The main condition for the existence of immortality is death itself.

Stanislav Jerzy Lec

Firing squad royal family Romanovs on the night of July 17, 1918, this is one of the most important events of the era of the civil war, the formation of Soviet power, as well as the exit of Russia from the First World War. The murder of Nicholas II and his family was largely predetermined by the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks. But in this story, not everything is as unambiguous as it is customary to say about it. In this article I will present all the facts that are known in this case in order to assess the events of those days.

Background of events

To begin with, Nicholas II was not the last Russian emperor, as many believe today. He abdicated the throne (for himself and for his son Alexei) in favor of his brother, Mikhail Romanov. So he is the last emperor. It is important to remember this, later we will return to this fact. Also, in most textbooks, the shooting of the royal family is equated with the murder of the family of Nicholas 2. But these were not all Romanovs. To understand how many people we are talking about, I will give only data on the last Russian emperors:

• Nikolay 1 - 4 sons and 4 daughters.
• Alexander 2 - 6 sons and 2 daughters.
• Alexander 3 - 4 sons and 2 daughters.
• Nikolay 2 - son and 4 daughters.

That is, the family is very large, and any of the list above is a direct descendant of the imperial branch, which means a direct contender for the throne. But most of them also had children of their own ...

Arrest of members of the royal family

Nicholas II, having abdicated the throne, put forward rather simple requirements, the fulfillment of which was guaranteed by the Provisional Government. The requirements were as follows:

• Safe transfer of the emperor to Tsarskoe Selo to his family, where at that time Tsarevich Alexei was present.
• The safety of the whole family at the time of stay in Tsarskoye Selo until the full recovery of Tsarevich Alexei.
• Safety of the road to the northern ports of Russia, from where Nicholas II and his family must cross to England.
• After the end of the Civil War, the royal family will return to Russia and live in Livadia (Crimea).

It is important to understand these points in order to see the intentions of Nicholas II and the Bolsheviks in the future. The emperor abdicated the throne so that the current government would provide him with a safe exit to England.

What is the role of the British government?

The Provisional Government of Russia, after receiving the demands of Nicholas II, turned to England with the question of the latter's consent to host the Russian monarch. A positive response was received. But here it is important to understand that the request itself was a formality. The fact is that at that time an investigation was underway in relation to the royal family, for the period of which it was impossible to leave Russia. Therefore, England, giving consent, did not risk anything at all. Another thing is much more interesting. After the complete acquittal of Nicholas II, the Provisional Government again makes a request to England, but this time more specific. This time, the question was no longer raised abstractly, but specifically, because everything was ready for the move to the island. But then England refused.

Therefore, when today Western countries and people, shouting at every corner about the innocent murdered, talk about the shooting of Nicholas II, this only evokes a reaction of disgust at their hypocrisy. One word from the British government that they agree to accept Nicholas II with his family, and in principle there would be no execution. But they refused ...

In the photo on the left is Nicholas 2, on the right is George 4, King of England. They were distant relatives and had obvious similarities in appearance.

When was the royal family of the Romanovs executed?

The murder of Michael

After October revolution Mikhail Romanov appealed to the Bolsheviks with a request to stay in Russia as an ordinary citizen. This request was granted. But the last Russian emperor was destined to live "quietly" not for long. Already in March 1918 he was arrested. There is no reason for the arrest. Until now, no historian has been able to find a single historical document explaining the reason for the arrest of Mikhail Romanov.

After his arrest, on March 17, he was sent to Perm, where he lived for several months in a hotel. On the night of July 13, 1918, he was taken away from the hotel and shot. This was the first victim of the Romanov family by the Bolsheviks. The official reaction of the USSR to this event was ambivalent:

• For his citizens, it was announced that Mikhail shamefully fled from Russia abroad. Thus, the authorities got rid of unnecessary questions, and, most importantly, received a legitimate reason to toughen the maintenance of the rest of the members of the royal family.
• For foreign states, it was announced through the media that Mikhail was missing. They say he went out for a walk at night on July 13 and never returned.

The shooting of Nikolai's family 2

The background here is very curious. Immediately after the October Revolution, the royal Romanov family was arrested. The investigation carried out did not reveal the guilt of Nicholas II, so the charges were dropped. At the same time, it was impossible to let the family go to England (the British refused), and the Bolsheviks really didn’t want to send them to the Crimea, because there were “whites” very close to them. And throughout practically the entire Civil War, the Crimea was under the control of the white movement, and all the Romanovs who were on the peninsula were saved by moving to Europe. Therefore, it was decided to send them to Tobolsk. The fact of the secrecy of sending is also noted in his diaries by Nicholas 2, who writes that they were being taken to ONE from cities in the interior of the country.

