Many prisoners of war who were made to work at Nazi death camps tried to flee despite the risk of execution, a court heard on Wednesday, in testimony that could bolster the case against camp guard John Demjanjuk.

Demjanjuk, who fought in the Red Army before being captured and recruited as a camp guard, is accused by German prosecutors of participating in the killing of 27,900 Jews at the Sobibor extermination camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.

He denies a role in the Holocaust and his defence lawyers have said he became a "Trawniki" - a prisoner of war trained to perform duties at camps - to save his own life. Any work he did for the Nazis was involuntary and done under duress, they say.

Prosecutors have countered that Demjanjuk would have had chances to flee when he was off duty and that his possession of a gun would have made escape easier.

In testimony that could strengthen their argument, expert witness Dieter Pohl, a historian at the Munich Institute for Contemporary History, told the court on Wednesday that many Trawniki had fled from camps, notably from Treblinka and Belzec.

"There is also proof of multiple escapes from Sobibor," Pohl said. He noted, however, that guards who did flee risked death if they were caught.

Demjanjuk, 89, lay on a bed under a yellow blanket in the court room with his eyes shut and showed no reaction to evidence given over several hours.

He denies being at Sobibor, which prosecutors say was run by 20-30 Nazi SS members and up to 150 former Soviet war prisoners. But he has in the past acknowledged being at other camps.

His trial is expected to be the last major Nazi-era war crimes case and is being followed closely abroad.
Demjanjuk emigrated to the United States in 1951 and worked in the auto industry. He was extradited from the United States last May. If found guilty, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. His family argues he is too frail to stand trial.