Who killed Nicholas 2. The last royal family
In this case, the conversation will be about those gentlemen, thanks to whom, on the night of July 16-17, 1918, in Yekaterinburg there was a brutal the royal family of the Romanovs was killed. The name of these executioners is one - regicides. Some of them made the decision, while others carried it out. As a result, the Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra Feodorovna and their children, Grand Duchesses Anastasia, Maria, Olga, Tatyana and Tsarevich Alexei, died. Together with them, people from the service personnel were also shot. These are the personal cook of the family Ivan Mikhailovich Kharitonov, the chamber footman Alexei Egorovich Trupp, the room girl Anna Demidova and the family doctor Evgeny Sergeevich Botkin.
criminals
A terrible crime was preceded by a meeting of the Presidium of the Ural Council, which took place on July 12, 1918. It was on it that the decision was made to execute the royal family. A detailed plan was also developed for both the crime itself and the destruction of corpses, that is, the concealment of traces of the destruction of innocent people.
The meeting was headed by the chairman of the Ural Council, a member of the presidium of the regional committee of the RCP (b) Alexander Georgievich Beloborodov (1891-1938). Together with him, the decision was made by: the military commissar of Yekaterinburg Filipp Isaevich Goloshchekin (1876-1941), the chairman of the regional Cheka Fyodor Nikolaevich Lukoyanov (1894-1947), the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Yekaterinburgsky Rabochiy Georgy Ivanovich Safarov (1891-1942), the supply commissar of the Ural Council Pyotr Lazarevich Voikov (1888-1927), commandant of the "House of Special Purpose" Yakov Mikhailovich Yurovsky (1878-1938).
The Bolsheviks called the house of the engineer Ipatiev the "House of Special Purpose". It was in it that the Romanov royal family was kept in May-July 1918 after it was transported from Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg.
But one would have to be very naive to think that the middle managers took responsibility and made the most important decisions on their own. political decision about the execution of the royal family. They found it possible only to coordinate it with the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov (1885-1919). This is how the Bolsheviks presented everything in their time.
Already somewhere, where, but in the Leninist party, discipline was ironclad. Decisions came only from the very top, and grass-roots employees unquestioningly executed them. Therefore, with all responsibility it can be argued that the instruction was given directly by Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, who was sitting in the silence of the Kremlin office. Naturally, he discussed this issue with Sverdlov and the chief Ural Bolshevik Evgeny Alekseevich Preobrazhensky (1886-1937).
The latter, of course, was aware of all the decisions, although he was absent from Yekaterinburg on the bloody date of the execution. At this time, he took part in the work of the V All-Russian Congress of Soviets in Moscow, and then departed for Kursk and returned to the Urals only in the last days of July 1918.
But, in any case, officially Ulyanov and Preobrazhensky cannot be blamed for the death of the Romanov family. Sverdlov bears indirect responsibility. After all, he imposed the resolution "agreed". A kind of soft-bodied leader. Resignedly took note of the decision of the grassroots organization and readily scribbled the usual replies on a piece of paper. Only a 5-year-old child can believe in this.
The royal family in the basement of the Ipatiev house before the execution
Now let's talk about performers. About those villains who carried out a terrible sacrilege by raising their hands against the anointed of God and his family. To date, the exact name of the killers is unknown. No one can name the number of criminals. There is an opinion that Latvian riflemen took part in the execution, since the Bolsheviks considered that Russian soldiers would not shoot at the tsar and his family. Other researchers insist on the Hungarians who guarded the arrested Romanovs.
However, there are names that appear on all the lists of various researchers. This is the commandant of the "House of Special Purpose" Yakov Mikhailovich Yurovsky, who led the execution. His deputy Grigory Petrovich Nikulin (1895-1965). The commander of the guards of the royal family, Pyotr Zakharovich Ermakov (1884-1952) and an employee of the Cheka, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Medvedev (Kudrin) (1891-1964).
These four people were directly involved in the execution of representatives of the House of Romanov. They carried out the decision of the Ural Council. At the same time, they showed amazing cruelty, since they not only shot absolutely defenseless people, but also finished them off with bayonets, and then doused them with acid so that the bodies could not be recognized.
To each will be rewarded according to his deeds
Organizers
There is an opinion that God sees everything and punishes the villains for their deeds. The regicides belong to the most cruel part of the criminal elements. Their goal is to seize power. They go to her through the corpses, not at all embarrassed by this. At the same time, people are dying who are not at all to blame for the fact that they received their crowned title by inheritance. As for Nicholas II, this man was no longer emperor at the time of his death, since he voluntarily renounced the crown.
Moreover, there is no way to justify the death of his family and staff. What was driving the villains? Of course, rabid cynicism, disregard for human lives, lack of spirituality and rejection of Christian norms and rules. The most terrible thing is that, having committed a terrible crime, these gentlemen were proud of what they had done for the rest of their lives. They willingly told about everything to journalists, schoolchildren and just idle listeners.
But let's go back to God and see life path those who doomed innocent people to a terrible death for the sake of an irrepressible desire to command others.
Ulyanov and Sverdlov
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. We all know him as the leader of the world proletariat. However, this people's leader was spattered up to the top of his head with human blood. After the execution of the Romanovs, he lived for only 5 years. He died of syphilis, having lost his mind. This is the most terrible punishment of the heavenly forces.
Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov. He left this world at the age of 33, 9 months after the villainy committed in Yekaterinburg. In the city of Orel, he was severely beaten by workers. The very ones for whose rights he allegedly stood up for. With multiple fractures and injuries, he was taken to Moscow, where he died 8 days later.
These are the two main criminals directly responsible for the death of the Romanov family. The regicides were punished and died not at an advanced age, surrounded by children and grandchildren, but in the prime of life. As for the other organizers of villainy, here the heavenly forces delayed the punishment, but God's judgment still happened, giving everyone what they deserved.
Goloshchekin and Beloborodov (right)
Philip Isaevich Goloshchekin- the chief security officer of Yekaterinburg and the territories adjacent to it. It was he who went to Moscow at the end of June, where he received oral instructions from Sverdlov regarding the execution of crowned persons. After that, he returned to the Urals, where the Presidium of the Ural Council was hastily assembled, and a decision was made on the secret execution of the Romanovs.
In mid-October 1939, Philip Isaevich was arrested. He was accused of anti-state activities and an unhealthy attraction to little boys. This perverted gentleman was shot at the end of October 1941. Goloshchekin outlived the Romanovs by 23 years, but retribution still overtook him.
Chairman of the Ural Council Alexander Georgievich Beloborodov- at present, this is the chairman of the regional duma. It was he who led the meeting at which the decision was made to execute the royal family. His signature was next to the word "I approve". If we approach this issue officially, then it is he who bears the main responsibility for the murder of innocent people.
Beloborodov has been a member of the Bolshevik Party since 1907, having joined it as a minor boy after the 1905 revolution. In all the posts entrusted to him by his senior comrades, he showed himself to be an exemplary and diligent worker. The best proof of this is July 1918.
After the execution of the crowned persons, Alexander Georgievich soared very high. In March 1919, his candidacy was considered for the presidency of the young Soviet republic. But preference was given to Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin (1875-1946), since he knew peasant life well, and our "hero" was born into a working-class family.
But the former chairman of the Ural Council was not offended. He was put in charge political management Red Army. In 1921, he became deputy to Felix Dzherzhinesky, who headed the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs. In 1923 he succeeded him in this high post. True, further a brilliant career did not work out.
In December 1927, Beloborodov was removed from his post and exiled to Arkhangelsk. From 1930 he worked as a middle manager. In August 1936 he was arrested by the NKVD. In February 1938, by decision of the military board, Alexander Georgievich was shot. At the time of his death, he was 46 years old. After the death of the Romanovs, the main culprit did not live even 20 years. In 1938, his wife Yablonskaya Franciska Viktorovna was also shot.
Safarov and Voikov (right)
Georgy Ivanovich Safarov- Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper "Ekaterinburg Worker". This Bolshevik with pre-revolutionary experience was an ardent supporter of the execution of the Romanov family, although she did nothing wrong to him. He lived well until 1917 in France and Switzerland. He came to Russia together with Ulyanov and Zinoviev in a "sealed carriage".
After the committed villainy, he worked in Turkestan, and then in the executive committee of the Comintern. Then he became the editor-in-chief of Leningradskaya Pravda. In 1927 he was expelled from the party and sentenced to 4 years of exile in the city of Achinsk (Krasnoyarsk Territory). In 1928, the party card was returned and again sent to work in the Comintern. But after the assassination of Sergei Kirov at the end of 1934, Safarov finally lost confidence.
He was again exiled to Achinsk, and in December 1936 he was sentenced to 5 years in the camps. From January 1937, Georgy Ivanovich served his sentence in Vorkuta. He performed the duties of a water carrier there. He walked in a prisoner's pea jacket, belted with a rope. The family abandoned him after the guilty verdict. For the former Bolshevik-Leninist, this was a heavy moral blow.
Safarov was not released after the end of his term. It was a difficult time, military, and someone apparently decided that Ulyanov's former ally had nothing to do in the rear of the Soviet troops. He was shot by decision of a special commission on July 27, 1942. This "hero" survived the Romanovs by 24 years and 10 days. He died at the age of 51, having lost both freedom and family at the end of his life.
Pyotr Lazarevich Voikov- the main supplier of the Urals. He was closely involved in food issues. And how could he get food in 1919? Naturally, he took them away from peasants and merchants who did not leave Yekaterinburg. With his tireless activity, he brought the region to complete impoverishment. The troops of the white army arrived well in time, otherwise people would begin to die of hunger.
This gentleman also came to Russia in a "sealed carriage", but not with Ulyanov, but with Anatoly Lunacharsky (the first people's commissar of education). Voikov was a Menshevik at first, but quickly figured out which way the wind was blowing. At the end of 1917, he broke with a shameful past and joined the RCP (b).
Pyotr Lazarevich not only raised his hand, voting for the death of the Romanovs, but also took an active part in hiding the traces of villainy. It was he who came up with the idea to douse the bodies with sulfuric acid. Since he was in charge of all the warehouses of the city, he personally signed the invoice for the receipt of this very acid. By his order, transport was also allocated for the transportation of bodies, shovels, picks, crowbars. The business manager is the main one, whatever you want.
Activities related to material values, Pyotr Lazarevich liked. Since 1919, he was engaged in consumer cooperation, while serving as deputy chairman of the Tsentrosoyuz. Concurrently, he organized the sale abroad of the treasures of the Romanov House and museum valuables of the Diamond Fund, the Armory, private collections requisitioned from the exploiters.
Priceless works of art and jewelry went to the black market, since officially at that time no one had business with the young Soviet state. Hence the ridiculous prices that were given for items that had a unique historical value.
