Rudolph was shot by Polish insurgents while under arrest in woods on the Ratibor - Rybnik road. His father wrote an account of the murder the following month. In the wake of the Upper Silesian plebycite, Rudolph had been aboard a train carrying German refugees out of what had just become Polish territory. The train was travelling under a safe conduct pass signed by the Polish commander and escorted by three Italian officers and fifty French soldiers. So shocking were both the breach of protocol and the murder that the French Ambassador in Berlin raised it with the German Chancellor four days later, mentioning Rudolph by name.