. [29], In August 1917, after a failed attempt to send the Romanovs to the United Kingdom, where the ruling monarch was Nicholas and his wife Alexandra's mutual first cousin, King George V, Alexander Kerensky's provisional government evacuated the Romanovs to Tobolsk, Siberia, allegedly to protect them from the rising tide of revolution. [5], Yurovsky and five other men laid out the bodies on the grass and undressed them, the clothes piled up and burned while Yurovsky took inventory of their jewellery. [143], On 15 August 2000, the Russian Orthodox Church announced the canonization of the family for their "humbleness, patience and meekness". [43] From this window, they could see only the spire of the Voznesensky Cathedral located across the road from the house. The skeletons were numbered one through nine. In the early morning of July 17, 1918, Bolshevik troops led the Russian imperial Romanov family to the basement of a Yekaterinburg house. Afterwards, an excavation began when the geologist revealed the hidden grave, and the remains were given to scientists for DNA testing. For decades, two women each claimed they were Anastasia, the youngest Romanov daughter. Among them were burned bone fragments, congealed fat,[128] Dr Botkin's upper dentures and glasses, corset stays, insignias and belt buckles, shoes, keys, pearls and diamonds,[9] a few spent bullets, and part of a severed female finger. Forensic investigation into the authenticity of the remains of Russia's Royal family members. Who was Rasputin? A look into his death, relationship with Romanovs. How Tsar Nicholas II and his family were murdered [15] The funeral was not attended by key members of the Russian Orthodox Church, who disputed the authenticity of the remains. Kabanov then hurried downstairs and told the men to stop firing and kill the family and their dogs with their gun butts and bayonets. The Romanovs were kept in strict isolation at the Ipatiev House. Devastating Story and Historical Photos of Romanov Family - Bygonely [160][161] Soviet historiography portrayed Nicholas as a weak and incompetent leader whose decisions led to military defeats and the deaths of millions of his subjects,[162] while Lenin's reputation was protected at all costs, thus ensuring that no discredit was brought on him; responsibility for the 'liquidation' of the Romanov family was directed at the Ural Soviets and Yekaterinburg Cheka. In 1979, a geologist in Russia approached a grassy area near the Koptyaki forest. The Romanovs were buried in two unmarked graves, one containing Nicholas, Alexandra, and three of their daughters and another containing Alexei and one of his sisters. 49: . [124], Yurovsky separated the Tsarevich Alexei and one of his sisters to be buried about 15 metres (50ft) away, in an attempt to confuse anyone who might discover the mass grave with only nine bodies. The Tsar, Empress Alexandria, their four daughters and one son were all believed to have perished. The lifeless bodies of Russias last monarch, his wife Alexandra, and their five children, Alexei, Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, were about to go on a journey that would stretch over years, stoke controversy and stump historians. [122] Leonid Brezhnev's Politburo deemed the Ipatiev House lacking "sufficient historical significance" and it was demolished in September 1977 by KGB chairman Yuri Andropov,[138] less than a year before the sixtieth anniversary of the murders. The Romanov family was the last imperial dynasty to rule Russia. Tselms). [14][142] Although criminal investigators and geneticists identified them as Alexei and one of his sisters, either Maria or Anastasia,[143] they remain stored in the state archives pending a decision from the church,[144] which demanded a more "thorough and detailed" examination. Officer hospitalized after being assaulted in downtown Phoenix The external guard, led by Pavel Medvedev, numbered 56 and took over the Popov House opposite. Only a few of their remains were ever recovered; the rest were dumped in mass graves or burned beyond recognition. Manhunt intensifies for Cleveland Texas shooting suspect: Updates [20][21] Most historians attribute the execution order to the government in Moscow, specifically Vladimir Lenin and Yakov Sverdlov, who wanted to prevent the rescue of the Imperial family by the approaching Czechoslovak Legion during the ongoing Russian Civil War. [137] Publication and worldwide acceptance of the investigation prompted the Soviets to issue a government-approved textbook in 1926 that largely plagiarized Sokolov's work, admitting that the empress and her children had been murdered with the Tsar. [9], In 1979, amateur sleuth Alexander Avdonin discovered the burial site. The Legions arrived less than a week later and on 25 July captured the city. [70], The killing of the Tsar's wife and children was also discussed, but it was kept a state secret to avoid any political repercussions; German ambassador Wilhelm von Mirbach made repeated enquiries to the Bolsheviks concerning the family's well-being. Anderson was really Franziska Schanzkowska of Poland. What? the czar exclaimed. Their ten servants were dismissed, and they had to give up butter and coffee.