In October 1924, Voikov left as an envoy to Poland. It was already big politics, and Petr Lazarevich enthusiastically began to settle in a new field. But the poor guy was out of luck. On June 7, 1927, he was shot dead by Boris Kaverda (1907-1987). The Bolshevik terrorist fell at the hands of another terrorist belonging to the white émigré movement. Retribution came almost 9 years after the death of the Romanovs. At the time of his death, our next "hero" was 38 years old.
Fyodor Nikolaevich Lukoyanov- the chief Chekist of the Urals. He voted for the execution of the royal family, therefore he is one of the organizers of villainy. But in subsequent years, this "hero" did not show himself in any way. The point is that since 1919 he began to be tormented by bouts of schizophrenia. Therefore, Fedor Nikolaevich devoted his entire life to journalism. He worked in various newspapers, and died in 1947 at the age of 53, 29 years after the murder of the Romanov family.
Performers
As for the direct perpetrators of the bloody crime, God's court treated them much milder than the organizers. They were forced people and just carried out the order. Therefore, they are less to blame. At least that's what you might think if you trace the fateful path of each criminal.
The main perpetrator of the terrible murder of defenseless women and men, as well as a sick boy. He boasted that he personally shot Nicholas II. However, his subordinates also claimed this role.
Yakov Yurovsky
After the crime, he was taken to Moscow and sent to work in the organs of the Cheka. Then, after the liberation of Yekaterinburg from the White troops, Yurovsky returned to the city. Received the post of Chief Chekist of the Urals.
In 1921 he was transferred to the Gokhran and began to live in Moscow. Was engaged in accounting material assets. After that, he worked a little in the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs.
In 1923 sharp decline. Yakov Mikhailovich was appointed director of the Krasny Bogatyr plant. That is, our hero began to lead the production of rubber shoes: boots, galoshes, boots. A rather strange profile after the KGB and financial activities.
In 1928, Yurovsky was transferred as director of the Polytechnic Museum. This is a long building near the Bolshoi Theatre. In 1938, the main perpetrator of the assassination died of an ulcer at the age of 60. He outlived his victims by 20 years and 16 days.
But apparently the regicides bring a curse on their offspring. This "hero" had three children. The eldest daughter Rimma Yakovlevna (1898-1980) and two younger sons.
The daughter joined the Bolshevik Party in 1917 and headed the youth organization (Komsomol) of Yekaterinburg. Since 1926, in the party work. did good career in this field in the city of Voronezh in 1934-1937. Then she was transferred to Rostov-on-Don, where she was arrested in 1938. She stayed in the camps until 1946.
Sat in prison and son Alexander Yakovlevich (1904-1986). He was arrested in 1952, but, however, was soon released. But trouble happened with the grandchildren and granddaughters. All the boys tragically died. Two fell from the roof of the house, two burned down during the fire. The girls died in infancy. Yurovsky's niece Maria suffered the most. She had 11 children. Only one boy survived to adolescence. The mother abandoned him. The child was adopted by strangers.
Concerning Nikulin, Ermakova and Medvedev (Kudrin), then these gentlemen lived to old age. They worked, were honorably retired, and then buried with dignity. But regicides always get what they deserve. This trio escaped their well-deserved punishment on earth, but there is still judgment in heaven.
Grave of Grigory Petrovich Nikulin
After death, each soul rushes to heavenly places, hoping that the angels will let her into the kingdom of heaven. So the souls of the killers rushed to the Light. But then a dark personality appeared in front of each of them. She politely took the sinner by the elbow and unambiguously nodded in the opposite direction from Paradise.
There, in the heavenly haze, a black pharynx was visible in the Underworld. And next to him were disgusting grinning faces, nothing like heavenly angels. These are devils, and they have one job - to put a sinner on a hot frying pan and fry him forever on a slow fire.
In conclusion, it should be noted that violence always breeds violence. The one who commits a crime becomes a victim of the criminals himself. Vivid proof of this is the fate of the regicides, about which we have tried to tell in as much detail as possible in our sad story.
Egor Laskutnikov
Tsar Nicholas II and King George V. 1913
Historian-researcher, publisher of diaries of the imperial family about betrayal, about passions and about the execution of the family on the scale of European geopolitics
April 18, 2014 Alexandra PushkarWhat is history like? The story is like a huge communal apartment. We are all registered in it - all residents, all participants. Some of the rooms are occupied. You can enter, introduce yourself, ask questions. Others are empty and sealed, there is no one to ask, and only by what people left behind you can understand what they were like. What for? Yes, because we live together! Shareholders of common housing.
What is time? A category of reason, that is, a part of ourselves. As we want, so we see it. If it is indeed a single space of rooms-epochs, then we cannot be divided into "we" and "they" - we are one. And who knows if our ancestors live behind the wall, if they hear our fuss, and if they are not ashamed of us. Most the right way get there, behind the wall - documents, letters and diaries. It is worth plunging into them, and you are in History. The line between times is blurred, as if you yourself wrote it all down. Events are extremely rare. In the diaries, everyday, repetitive actions are performed day after day. You imperceptibly get involved and live them yourself, in the first person, and you can no longer say - I another.
The publishing house "PROZAiK" saw the release of the "Diary of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich (KR) 1911-1915". This is the third and final part of the large publishing project "To the 400th Anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty". It includes the two-volume Diaries of Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna 1917-1918, as well as Diaries and Letters of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich 1915-1918. Previously, only the imperial archives were published. Documents of the Grand Dukes in full form are published for the first time.
The editor of the series is Vladimir Khrustalev, Candidate of Historical Sciences and member of the State Archives of the Russian Federation (SARF). He has been studying the Romanovs all his life. He suffered with them, he died with them, he saved them. Him and questions.
You have been dealing with the royal family for a long time, and you have dozens of publications on this topic to your credit. How did she enter your life?
- As a child, I wanted to be a forensic scientist, then an archaeologist, which in my mind was also associated with an investigation. But for health reasons, I could not deal with either one or the other and went to the historical and archival. I did and didn't regret it. The library is chic, closed funds (you can familiarize yourself with them, but you can’t use them). And there I came across Nikolai Sokolov's book "The Murder of the Royal Family." And my grandmother is also Sokolova. Are they not relatives? I became interested in the topic and gradually began to collect information. During my student practice at the Central State Administration of the RSFSR in the fund of personal pensioners, I came across the confession of Nikolai Zhuzhgov, one of the murderers of Mikhail Romanov, the brother of Nicholas II.
Were there many killers?
- Yes. I took note of everyone and began to slowly track them down.
What is their future fate?
- Their lives turned out differently, but their conscience did not torment them, and fate did not pursue them. They were proud of their participation in executions. Several people received personal pensions. Although the commandant of the Ipatiev House, a member of the Yekaterinburg Cheka, Yakov Yurovsky (Yankel Yurovskikh), was dying of a stomach ulcer in terrible agony in the Kremlin hospital.
My father kept a tape recording of one of these people. He was at our house. I didn’t see him, I don’t remember his name, and I know some details of his confessions only from the words of my parents. He said that the girls, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatyana, Maria and Anastasia, remained alive for a long time during the execution, because their corsets were stuffed with diamonds, and the bullets bounced off. They were also told that they were being taken out of Yekaterinburg. Probably, they were preparing to leave, hoping that they would be able to escape. Who could it be?
— Possibly, Pyotr Ermakov. He was called "Comrade Mauser". Recently, a story about him was published under the same title. Ermakov participated in the execution, finished off the princesses with a bayonet. When they were executed, a truck engine was started in the courtyard of the house to drown out the shots. At the end of the execution, they saw that some were alive. And the motor is turned off, they will hear the firing, and they stab with a bayonet. But Ermakov died in the early 1950s.
So it's not him. My father took that interview in the 1970s. Do you support the miraculous rescue of the youngest Grand Duchess, Anastasia?
- When it was all over, the bodies began to be taken to the truck. They lifted Anastasia - she screamed, and Yermakov stabbed her. Hence the rumors and a whole series of impostors. The most famous is the Polish Anna Anderson. In the 1920s, at a trial, she tried to prove her belonging to the royal family. Even some of the Romanovs recognized her, because she knew things known only to her inner circle. Most likely, someone advised her. Next to her, by the way, was the son of Nicholas II's life physician Gleb Botkin, who testified that she was the king's daughter. Then she married an American and moved to the USA. MGIMO professor Vladlen Sirotkin and Baltic investigator Anatoly Gryannik, both unprofessional historians, found a certain Georgian lady and passed her off as Anastasia. She wrote the book "I am Anastasia Romanova", and the two began to prepare a presentation. The lady had died by that time, but they continued to pass her off as alive. Strange story. Further, this same Gryannik published the monograph “Testament of Nicholas II” and claimed that the royal family under the name of the Berezkins lived in the Caucasus and that Elizaveta Fedorovna allegedly came there (who was killed in Alapaevsk and whose remains lie in Jerusalem), and Mikhail Romanov (who was killed in Perm and whose remains have not yet been found). According to this version, they all lived a long life and died safely not far from Sukhumi. Some schizophrenia.
These myths don't just happen. How long did the hope associated with the restoration of the monarchy remain in Russia and among the emigrants?
- The memoirs of Tatyana Melnik-Botkina, daughter of the life physician Nicholas II, have been preserved. She wrote how they were taken from Yekaterinburg to Tyumen. There was no railroad there, it was winter, and steamboats did not go. They were taken on wagons. When they passed through the villages, changed horses, the peasants mistook them for the royal cortege and said: “Thank God, the tsar-priest is back! Soon there will be order." But then Nicholas II was killed so that this order would never return. On the other hand, the White Guard movement during the civil war needed a common idea, and such an idea was the return of the monarchy. This was not their official slogan: most of the Whites denied the monarchy, were Cadets, Social Revolutionaries, Octobrists ... But it was important for them to maintain a united anti-Bolshevik front, and therefore they tacitly staked on the tsar: that he had not died, that he was hiding somewhere and would soon return and reconcile everyone. For this reason, many did not believe in the research of Nikolai Sokolov, who presented the version white movement, nor in other investigations into the murder of the Romanovs, which have been multiplying since the end of 1918, fearing to lose this idea. The White Guard newspapers often published reports that the brother of Nicholas II, V.K. Mikhail appeared in Omsk, then at Wrangel in the Crimea, then in Indo-China, in Laos, then somewhere else. Such "ducks" flew for a long time. In part, the Bolsheviks themselves spread these rumors. After all, according to the official version, only the king was killed, and the royal family was taken out, and among others, Anastasia. She was specifically mentioned that she was saved. They even found some person who was passed off as her. But it turned out to be some kind of almost a thief, and she was quickly exposed. And about Mikhail, when he was shot, they officially wrote that he fled and allegedly showed up in Omsk and called for the liberation of Russia from the Bolsheviks. Moreover, months after his death, a report was prepared that he had been detained and an investigation was underway by the Cheka. This text was already typed in the printing house, but at the last moment they gave the command to cancel it so as not to attract attention once again. And there were empty spaces in the papers. But in one county leaflet they did not have time to remove, and it slipped into the press that Mikhail was arrested along with his secretary, the Englishman Johnson.
