In
1938 he was promoted to the rank of SS-Untersturmführer and in
August 1939 he went to Frankfurt – on – Oder the assembly point for Einsatzgruppe
Vl, commanded by SS-Oberführer Erich Naumann, prior
to the invasion of Poland. On 12 September 1939 Einsatzgruppe Vl was
stationed in Poznan (Posen), in the Warthegau. A Sonderkommando (
special command) of the above unit was formed under Lange’s leadership. He
received orders from Arthur Greiser, the Gauleiter, to create a concentration
camp in Poznan.
The KZ
Posen was established at Fort Vll (Fort Colomb) one of the bastions
belonging to the huge Prussian built fortifications that encircle Poznan. Lange
was only the Commandant of Fort Vll for only a short time, his role being to
select the site, recruit the camp staff, and admit the first prisoners.
Immediately Lange was involved as the head of “Sonderkommando Lange” ,
which was responsible for carrying out a series of “Euthanasia Aktions”, in the
Wielkopolska region, using mobile gas vans, and shootings.
His
accomplishments in the “Euthanasia Aktion” in Poland was highly regarded and as
a result of this he was promoted to SS- Obersturmführer.
Later Lange was responsible
for mass killing activity in the Konin region, but officially from the end of
November 1940 to late 1941 he was head of the Economic Crimes department of the
Criminal Police. Lange was the first Commandant of Chelmno which received its
first transport in November 1941.
In
February 1942 he was ordered to serve in the Reich Main
Security Office, where he served under Artur Nebe, as a Criminal Investigator
(Kriminalrat) and in 1944, he assisted in catching the conspirators of the
attempt on Hitler’s life in July 1944. For his work on this he was promoted to
SS- Sturmbannführer.
Lange
was killed in action during the Battle of Berlin in 1945
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