[30]. Yurovsky also seized several horse-drawn carts to be used in the removal of the bodies to the new site. He interviewed several members of the Romanov entourage in February 1919, notably Pierre Gilliard, Alexandra Tegleva and Sydney Gibbes. It was finally carried out in 1991, after the Soviet Unions collapse. [124] Alexei Trupp's body was tossed in first, followed by the Tsar's and then the rest. 10 important facts about the murder of Russia's royal family Alexandra requested a chair because she was sick, and Nicholas requested a second for Alexei. One was the Tsars great niece, and the second was a Duke in Scotland. According to the report, units of the Czechoslovak Legion were approaching Yekaterinburg. [67] Yurovsky later observed that, by responding to the faked letters, Nicholas "had fallen into a hasty plan by us to trap him". After his abdication in March 1917, Nicholas and his family had been put under house arrest and kept just outside of St. Petersburg. [63], During the imperial family's imprisonment in late June, Pyotr Voykov and Alexander Beloborodov, president of the Ural Regional Soviet,[64] directed the smuggling of letters written in French to the Ipatiev House. Scientists began by testing the short tandem repeat (STR) markers on the nuclear DNA. As soon as the Czechoslovaks seized Yekaterinburg, his apartment was pillaged. It was decided that the pit was too shallow. It was found by White investigator Nikolai Sokolov and reads:[106], Inform Sverdlov the whole family have shared the same fate as the head. Between 1682 and 1917, when Tsar Nicholas II abdicated on behalf of himself and his son, the heir apparent to the throne, the Russian monarchy had become a stable and established system. And perhaps even more pressingly, could scientists be sure the grave truly belonged to the Romanovs and not some other unfortunate family? [84], While the Romanovs were having dinner on 16 July 1918, Yurovsky entered the sitting room and informed them that kitchen boy Leonid Sednev was leaving to meet his uncle, Ivan Sednev, who had returned to the city asking to see him; Ivan had already been shot by the Cheka. Nicholas noted in his diary on 8 July that "new Latvians are standing guard", describing them as Letts a term commonly used in Russia to classify someone as of European, non-Russian origin. The DNA tests revealed that skeletons four and seven were the parents of skeletons three, five and six. [45] Ten guard posts were located in and around the Ipatiev House, and the exterior was patrolled twice hourly day and night. But it would prove difficult to determine whether these bones belonged the murdered Romanovs. [125] Alexei and his sister were burned in a bonfire and their remaining charred bones were thoroughly smashed with spades and tossed into a smaller pit. Genealogists were able to identify two distant relatives. The guards would play the piano, while singing Russian revolutionary songs and drinking and smoking. Yurovsky was furious when he discovered that the drunken Ermakov had brought only one shovel for the burial. And how could they further confirm the Tsars identity and convince skeptics? Erin Blakemore is a journalist from Boulder, Colorado. [126], After Yekaterinburg fell to the anti-communist White Army on 25 July, Admiral Alexander Kolchak established the Sokolov Commission to investigate the murders at the end of that month. The DNA test was conclusive. Rumors about their possible survival swirled until 2007, when Sergei Plotnikov, a builder who was part of a club that looked for the missing Romanovs on the weekends came across bone fragments. [177] However, reflecting the intense debate preceding the issue, the bishops did not proclaim the Romanovs as martyrs, but passion bearers instead (see Romanov sainthood).[177]. [9] The Soviets finally acknowledged the murders in 1926 following the publication in France of a 1919 investigation by a White migr but said that the bodies were destroyed and that Lenin's Cabinet was not responsible. Two of the children were missing, and there were several people claiming to be the long-lost Romanovs. Finally, they dug another shallow grave, and, after abusing the corpses even more, buried all but two of the family members. Both agreed to provide DNA samples. Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine. Among those aged between 18 and 24, 46% believe that Nicholas II had to be punished for his mistakes. [13] The Soviet Union did not acknowledge the existence of these remains publicly until 1989 during the glasnost period. [1] Having previously seized some jewelry, he suspected more was hidden in their clothes;[35] the bodies were stripped naked in order to obtain the rest (this, along with the mutilations were aimed at preventing investigators from identifying them). [114] Yurovsky's men ate hardboiled eggs supplied by the local nuns (food that was meant for the imperial family), while the remainder of Ermakov's men were ordered back to the city as Yurovsky did not trust them and was displeased with their drunkenness. In 2008, after considerable and protracted legal wrangling, the Russian Prosecutor General's office rehabilitated the Romanov family as "victims of political repressions". Romanov Family Executions: 100 Years Later, Ending the Myths - Time [99] While the bodies were being placed on stretchers, one of the girls cried out (some accounts say two or more) and covered her face with her arm. Historians long suspected that four servants had been buried along with the royal family. [93] As it cleared, it became evident that although several of the family's retainers had been killed, all of the Imperial children were alive and only Maria was injured. [126], Ivan Plotnikov, history professor at the Maksim Gorky Ural State University, has established that the executioners were Yakov Yurovsky, Grigory P. Nikulin, Mikhail A. Medvedev (Kuprin), Peter Ermakov, Stepan Vaganov, Alexey G. Kabanov (former soldier in the Tsar's Life Guards and Chekist assigned to the attic machine gun),[45] Pavel Medvedev, V. N. Netrebin, and Y. M. Tselms.
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