- Before the revolution, he lived in Penza and was a judicial investigator, and when the Civil War began, he changed into a peasant dress, went over to the side of the whites and eventually ended up with Kolchak. Although the investigation into the murder of Nicholas II was already underway, he considered that he would do it better, and took care of it himself. But he started only in February 1919, that is, six months after the execution. By this time, much of the evidence had been lost.
Chief of Staff
In the days of the great struggle with the external enemy, striving for almost three
year to enslave our Motherland, the Lord God was pleased to send down
Russia is a new ordeal. Initiated internal folk
unrest threatens to have a disastrous effect on the further conduct of
stubborn war. The fate of Russia, the honor of our heroic army, the good
people, the whole future of our dear Fatherland requires bringing
war at all costs to a victorious end. Cruel Enemy
exerts her last strength, and the hour is near when the valiant
our army, together with our glorious allies, will be able to
finally crush the enemy. In these decisive days in the life of Russia
we considered it a duty of conscience to facilitate close unity for our people and
rallying all the forces of the people for the speedy achievement of victory and in
in agreement with the State Duma, we recognized it for the good to renounce
throne of the Russian state and lay down the supreme
power. Not wanting to part with our beloved son, we convey
our legacy to our brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich
and bless him for accession to the throne of the state
Russian. We command our brother to govern affairs
state in full and inviolable unity with
representatives of the people in legislative institutions on those
principles, which will be established by them, bringing in that inviolable 123
oath. In the name of our beloved Motherland, we call on all faithful sons
Fatherland to fulfill his sacred duty to him
obedience to the king in a difficult moment of nationwide trials and help
him, together with the representatives of the people, to withdraw the state
Russian on the path of victory, prosperity and glory. Yes it will help
Lord God of Russia.
Signed: Nicholas
Minister of the Imperial Court Adjutant General Count Fredericks
Down to the grave
If you try to determine the role of the last tsar in Russian history, what is it? Isn't that the role of the slain lamb, the victim? His entire path, from his coronation on Khodynka to his execution in Yekaterinburg, was a continuous sacrifice, blood.
Not everyone thought so. Some saw the February Revolution as sin and horror: a change of regime, the anointed of God was thrown off the throne. For them, Nicholas was the king-lamb. And others believed that in this way they were freed from tsarism and now a bright future awaits them. And in different eras perception also changes. It is impossible to unambiguously answer this question.
Grand Duchesses Tatiana and Anastasia are carrying water for the garden. Summer 1917
In August 1915, the sovereign replaced his cousin, V.K. Nikolay Nikolaevich, Nicholas. Isn't it a sacrifice? After all, he understood that the opposition would peck him. Why did he do it?
- From the very beginning of the war, he wanted to take this position, but he was dissuaded, and he appointed Nikolai Nikolaevich. Temporarily, because he always dreamed of leading the army himself. Meanwhile, by the end of 1914, the situation at the front had changed. At first we were advancing, Lvov and Galich were taken ...
... "primordially Russian cities", As Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich writes...
“Yes, although they changed hands and ended up in Austria. But already in August-September 1914, ours were defeated by the Germans. Two armies almost perished, Commander-in-Chief of the 2nd Army. In 1915, the Germans entered the Baltic states, drove us out of Galicia, and panic began among the Russians. It became clear that something urgently needed to be done. Meanwhile, Nikolai Nikolaevich was playing his own game. He attributed failures at the front to Minister of War Sukhomlinov, who did not ensure the supply of weapons. Through his efforts, this minister was removed and put on trial. Following Sukhomlinov, he tried to reappoint other ministers, replacing them with democrats close to the Duma. Nicholas II listened to him at first, but Alexandra Feodorovna did not like it, and Rasputin did not like it either. And they began to inspire the sovereign that Nikolai Nikolayevich was taking power. And then there were rumors that Nikolai Nikolayevich said:
Rasputin will come to Headquarters - I will hang him on a bitch, and I will send the queen to a monastery so that she does not get into business.
And the tsar, seeing that things were not important at the front, and there was a conspiracy in the rear, sent Nicholas to the Caucasus and himself stood at the head of the army. It was the right decision. Thus, he stopped criticism of the military authorities. Because it is one thing to criticize Nikolai Nikolayevich, and another thing to criticize the tsar. And they all froze at once. So considerations of state necessity prevail here, and not at all sacrifice. He donated, yes. His reputation, if the war rolled to Moscow. But, after the change of military leadership, the course of hostilities stabilized, and military industry began to gain momentum. Deliveries of equipment from abroad began, control of military orders in the country tightened, the army again went on the offensive and again almost reached Lvov. Heading the Headquarters, the king saved the situation
In the last all-Russian census in the column "occupation" NikolaiII wrote: master of the Russian land. He defined himself this way: not a warrior - master. And his rank was colonel . He received it even before the wedding to the kingdom and remained in it, taking the supreme command. To what extent did the status of the commander-in-chief correspond to his sense of self?
- The post of commander-in-chief was for him tantamount to the royal title. Both he understood as his sacred duty. He is God's anointed, swore an oath on the Bible to remain faithful to Russia and the autocracy. And just as he was not free to choose whether he should be king or not, he could not deviate from the post of commander in chief. And he received a colonel even before his marriage, when he commanded a company of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. Alexander III himself, by the way, became a general at the age of 18, and Nikolai followed all the steps and reached the rank of colonel. He really served. He was in the camps, he commanded a battalion. And when Alexander III died, he considered that since his father gave him this title, he would leave it behind him. But in any case, he is the supreme commander in status. Like President Putin today: not a general by rank, but still commander in chief. The children of the Romanov family were specially prepared for both the university program and the military one. Every male Romanov was considered a military man.
Not only men. Both Empress Alexandra and the Grand Duchess-daughters were colonels.
— Women's military ranks honorary. Tatyana and Olga were considered colonels, but did not serve, but were chiefs of the hussar regiments. And regarding whether Nicholas II considered himself a military man, there are memories of how, even before the war, the sovereign tested the uniform during the exercises of an infantry regiment. At the end of the exercises, he filled out the soldier's honor book: Title - Soldier. Service life - To the grave.
Big Bolshevik secret
You investigated the "Romanov case", but it was an investigation into the table?
- Unofficially, I collected materials not so much on the royal family, but on the grand dukes, who were also shot. And my official Ph.D. thesis was called “The History of the Creation of the System state reserves Russian Federation". My father was a military man, first he served in the Far East, on Lake Khanka, then in Central Asia and Ukraine. He was a hunter, mushroom picker, was fond of fishing and took me with him. I loved these trips.
Do you remember the first time you realized that all family destroyed? It was our big Soviet secret. It was still known about Nikolai Alexandrovich and the queen, but few knew that the children, the doctor Botkin, sisters and brothers were killed.
- I heard about children when I was very young, and this impression hit me. My grandmother Zhenya was born the same year as the Tsarevich, in 1904. Often repeated that she was the same age as him. It was strange for me to hear that. At school they say one thing, grandmother another. It seemed that that time was terrible, people had a difficult life - what to remember? But she did not say that the children were also killed. I learned about this later, when I read Sokolov in 1967.
And how did you take it?
— How… Terrible! My friend and I marched around the boarding school and sang “God save the Tsar”. Here's another thing that revolted me: there is tsarist history, and there is Soviet history. And one often doesn't match the other. I was fond of the Russo-Japanese war, the 1st and 2nd Pacific squadrons. And so, I ask the teacher about the Aurora cruiser, about its participation in hostilities. And she - "I don't know if he was there or not." But I read at Novikov-Priboy's in Tsushima and in Stepanov's Port Arthur - I was!
Now it is precisely established, whose order was to shoot the Romanovs?
- They still argue, although in a note from the commandant of the Ipatiev House Yurovsky we read: “An order came from Moscow through Perm on the conventional language» (telegrams then did not go directly, but through Perm) . So, about the shooting. Because there was an agreement on a signal from above in a conditional language.
Names of those who gave the order?
- They are not in any document, but it is understood that these are Lenin and Sverdlov. There is an opinion that the local authorities are to blame for everything - the Petrosoviet, the Uralsoviet. But it is known that the military commissar, secretary of the Ural Regional Committee Filipp Goloshchekin (real name Shaya Itsovich-Isakovich, party nickname Philip), traveled to Moscow in June-July 1918 before the Left SR rebellion and asked what to do with the tsar. By the way, he was friends with Yakov Sverdlov and lived in his house on this trip. But he returned with nothing. They did not give a sanction either to take them to the rear, or to Moscow, where it would be more convenient to arrange a trial. No, they ordered to keep on the front line, although the White Czechs and the Siberian army were advancing. Already, apparently, they were afraid. If you bring it to Moscow, the Germans will say: at least give us the queen back. But, perhaps, they agreed with the Germans. We received carte blanche for the fate of the Romanovs. Shortly before the execution, Goloshchekin turned to Uritsky and Zinoviev in Petrograd, as they seemed to be going to judge the tsar. And where to judge, if the whites are advancing, they will take Yekaterinburg? They sent a dispatch to Moscow: "Philip asks what to do". In the end, Yurovsky wrote down that the order had been received from Moscow. But this is indirect evidence, because there are a lot of cipher telegrams that no one has read.
The sovereign with children and servants in the Tsarskoye Selo garden. Spring 1917
What did Trotsky have to do with the execution?
- He himself in the emigrant diaries denies his participation in these events - the diaries have been published. He claims that in June 1918 he was at the front. But in reality, when the decision was made to execute him, he was in Moscow. He writes that he asked Sverdlov: “ Did they shoot the whole family? — "Yes". "And who made the decision?" - "We are here". "We"- this is Sverdlov, Zinoviev and the Politburo as a whole.
And Voikov?
- His name is associated with the execution of the royal family. But this is a myth. It is believed that he left the German inscription in the room of the Ipatiev house, where the execution took place. Like, Yurovsky is illiterate, and Voikov lived abroad, spoke languages and could write it. In fact, he did not participate in the execution. This is a small fry. He was the supply commissar in Yekaterinburg.
What's the inscription?
— BelsatzarwarinselbigerNachtvonseinenKnechtenumgebracht - That night Belshazzar was killed by his servants. This is a quote from Heine's poems about the biblical king Belshazzar. She was discovered by white officers when they entered Yekaterinburg. Written on wallpaper. This piece was cut out, it ended up in Sokolov's archive, was taken abroad and eventually appeared at an auction. Now a fragment of this inscription has returned to Russia. Perhaps it was the white Czechs who wrote it. By the time the Whites arrived, a lot of people had already been in the Ipatiev House.
