Rudolf Joachim Seck (15 July 1908Berman, Josef, Affidavit dated 16 February 1949 (3 pages), Wiener Library on-line collections
/ref> – 1974) was an SS-''

Oberscharführer __NOTOC__ ''Oberscharführer'' (, ) was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that existed between 1932 and 1945. ''Oberscharführer'' was first used as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and was created due to an expansion of the enlisted positions ...

'' (staff sergeant) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

during the course of which he committed a large numbers of crimes against humanity, for which he was later sentenced to serve life in prison by a West German court.

Activities during World War II

Seck held the SS ranks of ''

Unterscharführer ''Unterscharführer'' (, ) was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party used by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) between 1934 and 1945. The SS rank was created after the Night of the Long Knives. That event caused an SS reorganisation and the creation o ...

'' and later ''

'' (staff sergeant).Schneider, ''Journey into Terror'', at pages 11 and 35. He was the commander of

Jungfernhof concentration camp The Jungfernhof concentration camp ( lv, Jumpravmuižas koncentrācijas nometne) was an improvised concentration camp in Latvia, at the Mazjumprava Manor, near the Šķirotava Railway Station about three or four kilometers from Riga (now within ...

, near

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. Meyer, ''Verfolgung und Ermordung der Hamburger Juden'', p. 65 His office was at the Gestapo headquarters in Riga on Reimerstrasse. According to Joseph Berman, a Jewish man from

Ventspils Ventspils (; german: Windau, ; see other names) is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It ...

and a survivor of

The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

in Latvia, who was assigned to the work detail cleaning Seck's automobile, Seck was closely associated with

Rudolf Lange Rudolf Lange (18 April 1910 – 23 February 1945) was a German SS functionary and police official during the Nazi era. With the invasion of the Soviet Union, he served in '' Einsatzgruppe A'' before becoming a commander in the ''Sicherheitsdiens ...

, the main SS leader in occupied Latvia. Seck made it a habit to meet, at the Šķirotava Railway Station, trains of Jews deported from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, or

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. Theoretically these Jews were to be sent to the Riga Ghetto or the Jungfernhof or

Salaspils Salaspils (; german: Kircholm; sv, Kirkholm) is a town in Latvia, the administrative centre of Salaspils Municipality. The town is situated on the northern bank of the Daugava river, 18 kilometers to the south-east of the city of Riga. Histo ...

concentration camps, but usually this did not occur, as Seck would instead take them to

Biķernieki Biķernieki is a settlement in Biķernieki Parish, Augšdaugava Municipality in the Latgale region of Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links ...

or Rumbula forests, near Riga, and shoot them. Seck also traveled about Latvia, the

Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

and

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

with Nazi convoys to fight partisans or liquidate various camps and ghettos. The

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

maintained a clothing depot in Riga, on Peterholm Street, where the belongings of murdered Jews would be collected. Seck was seen at the clothing depot appropriating for himself suitcases of new clothing and jewelry. Seck personally beat and maltreated prisoners on a regular basis. Seck was responsible for selecting between 1600 and 1700 Jews from among the Jungfernhof concentration camp inmates to be transported, on 26 March 1942, to the Biķernieki forest to be murdered in what became known as the

Dünamünde Action The Dünamünde Action (Aktion Dünamünde) was an operation launched by the Nazi German occupying force and local collaborationists in Biķernieki forest, near Riga, Latvia. Its objective was to execute Jews who had recently been deported to L ...

Convicted of crimes against humanity

Following the war, Seck was tried in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

before the Landsgericht Hamburg with other Nazi personnel who planned or participated in the murder of Jews in Latvia. In 1951, Seck was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.Justiz und NS-Verbrechen (Justice and Nazi Crimes), Case no. 307
Among his crimes were his personal murder of eight Jews, including seven in Jungfernhof. The court described these murders as follows:

References

Sources

Berman, Josef, Affidavit dated 16 February 1949 (3 pages), Wiener Library on-line collections
* Meyer, Beate, ''Die Verfolgung und Ermordung der Hamburger Juden 1933-1945; Geschichte, Zeugnis, Erinnerung'' (''The Persecution and Murder of the Jews of Hamburg 1933-1945: History, Testimony, Memory'') Institut für die Geschichte der Deutschen Juden, Wallstein Verlag GmbH Hamburg 2006 * Schneider, Gertrude, ''Journey into terror: story of the Riga Ghetto'', (2d Ed.) Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 2001 *

On-line database of West German and East German prosecutions. Chiefly in German but with significant portions in the English language.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seck, Rudolf Joachim Holocaust perpetrators in Latvia Holocaust perpetrators in Lithuania 1908 births 1974 deaths Nazis convicted of war crimes Holocaust perpetrators in Belarus SS non-commissioned officers Jungfernhof concentration camp Kaiserwald concentration camp personnel German prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment People from Dithmarschen