Elliot Welles whose original name was Kurt Sauerquell was a Holocaust survivor who for more than two decades until his retirement in 2003, directed the B'nai B'rith

B'nai B'rith

B'nai B'rith International |Covenant]]" is the oldest continually operating Jewish service organization in the world. It was initially founded as the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith in New York City, on , 1843, by Henry Jones and 11 others....

 Anti-Defamation League

Anti-Defamation League

The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...

's task force on Nazi war criminals. Welles was a survivor of both the Riga Ghetto

Riga Ghetto

The Riga Ghetto was a small area in Maskavas Forštate, neighborhood of Riga, Latvia, designated by the Nazis where Jews from Latvia, and later from Germany, were forced to live during World War II. On October 25, 1941, the Nazis relocated all Jews from Riga and the vicinity to the ghetto while the...

 and the Stutthof concentration camp

Stutthof concentration camp

Stutthof was the first Nazi concentration camp built outside of 1937 German borders.Completed on September 2, 1939, it was located in a secluded, wet, and wooded area west of the small town of Sztutowo . The town is located in the former territory of the Free City of Danzig, 34 km east of...

 in Poland.

Welles is known in particular for his work on the case of Boļeslavs Maikovskis

Boļeslavs Maikovskis

Boļeslavs Maikovskis was a Latvian Nazi collaborator who served as chief of police for the second precinct of Rēzekne while the Germans occupied Latvia in World War II.After the war Maikovskis went to Austria....

, who had been charged with ordering the arrests that led to the mass execution of 200 Latvian villagers during the war. A native of Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

, Maikovskis was sentenced to death in absentia

In absentia

In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...

by a Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 court in 1965. He continued to live quietly in Mineola, New York

Mineola, New York

Mineola is a village in Nassau County, New York, USA. The population was 18,799 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from a Native American word meaning a "pleasant place"....

, where he had settled after the war, before fleeing to Germany in 1987.

Because of Welles' tireless work on this case, Maikovskis (then 86) was put on trial in Germany in 1990. The trial was suspended in 1994 because of Maikovskis' failing health. Maikovskis died two years later.

Another well-known case that Welles assisted with was the extradition

Extradition

Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...

 of Josef Schwammberger

Josef Schwammberger

Josef Franz Leo Schwammberger was a member of the SS during the Nazi era.During the Second World War, Schwammberger was a commander of various SS Arbeitslager in the...

, a Nazi labor camp commander, from Argentina where he had been living for at least 40 years.