You are an eyewitness and a participant in the process of revealing the truth about the Yekaterinburg and Alapaevsk executions. How did he go?
— It began with the advent of Yeltsin, who brought his team, historians, and professors from Sverdlovsk University to Moscow. In the early 1990s, Rudolf Germanovich Pikhoya arrived and headed the Main Archive. Professor Yuri Alekseevich Buranov arrived. His topic was the history of metallurgy in the Urals. But there, willy-nilly, when you collect material, you will come to it. Buranov worked in the Central Party Archive, but went to work with documents on the Romanovs at the TsSAOR (Central state archive October Revolution, now GARF), and I was invited to advise him. This was in the late 1980s, and in the early 1990s we already had publications in Artyom Borovik's Top Secret.
Are these the first publications of the archives of the royal family?
- Yes. Buranov and I prepared two materials: “ Blue blood”- about the execution of the grand dukes and their entourage in Alapaevsk in 1918 and“ The unknown diary of Mikhail Romanov is the last entries of Mikhail Alexandrovich for 1918, a fragment of his diaries from the Perm archive. Later we found the same fragment from 1918 in Moscow. In St. Petersburg, documents of the courts of the imperial family were mainly kept. If you deal with this topic, then you need to know all the archives, including the regional ones. Of course, most of materials ended up in the archives of the FSB (formerly the KGB) and party archives. Access to them is more difficult, and again you need to know where to look. Documents of those who managed to escape have been preserved in the West. This is the fund of the Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, the sister of Nicholas II. Partially - the fund of Alexander Mikhailovich ( Sandro), second cousin and friend of the king. Their papers ended up mostly in the libraries of American universities.
Which of the Romanovs managed to leave?
- 18 members of the imperial family were killed. Those who ended up in the Crimea fled: Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna, Alexander Mikhailovich, Nikolai Nikolaevich - the commander-in-chief of the Russian army in 1914-1915 and 1917 and the tsar's cousin, his brother Pyotr Nikolaevich. The Brest Treaty contains a paragraph stating that Germans and immigrants from Germany have the right to freely leave Russia for 10 years. German princesses, wives of grand dukes and their children fell under this article. Let's say Konstantinovichi(children of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich , K.R. - Note. ed.) not only fell, since their mother, Elizaveta Mavrikievna, Maura, was German, but also in the line of succession to the throne did not stand! They were not even great princes, but only princes of imperial blood. In total there were almost 50 people - members of the imperial family. Gabriel Konstantinovich with tuberculosis was kept in St. Petersburg in prison, and only thanks to Gorky, they were allowed to move to the hospital, and then to Finland. On the other hand, everyone was under arrest, but V.K. Vladimir Kirillovich, and then Kerensky managed to escape to Finland. There was a list of the imperial family, according to which people were arrested. Immediately after the revolution, the Petrosoviet was engaged in this. But the same decree was issued even under the Provisional Government. Moreover, officially it prescribed only the arrest of the royal family - i.e. Nicholas II, Alexandra and the children - and behind the scenes, all the Romanovs were supposed to be in custody where the revolution found them. For example, Maria Pavlovna, the aunt of Nicholas II (since 1909 - the president of the Academy of Arts, in the 1910s, together with the Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich, led the Grand Duke's opposition to Nicholas II), with her sons Andrei and Boris, ended up on vacation in Kislovodsk and was arrested there. How they managed to escape is unclear. Perhaps they paid off with a bribe and managed to hide. They hid in the mountains until the whites came, and when they began to retreat, in 1920 they went by sea to Europe. In addition to them, several generals turned out to be in Kislovodsk, incl. Commander of the Northern Front, General Ruzsky.
Is this the tsarist adjutant, the head of the Pskov Headquarters, who forced Nikolai to abdicate, broke his hands?
- Yes. He and other military leaders were not just killed - they were hacked to pieces with checkers. And the elder brother of Konstantin Konstantinovich ( K.R.) Nikolai Konstantinovich was arrested in Tashkent, where he was exiled back in tsarist times. He had a mistress, an American, either an actress or a dancer. She did not have enough money for a gift, and he stole gems from the frame of a family icon from the Marble Palace. There was a terrible scandal, Alexander II exiled him to Central Asia. There he died, although it is said that he was killed.
BUT Grand Duchess Elizaveta Fedorovna was detained in Moscow...
- Yes, in the Martha and Mary Convent, which she founded. It was the third day of Easter 1918. She was arrested and taken to Perm with two assistants. One of them was released, the other remained with Elizaveta Feodorovna, she was also killed. At that time, many Romanovs were in Perm. Then we decided to take them to Yekaterinburg. They took it to Yekaterinburg - it seems like a bit too much. And those who were not directly part of the family were transferred to Alapaevsk.
In 1992, Elizabeth Feodorovna was canonized, and during her lifetime she was hated and persecuted. In 1915-1916, she became a favorite target of Moscow rioters. Because the German Native sister Empress Alexandra Feodorovna
- Those who did not know how she helped people, they hated it. During the war, propaganda against the Germans was conducted terrible. And who knew, treated with love. When the rioters went to the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, they defended it.
In total, the Romanovs were kept in eight places: Tobolsk, Petersburg, Crimea, Tashkent, Kislovodsk, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Alapaevsk. Did I name everything?
- At nine - still Vologda. The cousins of Nicholas II were taken there: Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich, he was a historian, his brother Grand Duke Georgy Mikhailovich, manager of the Russian Museum, and Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich, manager of the state horse breeding.
Who was killed in Alapaevsk?
- The children of Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich - Igor, John and Konstantin Konstantinovich, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, the sister of Empress Elizabeth Feodorovna and Vladimir Pavlovich Paliy - the son of Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, who, although he had a different surname, also belonged to the royal family. They tried to destroy their bodies, as well as the remains of the royal family. They threw it into the mine. And after they failed to bring it down, they threw garbage at it.
And this is a special topic. The fact is that not everyone officially recognizes the authenticity of the royal remains. There are discrepancies among researchers of different years. For example, Nikolai Sokolov and Konstantin Dieterikhs, who wrote about the Romanovs in the 1920s, testify that the bodies were burned. Sokolov found fragments, melted bullets, but did not find the remains themselves and was inclined to believe that they were destroyed. White emigrants claim that the royal family was destroyed, and then all of a sudden, the remains were found. Personally, I believe that they are genuine, although, of course, you need to double-check everything. During the investigation, many distortions were made.
In the early 1990s, a commission for the royal remains was established. Did you take part in it?
- I was a member of the expert group under the commission, observed its work. And that's what struck me. First, its composition. God knows who, ignorant people. Deputy Minister of the Textile Industry! And secondly, not all documents were looked at. Many Ural archives for the summer of 1918 disappeared, and no one even tried to seriously search. We opened the party archive for this period - we do not find it! Maybe they disappeared, maybe they destroyed it when Yekaterinburg was evacuated to Vyatka. But there were neither whites nor Germans, they could not lose. Some materials emerge on the Lubyanka. Suddenly! After all, when the commission on the remains applied, they swore that they had nothing on the murder of the Romanovs, and years later, suddenly, there were two whole volumes on the royal family.
What is it connected with?
- Perhaps they do not know their archives of the first years of Soviet power well. And there is a version that some of the documents were bombed during World War II during the evacuation. They were taken out of Moscow. On the Volga, the barge perished, and many materials, for example, from the People's Commissariat of Agriculture, then disappeared. This is attested in the acts, I have seen these acts. But the materials found are enough to understand: both murders are identical, in fact it was one order. In Yekaterinburg, they were killed on the night of July 16-17, 1918. In Alapaevsk - a day later. The bodies of the royal family were stripped, things were burned. This is evidenced by the funeral team of Chekists. Alapaevtsy were thrown into the mine alive, with documents, in clothes. The acts drawn up by the White Guards were found. According to them, the bodies were thrown into the mine and they tried to blow them up in both cases, both in Alapaevsk and near Yekaterinburg. And the commandant of the Ipatiev House, Yurovsky, writes that they temporarily wanted to place them there. How temporary if you throw grenades into the mine! Soon they began to talk about the execution of the royal family, and in order to stop the rumors, they returned to the remains, brought kerosene, sulfuric acid ... Apparently, they themselves did not know what to do. It was impossible for them to be found. Pravda and Izvestia wrote at the time: “In connection with the threat of the capture of the king by the White Czechs, by decision of the Ural Council, he was shot. The family is in a safe place”. And the Germans were told the same thing.
Cousin Georgie and auntAlix
You said they were dragging on with the execution. Why?
- Because initially there was a decision to judge. It was assumed that Trotsky would arrange some kind of trial.
Or did they expect the royal family to be taken out? Starting with Peter the Romanovs, they married German women, and they also had family relations with other European courts. The mother of Nicholas II, Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna, is the daughter of the King of Denmark. Her sister Alexandra, Dowager Queen of England, was the mother of King George of England. V and native aunt Nikolai. Cousin Georgie and aunt Alix(not to be confused with Alix- Nikolai's wifeII, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. — Approx. ed.) did not try?
- Not. We would like to - both the Germans and the British had opportunities.
It is known that the British brother was afraid to give asylum to the Russian brother. The official pretext is that Parliament voted against it. But this is a pretext, but he himself wanted this? In letters to Russian relatives, he signed "cousin and old friend Georgie". Did they have a good relationship with Nicholas?
Yes, while he was in power. And then they decided to disown him. Why do we need a retired king? Nicholas had a trusting relationship with George. During the war, there were rumors that, secretly from England, Germany and I were preparing separate peace. They say that the German empress and Rasputin made up the German party, which is playing for this, and England will not give up the straits to us (according to union treaty, in the event of the victory of the Entente, the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus straits retreated to Russia. — Note. ed.). Someone deliberately spread these rumors. Maybe the Germans, maybe our manufacturers. Because if Russia wins, they will not see power, but for now the war is an opportune moment to get rid of the tsar. And this story was discussed by Nicholas II and George V in letters. Georgie wrote: you do not believe these rumors, they are hostile, the Germans do not want to put up, and we will give up the straits. And the sovereign told him: yes, there are people who want to quarrel us. But we will not put up with Germany, we will fight to the end. They assured each other of loyalty. Participants of the events testify to this. The English military attache Williams, who was at our Headquarters, personally discussed this issue with the sovereign, his memoirs have been published.
But that is politics, and family ties?
- Alexandra Feodorovna in letters to Nicholas II from the words auntsAlix reported details of the life of British relatives. That one died at the front, the other got married ... We are talking about everyday, routine things, they maintained family relations. We read all this in their front-line correspondence, which is published. A hefty volume has recently come out - "Correspondence of Nikolai and Alexandra." This is actually all their correspondence of the war years. By the way, it was also published in the 1920s - in 5 volumes from 1923 to 1927. Then it was published by the Freemasonry historian Oleg Platonov under the title "Nicholas II in Secret Correspondence".