Until March, the royal family lived in Tobolsk relatively calmly, but on March 24 an investigator arrived here, and on March 26 a reinforced detachment of Red Army soldiers. In fact, from this time, increased security measures began. The basis is the imaginary flight of Michael.

Later the family was transported to Yekaterinburg, where she settled in the Ipatiev house. On the night of July 17, 1918, the royal family of the Romanovs was shot. Together with them, their servants were shot. In total that day died:

• Nikolay 2,
• His wife, Alexandra
• The emperor's children are Tsarevich Alexei, Maria, Tatiana and Anastasia.
• Family doctor - Botkin
• Maid - Demidova
• Personal chef - Kharitonov
• Lackey - Troupe.

In total, 10 people were shot. The corpses, according to the official version, were thrown into the mine and filled with acid.

Who killed the family of Nicholas 2?

I have already said above that since March, the protection of the royal family has been significantly increased. After moving to Yekaterinburg, this was already a full-fledged arrest. The family was settled in the house of Ipatiev, and a guard was presented to them, the head of the garrison of which was Avdeev. On July 4, almost the entire composition of the guard was replaced, as was its chief. In the future, it was these people who were accused of the murder of the royal family:

• Yakov Yurovsky. Supervised the execution.
• Grigory Nikulin. Assistant to Yurovsky.
• Peter Ermakov. Chief of the Emperor's Guard.
• Mikhail Medvedev-Kudrin. The representative of the Cheka.

These are the main persons, but there were also ordinary performers. It is noteworthy that all of them significantly survived this event. Most later took part in the Second World War, received a pension from the USSR.

Massacre of the rest of the family

Since March 1918, other members of the royal family have been gathering in Alapaevsk (Perm province). In particular, Princess Elizabeth Feodorovna, princes John, Constantine and Igor, as well as Vladimir Paley find themselves in captivity here. The latter was the grandson of Alexander II, but bore a different surname. Subsequently, all of them were transported to Vologda, where on July 19, 1918, they were thrown alive into a mine.

The latest events for the destruction of the Romanov dynastic family date back to January 19, 1919, when in Peter and Paul Fortress princes Nikolai and Georgy Mikhailovich, Pavel Alexandrovich and Dmitry Konstantinovich were shot.

Reaction to the assassination of the Romanov imperial family

The murder of the family of Nicholas II had the greatest resonance, so it needs to be studied. There are many sources indicating that when Lenin was informed about the murder of Nicholas 2, he did not even seem to react to it. It is impossible to verify such judgments, but you can refer to archival documents. In particular, we are interested in Protocol No. 159 of the meeting of the Council of People's Commissars dated July 18, 1918. The protocol is very short. We heard the question of the murder of Nicholas 2. Decided - take note. That's right, just take note. There are no other documents regarding this case! This is completely absurd. It's the 20th century, but not a single document has been preserved regarding such an important historical event, except for one note "Take note" ...

However, the response to a murder is an investigation. They started

Investigations into the murder of Nikolai's family 2

The leadership of the Bolsheviks, as expected, began an investigation into the murder of the family. The official investigation began on 21 July. She carried out the investigation quickly enough, since Kolchak's troops were approaching Yekaterinburg. The main conclusion of this official investigation is that there was no murder. Only Nicholas II was shot on the verdict of the Yekaterinburg Soviet. But there is whole line very weak points that still cast doubt on the veracity of the investigation:

• The investigation began a week later. In Russia, the former emperor is being killed, and the government reacts to it a week later! Why was this week of pause?
• Why investigate if there was an execution by order of the Soviets? In this case, on July 17, the Bolsheviks had to report that “the execution of the royal family of the Romanovs took place on the orders of the Yekaterinburg Soviet. Nikolai 2 was shot, but his family was not touched. "
• There are no supporting documents. Even today, all references to the decision of the Yekaterinburg Council are oral. Even in Stalin's times, when millions were shot, documents remained, they say, "by the decision of the troika and so on" ...

In the 20th of July 1918, Kolchak's army entered Yekaterinburg, and one of the first orders was to begin an investigation of the tragedy. Today everyone is talking about investigator Sokolov, but before him there were 2 more investigators with the names Nametkin and Sergeev. Nobody has officially seen their reports. And Sokolov's report was published only in 1924. According to the investigator, the entire royal family was shot. By this time (back in 1921), the same data was announced by the Soviet leadership.

