Madrid, Apr. 3.
The court-martial of six former Spanish Republican leaders accused of hundreds of murders began today at Colmenar Viejo, a village north of Madrid near the site where bodies of descendants.of Christopher Columbus were found murdered in 1936.
Simultaneously the Nationalist court-martial of 216 former Republican agents began at Valencia where the Nationalist prosecutor demanded the pub- death penalty for all. Included among the men on trial was Sr. Loretta Apelaniz, alleged superintendent of torture for the Republicans. Although Nationalist courts in Madrid have sentenced two alleged lican agents to death thus far, no executions have yet been carried out.
Nationalist authorities today were investigating a fire which broke out yesterday in the German Trans-Atlantic Bank. The fire destroyed some valuable archives, leading to suspicion of arson,—United Press
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.