From the time of JohnIII and IV England "played" against us. And in 1917, the Russian opposition, members of the Provisional Government consulted at the British Embassy. This is documented. At the same time, personal ties between the two courts were strong. Maria Fedorovna stayed with her sister at Marlborough House for a long time. Her children and grandchildren were brought up in the English tradition: they all had English educators, all owned English language and even diaries were kept in English. The chief Angloman among the Romanovs was brother Nicholas, in whose favor he renounced, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich. He sincerely loved England, he served his "exile" there in 1912-1914. England had reasons not to save them. But isn't that a betrayal? "Corporate" - the monarch betrays the monarch and blood - the brother of the brother.
- Officially, it is believed that Nicholas II was "surrendered" because the British government was against his stay in England during the war. The country was then ruled by the Laborites, that is, the left, - supposedly they insisted on such a decision. The English Ambassador Buchanan confirms this version in his memoirs. And when in the 1990s an examination was carried out on the royal remains, and the chairman of the commission, director of the GARF Sergei Mironenko traveled to England with investigator Solovyov, he saw with his own eyes the diaries of George V. They say that this is his order, he personally put pressure on the government, so that it does not accept the Romanovs. That is, the official version was fabricated in order to shield the king.
In his diaries one can trace the moment of hesitation, choice, or Georgie guided only by political expediency?
- I have not seen these documents, but it is known that as soon as the February revolution took place, and the king abdicated, George V invited the royal family to England by telegram, and it seems that Nicholas II was ready to accept this offer. But the children were sick, measles, all have a temperature of 40, where to take them! And Nikolai went to Headquarters to hand over his affairs. Yes, it seems that no one touched anyone, everyone was still at large. Kerensky even promised that he himself would escort them to Murman, and there he would put them on a cruiser, and they would leave for England. This was also written about in the newspapers. But the Petrograd Soviet, headed by Trotsky, declared: how are you going to let the emperor go abroad! He is organizing a counter-revolution there! Urgent arrest in the Peter and Paul Fortress! However, then Trotsky still had to coordinate actions with the Provisional Government. But it was against it, and they concluded a compromise: not to arrest everyone, but only the royal family and keep not in the fortress, but who was where. In fact, it was house arrest. Well, soon the Provisional Government was no longer up to the royal family. While it was fighting for its portfolios, it happened october coup, and Nicholas II and his family were sent to Tobolsk instead of England.
Everyone was sure that it was about to resolve. Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich wrote in his diaries: everything is being settled. For February-March 1917 every day such notes.
- They thought so. And when the Bolsheviks announced a separate peace, it became clear that something strange was happening. After all, Nicholas II was accused of precisely this, that he, a traitor, wants to conclude peace with Germany, and for this he was overthrown. But it turned out, having seized power, the Bolsheviks did just that. Why? Because the Germans financed them. The February Revolution actually took place with German money. Just like the first Russian - into Japanese. And Bloody Sunday is arranged for them. All these are planned provocations carried out with Japanese and German money with the support of local revolutionaries. Both Japan in 1905 and Germany in 1917 were vitally interested in Russia's weakening. Germany was on the verge of defeat, by all means it was necessary to withdraw us from the war. Back in July 1917, Germany tried to provoke an armed uprising, but then Kerensky dispersed the Bolsheviks and Lenin was put on the wanted list.
By the February Revolution, the royal family was in Petrograd. When and why was she taken out of there?
- If we talk about the family as such - Nikolai, Alexander and children - they were transported to Tobolsk on the night of July 31 to August 1. As for V.K. Mikhail Alexandrovich and other Grand Dukes, back in March 1918, there was an order from the Petrograd Commune to remove them from Petrograd. The Bolsheviks themselves just then rushed to Moscow, the capital was moved because of the German threat. The Germans, on the one hand, signed a peace treaty, and on the other hand, they attacked, chopped off half of Russia, including Ukraine. And the situation was such that if the king abdicated the throne, then Michael did not abdicate! The document he signed implied that the choice of the board would be made by the Constituent Assembly. He did not renounce, but "hung up" the question. That is, the danger of restoration remained. Therefore, the Constituent Assembly was dispersed (January 5/18, 1918, on the day of convocation), and all the Romanovs were taken out of Petrograd.
There is a version that NikolaiII did not recant either, and his signature on the Manifesto was forged.
— Historian Pyotr Multatuli adheres to this version. But a putsch is a putsch. The same Catherine II - from whom did she ask for signatures? If you look at the act of renunciation, then this is not a manifesto in the proper sense of the word, that is, drawn up in accordance with all the rules, but a telegram that the tsar coordinated with the Headquarters. At the same time, it is believed that he renounced voluntarily, although in reality he did it under duress, and therefore, illegally. The way the act of renunciation is framed is illegal! Various forces were interested in the abdication of Nikolai Romanov. And Russian Freemasons, and Western powers. There was a common goal - to knock Russia out of the game. Because in the war the scales outweighed in favor of the Entente. If Russia got the Black Sea straits, England would not be in trouble. From there, Egypt is within easy reach, Syria is nearby, Palestine. The Russians were then in Iran, and the British traditionally considered it to be their sphere of influence.
Do you mean the redistribution of the world between the allies, which has been discussed since the beginning of 1917? According to this plan, Russia departed the Dardanelles with the Bosporus and Constantinople, which Potemkin still dreamed of, and Paul I, who named his first-born Constantine - in honor of the Byzantine emperor and with an eye to expanding the empire.
- This was discussed back in 1915. The coup meant that there would be a new king, and a necessarily constitutional monarch, as in England, and there would be new agreements, that is, then the agreements could be revised. But when everything went wrong in Russia, they themselves, it seems, were not happy.
England was for a revolution-constitution, but not for a revolution-chaos and the power of the Bolsheviks?
- Yes, and not only England participated in this complex combination. The British feared a separate Russian peace treaty. If Russia is just getting out of the war, how many German divisions are being liberated! They would have these French in one fell swoop, and then - on the British. But the main cause of the events of 1917 is not in England, but in our so-called democracy and revolutionary Social Democracy. As during the Russo-Japanese War, so in 1917 the Russian opposition tried at all costs to achieve a constitutional monarchy. In 1905, it took place, but this already seemed not enough, and soon Zemgor was such social organization- opposed the current government. It turns out that the more you give in, the more demands. And with the outbreak of the war, they began to seek a military defeat, so that tsarism would fall: “ Convert the imperialist war into a civil war!» When this happened, all the social gains achieved under the tsar collapsed. You know, in the First World War, prisoners were kept on both sides, they were served by the Red Cross. If they returned from captivity or fled, then there were heroes. Stalin also said - we have no prisoners, only traitors. They built a just world, built equality, but the slogans of the "builders" are the same, and the actions are completely different. This collision is always repeated and always revolts. They promised land to peasants, factories to workers, but in the end what? In fact, we had state capitalism. This became clear very soon, and without the help of the Red Latvians, the Bolsheviks would hardly have sat down. When the German ambassador Mirbach was assassinated, the critical moment arrived. The Germans were very tense, and, it seems to me, the Chekists shot the royal family out of fright.
rescue attempts
It is known that there were attempts to free the sovereign. One of them was undertaken by the adjutant and friend of Mikhail Alexandrovich, Rizochka - captain of His Imperial Majesty's Own convoy Alexander Petrovich Riza-Kuli-Mirza Kadzhar. He even managed to sneak into Yekaterinburg incognito. Prior to this, Margarita Khitrovo, maid of honor of the royal court, visited the captives in Tobolsk. What did they expect?
- All this is nothing more than good wishes, no one has done anything serious. Margarita Khitrovo was a friend of the eldest daughter of Nicholas II, Olga Nikolaevna. She traveled to Tobolsk even under the Provisional Government. As soon as the royal family was taken there in 1917, she immediately went to them visit. After all, they were taken from Petrograd to the rear, away from the Germans, "to freedom." And this Margarita, you see, on the way, she said something inadvertently: de, she is going to visit, she is carrying letters from relatives. She was immediately arrested on suspicion of conspiracy. She was soon released, but V.K. was arrested under this sign. Mikhail Alexandrovich in Gatchina and Pavel Alexandrovich (uncle of Nicholas II) in Petrograd. And after, by the way, the Bolsheviks often resorted to this topic. Several times there were reports that allegedly someone was trying to free the king.
Nicholas II with his children on the roof of the House of Freedom in Tobolsk. Spring 1918
So neither Rizochka, nor did the others actually do anything?
- Nothing. But there was such Boris Nikolaevich Solovyov (husband of Matryona Rasputina, daughter of Grigory, died in 1926 in Germany), he tried to organize something. He arrived in Tobolsk, established surveillance for the royal family and tried to arrange their release. Investigator Sokolov believed that he was afraid that the Entente would not capture the family and make it the banner of the white movement, which was against the Germans. The Germans were afraid of the whites. In the event of their victory, Russia could turn its bayonets against Germany.
Western governments tried to do something?
- They reasoned like George V: “Why risk your skin because of some Romanovs!” But he nevertheless sent a ship to the Crimea and the mother of Nicholas II, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, and took the brothers Nicholas and Peter Nikolaevich to Europe.
As for the Entente governments, they persuaded the Bolsheviks to continue the war, to open a second front. And Lenin dressed up between the Germans and the Entente, guessing with whom it is better. To which the German Ambassador Mirbach made it clear: if you do this, then we can change you, win back. In the end, his Chekist Blyumkin blew a bomb. Meanwhile, the communists themselves had different attitudes towards the war. Many, especially those on the left, wanted it. So that it was like in the French Revolution - there, too, the Germans entered Paris. They thought, like this, on bayonets, the world wave will begin. And the situation at the front was such that the Czechs went on the offensive. The Czechs are the strength of the Entente. And the Germans decided that if the new regime, which is not supported by the end of the war, will be thrown off, the former government will return, and a second front can be organized. We must support! And they turned a blind eye to the fact that the royal family was killed. But that's what I think. Or maybe there was some kind of agreement between the powers. Therefore, until now, everyone is silent.
What do you mean they are silent? Are there archives in the West to which access is closed?
On some issues there is a term of up to a hundred years or more, especially in England. Documents cannot be touched before its expiration. The British archives are like our Spetskhran, and even worse. It was we who pulled out almost everything during perestroika, and now we are sprinkling ashes on our heads. And those are silent, although behind them there are no less sins and provocations.
We thank the publishing house "PROZAiK" for the materials provided.
"The world will never know what we did to them," boasted one of the executioners, Petr Voikov. But it turned out differently. Over the next 100 years, the truth found its way, and today a majestic temple has been built on the site of the murder.
