http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/12/01/us-germany-demjanjuk-idUSTRE5B02UO20091201

(Reuters) - Prosecutors accused John Demjanjuk on Tuesday of knowingly herding thousands of Jews to their deaths in the Nazi-run Sobibor extermination camp and standing by as victims screamed in fear.

Propped up under a white sheet on a mobile bed in a Munich court, the 89-year-old former U.S. carworker closed his eyes or stared into space as prosecutors charged him with helping to kill 27,900 Jews in what may be Germany's last major Nazi-era war crimes trial.

Demjanjuk, who denies a role in the Holocaust, has not said anything in the first two days of the trial and his family says he is too frail to be in court.

Tuesday's afternoon session was cut short after he gestured with his hands. A medic attended him and asked that the session be ended.

The shortened session included emotional testimony from the relatives of people who died at the camp in Poland. Many believed their parents and siblings were being taken away for hard labor instead of to a camp set up to kill.

Demjanjuk denies having worked at Sobibor but prosecutors have said they will present evidence proving he was there during 1943 when tens of thousands of Jews were exterminated.

State prosecutor Hans-Joachim Lutz told the court Demjanjuk would have known the purpose of the camp soon after arriving if not before.

"At the same time, he did not escape from the camp, although he had the chance to do so when he was off duty, or on duty outside the camp. He possessed a gun which would have made escape possible," Lutz told the court.

With relatives of the victims looking on, Lutz said Demjanjuk had been involved in the "process of extermination" because he had stood by with his gun as Jews were taken off trains, made to undress and pushed into gas chambers.

"In the time between March 1943 to mid-September 1943, he, along with others, therefore knowingly ensured that the victims named had no possibility of escape, but were instead put to death in gas chambers or were shot," he added.

"He therefore willingly participated in the murders of at least 27,900 people who were brought to Sobibor in the 15 trains from the Netherlands, as well as in other transports."

In the morning session, Demjanjuk, wearing a black leather jacket, grey top and a baseball cap, began waving his hand in what appeared to be an attempt to form the sign of the cross over his head and shoulders.

The court adjourned briefly after about 80 minutes while Demjanjuk was laid on his side, facing the presiding judge with his head turned away from the rest of the court.

Not long after the break, the judge gave Demjanjuk an opportunity to respond to the charges, but he gave no obvious sign of response. His lawyer, Ulrich Busch, told the court they had agreed he would not speak at this point.

Demjanjuk was born in Ukraine and fought in the Soviet army before being captured by the Nazis and recruited as a camp guard. He emigrated to the United States in 1951.

In May, he was extradited from the United States where he had lived in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio.

Demjanjuk has acknowledged being at other camps but not at Sobibor, which prosecutors say was run by between 20 and 30 members of the Nazi SS and up to 150 Soviet former prisoners of war.

In the Sobibor gas chambers, Jews died within 20 to 30 minutes after inhaling a toxic mixture of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, prosecutors said. Groups of about 80 were forced into gas chambers measuring about 4 by 4 meters.

Screams, cries and banging could be heard from outside as panic gripped the victims, the prosecutors added.

During the proceedings, at least two elderly co-plaintiffs were led out for medical treatment.

David van Huiden, 78, a Dutch Jew whose family was killed in Sobibor, told the court he managed to avoid the same fate because his parents sent him out to walk their dog minutes before Nazis arrested them and his 18-year-old sister.

Rudolf Salomon, 70, told of a final letter from his mother, who was killed in a Sobibor gas chamber, that he found in 1959. She had thrown it out of a train, hoping someone would find it.

Salomon's voice cracked in court as he mentioned the letter.

He later read from it to reporters: "It's Monday evening and we're ready to board the train. I promise I'll be tough and I'll definitely survive. Take care of my husband and son. I hope to see you soon."

(Writing by Dave Graham and Erik Kirschbaum; editing by Andrew Dobbie)