Rudolf Lange

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Rudolf Lange (April 18, 1910 – February 23, 1945) was a prominent Nazi official. He served as commander of the SD and SIPO in Riga, Latvia. He participated in the Wannsee Conference, and was largely responsible for implementing the extermination of Latvia's Jewish population (Einsatzgruppe A killed over 250,000 people in little less than 6 months).

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 was Sturmbannführer in the SS (Major). His Einsatzgruppe A EK2 death squad in the Baltic region, mostly Latvia (Riga), was responsible the Rumbula massacre on the outskirts of Riga where 35,000 people were killed over two days. Due to his role in Latvia, he was called to the Wannsee Conference.

In 1942, Lange became a Obersturmbannführer (Lt. Colonel) in the head office in Riga until 1945, when he became Head of Warta Region SD and SIPO. He was promoted to Standartenführer (Colonel) in the SS in 1945. He was said to be killed in action in Posen, West Prussia in February 1945; he may have committed suicide, but records are unclear. He was one of the few SS officers to receive the German Cross in Gold medal on 6 February 1945^[1].

In the 2001 HBO film Conspiracy, dramatising the Wannsee Conference he was played by Barnaby Kay.

[edit] References

• Patzwall, Klaus D. and Scherzer, Veit. Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 - 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II. Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, 2001. ISBN 3-931533-45-X.

Persondata
NAME	Lange, Rudolf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	SS Standartenführer and Colonel
DATE OF BIRTH	18 April 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH	Weißwasser
DATE OF DEATH	23 February 1945
PLACE OF DEATH	Poznań