About the causes and main characters of the murder of the royal family tells Doctor of Historical Sciences Vladimir Lavrov.
Maria Pozdnyakova,« AiF”: It is known that the Bolsheviks were going to hold a trial of Nicholas II, but then abandoned this idea. Why?
Vladimir Lavrov: Indeed, the Soviet government, headed by Lenin in January 1918 announced that the trial of the former emperor Nicholas II will be. It was assumed that the main charge would be Bloody Sunday - January 9, 1905. However, Lenin in the end could not help but realize that this tragedy did not guarantee a death sentence. Firstly, Nicholas II did not order the execution of workers, he was not in St. Petersburg at all that day. And secondly, by that time the Bolsheviks themselves had stained themselves with “Bloody Friday”: on January 5, 1918, thousands of peaceful demonstrations in support of Constituent Assembly. Moreover, they were shot at the same places where people died on Bloody Sunday. How then to throw in the face of the king that he is bloody? And Lenin with Dzerzhinsky then what?
But let's assume that any head of state can find fault. But what is the fault Alexandra Fedorovna? Is that the wife? And why judge the children of the sovereign? Women and a teenager would have to be released from custody right there in the courtroom, admitting that Soviet authority repressed the innocent.
In March 1918, the Bolsheviks concluded a separate Brest Peace with the German aggressors. The Bolsheviks gave Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states, pledged to demobilize the army and navy and pay an indemnity in gold. Nicholas II at a public trial after such a peace could turn from an accused into an accuser, qualifying the actions of the Bolsheviks themselves as treason. In a word, Lenin did not dare to sue Nicholas II.
Izvestia of July 19, 1918 opened with this publication. Photo: Public Domain
- AT Soviet time the execution of the royal family was presented as an initiative of the Yekaterinburg Bolsheviks. But who is really responsible for this crime?
— In the 1960s. former bodyguard of Lenin Akimov said that he personally sent a telegram from Vladimir Ilyich to Yekaterinburg with a direct order to shoot the tsar. This testimony confirmed the memories Yurovsky, commandant of the Ipatiev House, and the head of his security Ermakova, who previously admitted that they had received a firing telegram from Moscow.
Also revealed was the decision of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) of May 19, 1918 with the order Yakov Sverdlov deal with the work of Nicholas II. Therefore, the tsar and his family were sent specifically to Yekaterinburg, Sverdlov's fiefdom, where all his friends from underground work in pre-revolutionary Russia were. On the eve of the massacre, one of the leaders of the Yekaterinburg communists Goloshchekin came to Moscow, lived in Sverdlov's apartment, received instructions from him.
The day after the massacre, on July 18, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee announced that Nicholas II had been shot, and his wife and children had been evacuated to a safe place. That is, Sverdlov and Lenin deceived Soviet people, stating that the spouse and children are alive. They deceived because they perfectly understood: in the eyes of the public, killing innocent women and a 13-year-old boy is a terrible crime.
- There is a version that the family was killed because of the offensive of the whites. Like, the Whites could return the Romanovs to the throne.
- None of the leaders of the white movement was going to restore the monarchy in Russia. In addition, the offensive of the whites was not lightning fast. The Bolsheviks themselves perfectly evacuated themselves and seized property. So it was not difficult to take out the royal family.
The real reason for the destruction of the family of Nicholas II is different: they were a living symbol of the great millennium Orthodox Russia which Lenin hated. In addition, in June-July 1918, a large-scale Civil War broke out in the country. Lenin had to rally his party. The murder of the royal family was a demonstration that the Rubicon had been passed: either we win at any cost, or we will have to answer for everything.
- Did the royal family have a chance for salvation?
“Yes, if their English relatives had not betrayed them. In March 1917, when the family of Nicholas II was under arrest in Tsarskoye Selo, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Government Milyukov offered the option of her going to the UK. Nicholas II agreed to leave. BUT George V, the English king and at the same time cousin of Nicholas II, agreed to accept the Romanov family. But a few days later, George V took his royal word back. Although in letters George V swore to Nicholas II in his friendship until the end of days! The British betrayed not just the king of a foreign power - they betrayed their close relatives, Alexandra Fedorovna - the beloved granddaughter of the English Queen Victoria. But George V, also a grandson of Victoria, obviously did not want Nicholas II to remain a living center of attraction for Russian patriotic forces. The revival of a strong Russia was not in the interests of Great Britain. And the family of Nicholas II had no other options to escape.
- Did the royal family understand that its days were numbered?
- Yes. Even the children knew that death was coming. Alexei once said: “If they kill, then at least they don’t torture.” As if he had a presentiment that death at the hands of the Bolsheviks would be painful. But even in the revelations of the killers, not the whole truth is told. No wonder the regicide Voikov said: "The world will never know what we did to them."
I bring to the attention of readers a very interesting information from the book "The Way of the Cross of the Holy Royal Martyrs"
(Moscow 2002)
The murder of the Royal Family was prepared in the strictest secrecy. Even many high-ranking Bolsheviks were not privy to it.
It was carried out in Yekaterinburg on orders from Moscow, according to a long-planned plan.
The main organizer of the murder, the investigation calls Yankel Movshevich Sverdlov, who served as chairman of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive. Committee of the Congress of Soviets, the all-powerful temporary ruler of Russia in this era.
All the threads of the crime converge to him. Instructions came from him, received and carried out in Yekaterinburg. His task was to give the murder the appearance of an unauthorized act of the local Ural authorities, thus removing the responsibility of the Soviet government and the real initiators of the atrocity.
The accomplices of the murder from among the local Bolshevik leaders were the following persons: Shaya Isaakovich Goloshchekin - a personal friend of Sverdlov, who seized the de facto power in the Urals, the military commissar of the Ural region, the head of the Cheka and the chief executioner of the Urals at that time; Yankel Izidorovich Weisbart (he called himself a Russian worker A.G. Beloborodov) - Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Ural Regional Council; Alexander Moebius - Chief of the Revolutionary Staff - Special Representative of Bronstein-Trotsky; Yankel Chaimovich Yurovsky (calling himself Yakov Mikhailovich, - Commissar of Justice of the Ural Region, member of the Cheka; Pinkhus Lazarevich Vainer (who called himself Pyotr Lazarevich Voikov (the modern station of the Moscow metro Voikovskaya bears his name) - Commissar of Supply of the Ural Region, - the closest assistant to Yurovsky and Safarov is Yurovsky's second assistant, all following instructions from Moscow from Sverdlov, Apfelbaum, Lenin, Uritsky, and Bronstein-Trotsky (in his memoirs, published abroad in 1931, Trotsky accused himself, cynically justifying the murder of the entire Imperial Family, including including the August Children).
In the absence of Goloshchekin (he went to Moscow to Sverdlov for instructions), the preparations for the murder of the Royal Family began to take a concrete form: they removed unnecessary witnesses - the internal guard, because. she was almost completely disposed towards the Royal Family and was unreliable for the executioners, namely on July 3, 1918. - Avdeev and his assistant Moshkin (he was even arrested) were suddenly expelled. Instead of Avdeev, the commandant of the "House of Special Purpose", Yurovsky became his assistant, Nikulin (known for his atrocities in Kamyshin, working in the Cheka) was appointed his assistant.
All guards were replaced by selected Chekists seconded by the local emergency department. From that moment and during the last two weeks, when the Royal Prisoners had to live under the same roof with their future executioners, Their Life has become continuous torment...
On Sunday, July 1/14, three days before the assassination, at the request of the Sovereign, Yurovsky allowed the invitation of Archpriest Fr. John Storozhev and Deacon Bumirov, who, even earlier on May 20/June 2, had served a dinner for the Royal Family. They noticed the change that had taken place in the state of mind of Their Majesties and the August Children. According to O. John, They were not in "oppression of the spirit, but still gave the impression of being tired." On this day, for the first time, none of the members of the Royal Family sang during the service. They prayed in silence, as if anticipating that this was their last church prayer, and as if it had been revealed to Him that this prayer would be extraordinary. And indeed, a significant event took place here, the deep and mysterious meaning of which became clear only when it had receded into the past. The deacon began to sing “God rest with the saints,” although according to the order of the Mass, this prayer is supposed to be read,” recalls Fr. Ioann: “... I also began to sing, somewhat embarrassed by such a deviation from the charter, but as soon as we sang, I heard that the members of the Romanov Family standing behind me knelt down ...”. So the Royal Prisoners, without suspecting it themselves, prepared for death, having accepted the funeral parting words ...
Meanwhile, Goloshchekin brought an order from Moscow from Sverdlov to execute the Royal Family.
Yurovsky and his team of executioners quickly prepared everything for execution. On the morning of Tuesday 3/16 July 1918 he removed from the Ipatiev house the apprentice cook little Leonid Sednev - the nephew of I.D. Sednev (children's lackey).
But even in these dying days, the Royal Family did not lose courage. On Monday 2/15 July, four women were sent to the Ipatiev house to wash the floors. One later showed the investigator: "I personally washed the floors in almost all the rooms reserved for the Royal Family ... The princesses helped us clean and move the beds in Their bedroom and talked merrily among themselves ...".
At 7 pm, Yurovsky ordered the revolvers to be taken away from the Russian outer guard, then he distributed the same revolvers to the participants in the execution, Pavel Medvedev helped him.
On this last day of the life of the Prisoners, the Sovereign, the Heir Tsesarevich and all the Grand Duchesses went out for their usual walk in the garden and at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, during the change of guards, returned to the house. They didn't come out anymore. The evening routine was not disturbed by anything ...
Without suspecting anything, the Royal Family went to bed. Shortly after midnight, Yurovsky entered Their rooms, woke everyone up and, under the pretext of the danger threatening the city from the approaching white troops, announced that he had orders to take the Prisoners to a safe place. After a while, when everyone was dressed, washed and prepared for departure, Yurovsky, accompanied by Nikulin and Medvedev, led the Royal Family to the lower floor to the outer door overlooking Voznesensky Lane.
Yurovsky and Nikulin walked in front, holding a lamp in his hand to illuminate the dark narrow staircase. The emperor followed them. He carried in his arms the Heir Alexei Nikolaevich. The Leg of the Heir was bandaged with a thick bandage, and with every step He groaned softly. The Sovereign and the Grand Duchesses followed the Sovereign. Some of Them had a pillow with Them, and the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna carried her beloved dog Jimmy in her arms. This was followed by the life physician E.S. Botkin, the room girl A.S. Demidova, the footman A.E. Trupp and the cook I.M. Kharitonov. The procession was brought up by Medvedev. Going downstairs and passing through the entire lower floor to the corner room - this was the front room with the exit door to the street - Yurovsky turned left into the adjacent middle room, just under the Grand Duchesses' bedroom, and announced that they would have to wait until the cars were brought. It was an empty basement room 5 1/3 long and 4 1/2 meters wide.
