Rudolf Joachim Seck (15 July 1908Berman, Josef, Affidavit dated 16 February 1949 (3 pages), Wiener Library on-line collections
/ref> – 4 June 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. During the war, Seck committed many atrocities for which he was later sentenced to serve life in prison by a

West German West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...

court.

Activities during World War II

Seck held the SS ranks of '' Unterscharführer'' and later ''

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

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. 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 () 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 is situated on the Venta River and ...

and a survivor of

The Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, who was assigned to the work detail cleaning Seck's automobile, Seck was closely associated with Rudolf Lange, 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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, or

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. Theoretically these Jews were to be sent to the

Riga Ghetto Riga Ghetto was a small area in Maskavas Forštate, a neighbourhood of Riga, Latvia, where Nazis forced Latvian Jewish, Jews from Latvia, and later from the German "Reich" (Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and Moravia), to live during World War II. On ...

or the Jungfernhof or

Salaspils Salaspils (; ; ) (literally: "island castle") is a town in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. It is the administrative centre of Salaspils Municipality. The town is situated on the northern bank of the Daugava river, 18 kilometers to the south-east ...

concentration camps, but usually this did not occur, as Seck would instead take them to Biķernieki or Rumbula forests, near Riga, and shoot them. Seck also traveled about Latvia, the

Baltic states The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

and

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

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

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, 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 F ...

maintained a clothing depot in

, 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.

Convicted of crimes against humanity

Following the war, Seck was arrested by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and sent to an internment camp. He was supposed to be tried by a British military court for atrocities in Latvia, albeit the trial was cancelled. Seck was released in January 1949, but re-arrested in May 1949. In July 1949, a denazification court classified him as a major offender years in prison. In 1951, Seck was convicted for his atrocities in Latvia 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: Seck was released from prison in 1964, and died in 1974.

Ernst Klee Ernst Klee (15 March 1942, Frankfurt – 18 May 2013, Frankfurt) was a German journalist and author. As a writer on Germany's history, he was best known for his exposure and documentation of medical crimes in Nazi Germany, much of which was conce ...

: '' Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich.'' 2. Auflage Frankfurt am Main 2007, , S. 575.

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 people convicted of murder German prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Nazi concentration camp commandants People from Dithmarschen People convicted of murder by Germany Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Germany German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom Waffen-SS personnel