When the Nazis occupied Latvia in World War II, they entrusted native BoĮeslavs Maikovskis with the duties of police chief. He ordered the mass arrest of the residents of Audrini; they were subsequently executed and their town burned. After the war, Maikovskis emigrated to Austria, then to New York, where he worked as a carpenter until he retired.

In 1965, he was sentenced to death in absentia by the Soviets. Deportation proceedings in 1977 – and subsequent appeals that stretched well into the 80s – declared Maikovskis deportable under immigration law. In 1987, when it became clear his deportation was inevitable, he fled to Germany. The Germans began deportation proceedings against Maikovskis in 1994, but suspended the trial because of the accused’s ill health. He died a free man in Munster, Germany at age 92.