Since the Tsarevich could not stand, and the Empress was unwell, at the request of the Sovereign, three chairs were brought. The Sovereign sat in the middle of the room, seating the Heir next to Himself and embracing Him with his right arm. Behind the Heir and a little to the side of Him stood Dr. Botkin. The empress sat down left hand from the Sovereign, closer to the window and one step behind. On Her chair, and on the chair of the Heir, they put a pillow. On the same side, even closer to the wall with a window, in the back of the room, stood the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, and a little further, in the corner near the outer wall, Anna Demidova. Behind the chair of the Empress was one of the senior V. Princesses, probably Tatyana Nikolaevna. On Her right hand, leaning against the back wall, stood V. Princesses Olga Nikolaevna and Maria Nikolaevna; next to Them, a little ahead, A. Trupp, holding a blanket for the Heir, and in the far left corner from the door, cook Kharitonov. The first half of the room from the entrance remained free. Everyone was calm. They seem to be accustomed to such nocturnal alarms and movements. In addition, Yurovsky's explanations seemed plausible, and some "forced" delay did not arouse any suspicion.
alt Yurovsky came out to make the last orders. By this time, all 11 executioners who had shot the Royal Family and Her faithful servants that night had gathered in one of the neighboring rooms. Here are their names: Yankel Khaimovich Yurovsky, Nikulin, Stepan Vaganov, Pavel Spiridonovich Medvedev, Laons Gorvat, Anselm Fischer, Isidor Edelstein, Emil Fekte, Imre Nad, Viktor Grinfeld and Andreas Vergazi - Magyar mercenaries.
Each had a seven-shot revolver. Yurovsky, moreover, had a Mauser, and two of them had rifles with attached bayonets. Each murderer chose his victim in advance: Gorvat chose Botkin. But at the same time, Yurovsky strictly forbade all others to shoot at the Sovereign Emperor and the Tsesarevich: he wanted - or rather, he was ordered - to kill the Russian Orthodox Tsar and His Heir with his own hand.
Outside the window came the sound of the engine of a four-ton Fiat truck, ready to transport the bodies. Shooting to the sound of a running truck engine to drown out the shots was a favorite trick of the Chekists. This method has been applied here as well.
It was 1 o'clock. 15m. Nights in solar time, or 3h. 15m. according to summer time (translated by the Bolsheviks two hours ahead). Yurovsky returned to the room, along with the entire team of executioners. Nikulin moved closer to the window, opposite the Empress. Gorvat settled down facing Dr. Botkin. The rest split up on either side of the door. Medvedev took up a position on the threshold.
Approaching the Sovereign, Yurovsky said a few words, announcing the impending execution. This was so unexpected that the Sovereign, apparently, did not immediately understand the meaning of what was said. He got up from his chair and asked in astonishment: “What? What?" The Empress and one of the V. Princesses managed to cross themselves. At this moment, Yurovsky raised his revolver and fired several times at point-blank range, first at the Sovereign and then at the Heir.
Almost simultaneously, others began to shoot. The Grand Duchesses, who were standing in the second row, saw how Their Parents fell, and began to scream in horror. They were destined to outlive Them for a few terrible moments. The shot fell one by one. Within only 2-3 minutes, about 70 shots were fired. Wounded princesses were pierced with bayonets. The heir groaned weakly. Yurovsky killed him with two shots to the head. The wounded Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna was finished off with bayonets and rifle butts.
Anna Demidova thrashed about until she fell under the blows of the bayonets. Some of the victims were shot and stabbed to death before all was quiet.
... Through the bluish fog that filled the room from many shots, with the weak illumination of one electric light bulb, the picture of the murder was a terrifying sight.
The Emperor fell forward, close to the Empress. Next to him lay on his back the Heir. The Grand Duchesses were together, as if they were holding each other's hands. Between Them spread the corpse of little Jimmy, whom the Great Anastasia Nikolaevna pressed to her until the last moment. Dr. Botkin took a step forward before falling prone with his right arm raised. Anna Demidova and Alexey Trupp fell near the back wall. Ivan Kharitonov was lying on his back at the feet of the Grand Duchesses. All those killed had several wounds, and therefore there was especially a lot of blood. Their faces and clothes were covered in blood, it stood in puddles on the floor, covered the walls with splashes and stains. It seemed that the whole room was filled with blood and was a slaughterhouse (the Old Testament altar).
On the night of the martyrdom of the Royal Family, Blessed Mary of Diveyevo raged and shouted: “Tsarevna with bayonets! Damned Jews! She raged terribly, and only then did they understand what she was screaming about. Under the arches of the Ipatiev cellar, in which the Royal Martyrs and their Faithful servants completed their way of the cross, inscriptions left by the executioners were discovered. One of them consisted of four cabalistic signs. It was deciphered as follows: “Here, by order of the satanic forces, the King was sacrificed for the destruction of the State. All nations are informed of this."
“... At the very beginning of this century, even before the First World War, small shops in the kingdom of Poland were selling from under the floor rather crudely printed postcards depicting a Jewish “tzaddik” (rabbi) with a torah in one hand and a white bird in the other. The bird had the head of Emperor Nicholas II, with the imperial crown. Below ... was the following inscription: "Let this sacrificial animal be my purification, it will be my replacement and purification sacrifice."
During the investigation into the murder of Nicholas II and His Family, it was established that the day before this crime in Yekaterinburg from Central Russia a special train arrived, consisting of a locomotive and one passenger car. In it came a person in black clothes, similar to a Jewish rabbi. This person examined the basement of the house and left a Kabbalistic inscription on the wall (above-comp.) ... "Christography", the journal New Book of Russia.
... By this time, Shaya Goloshchekin, Beloborodov, Mobius and Voikov arrived at the "House of Special Purpose". Yurovsky and Voikov engaged in a thorough examination of the dead. They turned everyone on their backs to make sure there were no signs of life left. At the same time, they removed jewelry from their victims: rings, bracelets, gold watches. They took off the shoes from the Princesses, which they then gave to their mistresses.
Then the bodies were wrapped in a pre-prepared overcoat and transferred on a stretcher made of two shafts and sheets to a truck parked at the entrance. Lyukhanov, a worker from Zlokazovsky, was driving. Yurovsky, Ermakov and Vaganov sat with him.
Under the cover of night, the truck drove away from Ipatiev's house, went down Voznesensky Prospekt towards Glavny Prospekt and left the city through the suburb of Verkh-Isetsk. Here he turned onto the only road leading to the village of Koptyaki, located on the shores of Lake Iset. The road there goes through the forest, crossing the Perm and Tagil railway lines. It was already dawn when, about 15 versts from Yekaterinburg and, not reaching four versts to Koptyakov, in the deep forest in the Four Brothers tract, the truck turned left and reached a small forest clearing near a row of abandoned mine shafts, called Ganina Yama. Here the bodies of the Royal Martyrs were unloaded, chopped up, doused with gasoline and thrown on two large fires. The bones were destroyed with sulfuric acid. For three days and two nights, the killers, assisted by 15 responsible party communists specially mobilized for this purpose, did their diabolical work under the direct supervision of Yurovsky, on the instructions of Voikov and under the supervision of Goloshchekin and Beloborodov, who several times came from Yekaterinburg to the forest. Finally, by the evening of July 6/19, it was all over. The killers carefully destroyed the traces of the fires. Ashes and all that was left of the burnt bodies were thrown into the mine, which was then blown up. hand grenades, and around they dug up the earth and covered it with leaves and moss to hide the traces of the crime committed here.
alt Beloborodov immediately telegraphed Sverdlov about the murder of the Royal Family. However, this latter did not dare to reveal the truth not only to the Russian people, but even to the Soviet government. At a meeting of the Council of People's Commissars, which took place on July 5/18 under the chairmanship of Lenin, Sverdlov made an emergency statement. It was a bunch of lies.
He said that a message had been received from Yekaterinburg about the execution of the Sovereign Emperor, that he had been shot by order of the Ural Regional Council, and that the Empress and the Heir had been evacuated to a "safe place." He kept silent about the fate of the Grand Duchesses. In conclusion, he added that the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee approved the decision of the Ural Council. After listening in silence to Sverdlov's statement, the members of the Council of People's Commissars continued the meeting ...
The next day it was announced in Moscow in all the newspapers. After long negotiations with Sverdlov on straight wire, Goloshchekin made a similar report in the Ural Soviet, which was published in Yekaterinburg only on July 8/21, since the Yekaterinburg Bolsheviks, who allegedly arbitrarily shot the Royal Family, in reality did not even dare to release a message about the execution without Moscow's permission. Meanwhile, with the approach of the front, a stampede of the Bolsheviks from Yekaterinburg began. On July 12/25, he was taken by the troops of the Siberian Army. On the same day, guards were assigned to Ipatiev's house, and on July 17/30, a judicial investigation began, which restored the picture of this terrible atrocity in almost all details, and also established the identity of its organizers and perpetrators. In subsequent years, a number of new witnesses appeared, and new documents and facts became known, which further supplemented and clarified the materials of the investigation.
Investigating the ritual murder of the Royal Family, investigator N.A. Sokolov, who literally sifted the whole earth at the site of the burning of the bodies of the Royal Family and found numerous fragments of crushed and burnt bones and extensive greasy masses, did not find a single tooth, not a single fragment of them, but As you know, teeth don't burn in fire. It turned out that after the murder, Isaak Goloshchekin immediately went to Moscow with three barrels of alcohol ... He brought with him to Moscow these heavy barrels, sealed in wooden boxes and wrapped with ropes, and in the passenger compartment, without touching the contents in them, there was absolutely no place in the cabin. Some of the accompanying guards and train servants inquired about the mysterious cargo. Goloshchekin answered all questions that he was carrying samples of artillery shells for the Putilov factory. In Moscow, Goloshchekin took the boxes, went to Yankel Sverdlov and lived with him for five days without returning to the car. What are the documents in direct meaning words, and for what purpose could Yankel Sverdlov, Nahamkes and Bronstein be interested?
It is quite possible that the murderers, destroying the Tsar's bodies, separated their honest heads from them, in order to prove to the leadership in Moscow that the entire Tsar's Family had been liquidated. This method, as a form of "reporting", was widely used in the Cheka, in those terrible years of massacres by the Bolsheviks of the defenseless population of Russia.
There is a rare picture: in the days of the February turmoil, the Tsar's children, sick with measles, upon recovery, all five were removed with shaved heads - so that only heads are visible, and they all have the same face. The empress burst into tears: five children's heads seem to be cut off ...
That it was a ritual murder is beyond doubt. This is evidenced not only by ritual Kabbalistic inscriptions in the basement room of the Ipatiev House, but also by the killers themselves.
