Rudolf Lange - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Lange was born to a family in Weißwasser, Prussian Silesia, a town now in present-day Saxony. His father was a railway construction supervisor. Lange finished high school in Staßfurt in 1928, and went to study law in the University of Jena. He received a doctorate in law in 1933, and was recruited by the Gestapo office of Halle. He joined the SA in November 1933, but soon felt that this had been a bad career move. Thus, in 1936 Lange joined the SS (member number 290,308).

As a mid-level Gestapo official, Lange rose rapidly in the regime's terror apparatus. He also adopted the SS ideology wholeheartedly, as can be seen from his resignation from the church in 1937. From 1936 he worked in the Gestapo office of Berlin. In May 1938, Lange was transferred to Vienna to supervise the annexation of the Austrian police system. There, he met and worked with Franz Walter Stahlecker, who later became his superior in Riga. In June 1939 Lange was transferred to Stuttgart.

In September 1939 the security and police agencies of Nazi Germany (with the exception of the Orpo) were consolidated into the Reich Main Security Office (RSHA) of the SS, headed by Reinhard Heydrich. The Gestapo became Amt IV (Department IV) of RSHA and Heinrich Müller became the Gestapo Chief, with Heydrich as his immediate superior. From May to July 1940, Lange ran the Gestapo offices of Weimar and Erfurt, while working as the deputy head of the office of the Inspector of the SiPo in Kassel. Finally, in September 1940, Lange was promoted as the deputy head of police for Berlin. In April 1941, Lange was promoted to Sturmbannführer in the SS (Major).