John Demjanjuk released from German prison

MUNICH (AP) - John Demjanjuk has left Munich's Stadelheim prison after a judge ordered him released pending an appeal of his conviction for serving as a guard at a Nazi death camp.

Stadelheim director Michael Stumf said Demjanjuk left the prison on Friday for a nursing home in the greater Munich area. He refused to give further details, citing Demjanuk's request for privacy.

The retired U.S. autoworker has been held in Stadelheim since he was deported to Germany two years ago.

Nazi death camp conviction seen as "door opener"
Demjanjuk guilty in German Nazi WWII case

The case was considered groundbreaking because although scores of Nazi war criminals have been tried and convicted in Germany, in this case there was no evidence that Demjanjuk committed a specific crime.

His prosecution was based on the theory that if Demjanjuk was at the camp in Nazi-occupied Poland, he was a participant in the killing there - the first time such a legal argument has been made in German courts.