The wicked knew what they were doing. Their speeches are remarkable. One of the regicides M.A. Medvedev (Kudrin) described in December 1963 the night of July 17:
… Went down to the first floor. Here's that room, "very small." "Yurovsky and Nikulin brought three chairs - the last thrones of the condemned Dynasty."
Yurovsky declares aloud: “... we have been entrusted with the mission to put an end to the House of Romanov!”
And here is the moment immediately after the massacre: “Near the truck I meet Philip Goloshchekin.
Where were you? I ask him.
Walked around the square. Heard shots. It was heard. — Bent over the King.
The end, you say, of the Romanov Dynasty?! Yes…
A Red Army soldier brought Anastasia's lap dog on a bayonet - when we walked past the door (to the stairs to the second floor), a long, plaintive howl was heard from behind the wings - the last salute to the Emperor of All Russia. The dog's corpse was thrown next to the royal one.
Dogs - dog death! said Goloshchekin contemptuously.
After the fanatics initially threw the bodies of the Royal Martyrs into the mine, they decided to take them out of there in order to set them on fire. “From the 17th to the 18th of July,” recalled P.Z. Ermakov, - I again arrived in the forest, brought the rope. I was lowered into the mine. I began to tie each one individually, and two guys pulled out. All the corpses were obtained (sik! - S.F.) from the mine in order to put an end to the Romanovs and so that their friends would not think to create HOLY RELIGIONS.
Already mentioned by us M.A. Medvedev testified: “Before us lay ready-made“ MIRACLES POWERS ”: the icy water of the mine not only completely washed away the blood, but also froze the bodies so much that they looked like they were alive - a blush even appeared on the faces of the Tsar, girls and women.”
One of the participants in the destruction of the royal bodies, Chekist G.I. Sukhorukov recalled on April 3, 1928: “In order that if the whites even found these corpses and did not guess by the number that this was the Royal Family, we decided to burn two pieces at the stake, which we did, the first Heir fell on OUR ALTAR and the second is the youngest daughter Anastasia ... ".
Member of the regicide M.A. Medvedev (Kudrin) (December 1963): “With the deep religiosity of the people in the provinces, it was impossible to allow the enemy to leave even the remains of the Royal Dynasty, from which the clergy would immediately fabricate “HOLY MIRACLES”…”.
Another Chekist G.P. Nikulin in his conversation on the radio on May 12, 1964: "... Even if a corpse was discovered, then, obviously, some kind of POWER was created from it, you know, around which some kind of counter-revolution would be grouped ...".
The same was confirmed the next day by his comrade I.I. Rodzinsky: “… It was a very serious matter.<…>If the White Guards discovered these remains, do you know what they would do? POWERS. religious processions, would use the darkness of the village. Therefore, the question of hiding traces was more important than even the execution itself.<…>That was the most important…”
No matter how distorted the bodies are, M.K. Dieterikhs, - Isaac Goloshchekin perfectly understood that for a Russian Christian it is not the discovery of a physical whole body that matters, but the most insignificant remains of Them, as sacred relics of those bodies whose soul is immortal and cannot be destroyed by Isaac Goloshchekin or another similar fanatic from the Jewish people ".
Verily, even the demons believe and tremble!
... The Bolsheviks renamed the city of Yekaterinburg to Sverdlovsk - in honor of the main organizer of the murder of the Royal Family, and thereby not only confirmed the correctness of the accusation of the judiciary, but also their responsibility for this greatest crime in the history of mankind, committed by the world forces of evil ...
The very date of the savage murder is not accidental - July 17th. On this day, the Russian Orthodox Church honors the memory of the holy noble prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, who, with his martyr's blood, consecrated the autocracy of Russia. According to the chroniclers, the Jewish conspirators "accepted" Orthodoxy and benefited by Himself, killed him in the most cruel way. Saint Prince Andrei was the first to proclaim the idea of Orthodoxy and Autocracy as the basis of the statehood of Holy Russia and was, in fact, the first Russian Tsar.
By God's providence, the Royal Martyrs were taken from earthly life all together. As a reward for limitless mutual love which tightly bound Them into one indivisible whole.
The sovereign courageously ascended Golgotha and, with meek obedience to the Will of God, accepted martyrdom. He left as a legacy the unclouded Monarchical Beginning as a precious Pledge received by Him from his Royal ancestors.
On the night of July 16-17, 1918 in the city of Yekaterinburg, in the basement of the house of mining engineer Nikolai Ipatiev, the Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Empress Alexandra Fedorovna, their children - Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, the heir Tsarevich Alexei, as well as the life medical doctor Evgeny Botkin, valet Alexei Trupp, room girl Anna Demidova and cook Ivan Kharitonov.
The last Russian emperor, Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov (Nicholas II), ascended the throne in 1894 after the death of his father, Emperor Alexander III, and ruled until 1917, when the situation in the country became more complicated. On March 12 (February 27, old style), 1917, an armed uprising began in Petrograd, and on March 15 (March 2, old style), 1917, at the insistence of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, Nicholas II signed the abdication of the throne for himself and his son Alexei in favor of the younger brother Mikhail Alexandrovich.
After his abdication from March to August 1917, Nikolai and his family were under arrest in the Alexander Palace of Tsarskoye Selo. A special commission of the Provisional Government studied materials for the possible trial of Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna on charges of treason. Not finding evidence and documents that clearly denounced them in this, the Provisional Government was inclined to deport them abroad (to Great Britain).
In August 1917, the arrested were transferred to Tobolsk. The main idea of the Bolshevik leadership was an open trial of the former emperor. In April 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee decided to transfer the Romanovs to Moscow. Vladimir Lenin spoke out for the trial of the former tsar, and Leon Trotsky was supposed to be made the main accuser of Nicholas II. However, information appeared about the existence of "White Guard plots" to kidnap the tsar, the concentration of "officers-conspirators" in Tyumen and Tobolsk for this purpose, and on April 6, 1918, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee decided to transfer the royal family to the Urals. The royal family was moved to Yekaterinburg and placed in the Ipatiev house.
The uprising of the White Czechs and the offensive of the White Guard troops on Yekaterinburg accelerated the decision to execute the former tsar.
It was entrusted to the commandant of the House of Special Purpose Yakov Yurovsky to organize the execution of all members of the royal family, Dr. Botkin and the servants who were in the house.
© Photo: Museum of the History of Yekaterinburg
The execution scene is known from investigative protocols, from the words of participants and eyewitnesses, and from the stories of direct perpetrators. Yurovsky spoke about the execution of the royal family in three documents: "Note" (1920); "Memoirs" (1922) and "Speech at a meeting of old Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg" (1934). All the details of this atrocity, transmitted by the main participant at different times and under completely different circumstances, agree on how the royal family and its servants were shot.
According to documentary sources, it is possible to establish the time of the beginning of the murder of Nicholas II, members of his family and their servants. The car that delivered the last order to destroy the family arrived at half past two in the night from July 16 to 17, 1918. After that, the commandant ordered the life doctor Botkin to wake the royal family. It took the family about 40 minutes to get ready, then she and the servants were transferred to the semi-basement of this house, overlooking Voznesensky Lane. Nicholas II carried Tsarevich Alexei in his arms, because he could not walk due to illness. At the request of Alexandra Feodorovna, two chairs were brought into the room. She sat on one, on the other Tsarevich Alexei. The rest lined up along the wall. Yurovsky led the firing squad into the room and read the sentence.
This is how Yurovsky himself describes the execution scene: “I suggested that everyone stand up. Everyone stood up, occupying the entire wall and one of the side walls. The room was very small. Nikolai stood with his back to me. Urala decided to shoot them. Nikolai turned and asked. I repeated the order and ordered: "Shoot." I fired the first shot and killed Nikolai on the spot. The firing lasted a very long time and, despite my hopes that the wooden wall would not ricochet, the bullets bounced off it "For a long time I was unable to stop this shooting, which had taken on a careless character. But when, finally, I managed to stop, I saw that many were still alive. For example, Dr. Botkin was lying, leaning on his elbow right hand, as if in the pose of a rester, finished him off with a revolver shot. Alexei, Tatyana, Anastasia and Olga were also alive. Demidova was also alive. Tov. Ermakov wanted to finish the job with a bayonet. But, however, it did not work. The reason became clear later (the daughters were wearing diamond shells like bras). I had to shoot each one in turn."
After the statement of death, all the corpses began to be transferred to the truck. At the beginning of the fourth hour, at dawn, the corpses of the dead were taken out of the Ipatiev house.
The remains of Nicholas II, Alexandra Feodorovna, Olga, Tatiana and Anastasia Romanov, as well as those from their entourage, who were shot in the House of Special Purpose (Ipatiev House), were discovered in July 1991 near Yekaterinburg.
On July 17, 1998, the remains of members of the royal family were buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
In October 2008, the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation decided to rehabilitate the Russian Emperor Nicholas II and members of his family. The Prosecutor General's Office of Russia also decided to rehabilitate members of the imperial family - the Grand Dukes and Princes of the Blood, who were executed by the Bolsheviks after the revolution. The servants and close associates of the royal family, who were executed by the Bolsheviks or were subjected to repression, were rehabilitated.
In January 2009, the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation stopped investigating the case on the circumstances of the death and burial of the last Russian emperor, members of his family and people from his entourage, who were shot in Yekaterinburg on July 17, 1918, "due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for bringing to criminal liability and death of the persons who committed the deliberate murder" (subparagraphs 3 and 4 of part 1 of article 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR).
The tragic history of the royal family: from execution to restIn 1918, on the night of July 17 in Yekaterinburg, in the basement of the house of mining engineer Nikolai Ipatiev, the Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, their children - Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, heir Tsarevich Alexei were shot.On January 15, 2009, the investigator issued a decision to dismiss the criminal case, but on August 26, 2010, the judge of the Basmanny District Court of Moscow decided, in accordance with Article 90 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, to recognize this decision as unfounded and ordered to eliminate the violations committed. On November 25, 2010, the decision of the investigation to dismiss this case was canceled by the Deputy Chairman of the Investigative Committee.
On January 14, 2011, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation announced that the decision was brought in accordance with the court decision and the criminal case on the death of representatives of the Russian Imperial House and persons from their entourage in 1918-1919 was terminated. Identification of the remains of members of the family of the former Russian Emperor Nicholas II (Romanov) and persons from his retinue has been confirmed.
On October 27, 2011, the decision to close the investigation into the case of the execution of the royal family was. The ruling on 800 pages contains the main conclusions of the investigation and indicates the authenticity of the discovered remains of the royal family.
However, the question of authentication still remains open. The Russian Orthodox Church, in order to recognize the found remains as the relics of the royal martyrs, the Russian Imperial House supports the position of the Russian Orthodox Church in this matter. The director of the Chancellery of the Russian Imperial House emphasized that genetic expertise is not enough.
The Church canonized Nicholas II and his family and on July 17 celebrates the feast day of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
Loading...
