CLEVELAND — John Demjanjuk was released from federal custody Tuesday evening, just hours after six immigration officers removed the alleged Nazi death camp guard from his suburban home in a wheelchair, authorities said.
Federal officials had taken Demjanjuk to a federal building in downtown Cleveland, but the 89-year-old retired autoworker’s impending return to Germany was halted when a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay of deportation.
An arrest warrant in Germany claims Demjanjuk was an accessory to about 29,000 deaths during World War II at the Sobibor camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. Once in Germany, he could be formally charged in court.
Demjanjuk was driven to his home in Seven Hills after his release, former son- in-law and family spokesman Ed Nishnic said. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement that they’ll supervise him through electronic monitoring.
In granting the stay, the three-judge panel said it would further consider Demjanjuk’s motion to reopen the U.S. case that ordered the deportation, in which he says painful medical ailments would make travel to Germany torturous.
Citing the need to act because of the possibility of Demjanjuk’s imminent deportation, the court issued the stay without addressing the U.S. government’s argument that the court had no jurisdiction to rule on Demjanjuk’s appeal.
Nishnic said the family was relieved.
Earlier Tuesday, Demjanjuk’s wife, Vera, sobbed and held her hands to her mouth as immigration officers loaded his wheelchair into a van at their home. As the van moved down the street, Vera turned and waved, sobbing in the arms of a granddaughter.
