Rudolf Lange - Wannsee Conference

Wannsee Conference

Lange was called to the Wannsee Conference by Heydrich in January 1942. Along with Adolf Eichmann, the recording secretary of the conference, Lange as a SS-Major was the lowest ranking of the present SS officers. Heydrich, however, viewed Lange's first-hand experience in conducting the mass murder of deported Jews as valuable for the conference. Instead of Lange, Heydrich could have invited either Karl Jäger or Erich Ehrlinger, who commanded the SiPO and SD in Lithuania and Belarus respectively, and were responsible for similar massacres. He ultimately chose Lange, because Riga was the main deportation destination, and also because Lange's doctorate made him to be seen as more intellectual than either Jäger or Ehrlinger. Lange's superior Stahlecker was not invited, as he was not familiar with the actualities of the Jewish deportations in detail and was not situated in Riga.