He served as a Higher SS and Police Leader in the occupied Soviet Union during World War II.

In January 1933, when the Nazi Party came to national power, Jeckeln was put in charge of SS group South.

As was the practice in the SS, Jeckeln took a lower rank from his Allgemeine-SS position and served as an officer in Regiment 2 of the Totenkopf Division.

[1] In 1941, he was transferred by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler to serve as Higher SS and Police Leader (HSSPF) of Southern, then later in 1941, of Northern Russia.

Jeckeln proved to be an effective killer who cared nothing about murdering huge numbers of men, women, children and the elderly.

[2] One of only 3 survivors of the Rumbala massacre, Frida Michelson, escaped by pretending to be dead as the victims heaped shoes (later salvaged by Jeckeln's men) upon her: A mountain of footwear was pressing down on me.

On 27 January 1942, Jeckeln was awarded the War Merit Cross with Swords for killing 25,000 at Rumbula "on orders from the highest level.

Jeckeln fully admitted his guilt and agreed to bear full responsibility for the activities of subordinate police, SS and SD in Ostland.

Contrary to popular misconception, the execution did not happen in the territory of the former Riga Ghetto, but in Victory Square (Uzvaras laukums).