrer (Lt. Colonel)in the head office in Riga until 1945, when he became Head of Warta Region SD and SIPO. He was promoted to Standartenfuhrer (Colonel) in the SS in 1945. He was killed in action in Poznan, Poland in February 1945. He may have committed suicide, but records are unclear. He was one of the few SS officer to received the DK in gold.

Overall a mass killer who was largely responsible for the extermination of the Jewish population of Latvia. Einsatzgruppen A killed over 250,000 people in little less than 6 months.