The sequence of the destruction of the Romanov dynasty

In the story of the execution of the royal family, it is very important to observe the chronology, otherwise it is very easy to get confused. And the chronology here is as follows - the dynasty was destroyed in the order of the applicants for the succession to the throne.

Who was the first contender for the throne? That's right, Mikhail Romanov. I remind you once again - back in 1917, Nicholas II abdicated the throne for himself and for his son in favor of Mikhail. Therefore, he was the last emperor, and he was the first contender for the throne, if the Empire was restored. Mikhail Romanov was killed on July 13, 1918.

Who was next in the line of inheritance? Nicholas II and his son, Tsarevich Alexei. The candidacy of Nicholas II is controversial here, in the end he renounced power on his own. Although in his regard, everyone could have played the other way, because in those days, almost all laws were violated. But Tsarevich Alexei was an unambiguous contender. The father had no legal right to refuse the throne for his son. As a result, the entire family of Nicholas II was shot on July 17, 1918.

Further in line were all the other princes, of whom there were quite a few. Most of them were collected in Alapaevsk and killed on 1 July 9, 1918. As the saying goes, rate the speed: 13, 17, 19. If we were talking about random murders that are not related to each other, then there would be no such similarity. In less than 1 week, almost all pretenders to the throne were killed, and in order of inheritance, but history today considers these events divorced from each other, and absolutely not paying attention to controversial places.

Alternative versions of the tragedy

A key alternative version of this historical event is set forth in the book Murder That Didn't Happen by Tom Mangold and Anthony Summers. It hypothesizes that there was no execution. In general terms, the situation is as follows ...

• The reasons for the events of those days should be sought in the Brest Peace Treaty of Russia and Germany. The argument is that despite the fact that the secrecy label has long been removed from the documents (it was 60 years old, that is, in 1978 there should have been a publication), not a single one exists full version of this document. An indirect confirmation of this - the "executions" began precisely after the signing of the peace treaty.
• It is a well-known fact that the wife of Nicholas 2, Alexandra, was a relative of the German Kaiser Wilhelm 2. It is assumed that Wilhelm 2 introduced a clause into the Brest Peace Treaty, according to which Russia undertakes to ensure safe exit to Germany for Alexandra and her daughters.
• As a result, the Bolsheviks extradited women to Germany, and left Nicholas II and his son Alexei hostage. Subsequently, Tsarevich Alexei grew up in Alexei Kosygin.

Stalin gave a new round to this version. It is a well-known fact that one of his favorites was Alexei Kosygin. There is no great reason to believe this theory, but there is one detail. It is known that Stalin always referred to Kosygin as "tsarevich".

Canonization of the royal family

In 1981 the Russian Orthodox Church abroad canonized Nicholas II and his family as great martyrs. In 2000, this happened in Russia as well. Today Nicholas II and his family are great martyrs and innocent victims, therefore they are saints.

A few words about the Ipatiev house

The Ipatiev House is the place where the family of Nicholas 2 was imprisoned. There is a very reasoned hypothesis that it was possible to escape from this house. Moreover, unlike unfounded alternative version, there is one essential fact. So, general version- from the basement of the Ipatiev house there was an underground passage, which no one knew about, and which led to a factory located nearby. Proof of this has already been provided in our day. Boris Yeltsin gave the order to demolish the house and build a church in its place. This was done, but one of the bulldozers fell into this very underground passage during the work. There is no other evidence of the possible escape of the royal family, but the fact itself is curious. At the very least, leaving room for thought.

To date, the house has been demolished, and the Church on Blood was not erected in its place.

Summarizing

In 2008, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the family of Nikolai 2 as a victim of repression. Case is closed.

It would seem difficult to find new evidence of the terrible events that took place on the night of July 16-17, 1918. Even people far from the ideas of monarchism remember that this night was fatal for the royal family of the Romanovs. That night, the abdicated Nicholas II, the former Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and their children, 14-year-old Alexei, Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, were shot.

Their fate was shared by the doctor E.S. Botkin, the maid A. Demidova, the cook Kharitonov and the footman. But from time to time there are witnesses who, after long years of silence, report new details of the murder of the royal family.

Many books have been written about the execution of the royal family of the Romanovs. To this day, discussions continue about whether the murder of the Romanovs was planned in advance and whether it was part of Lenin's plans. And in our time there are people who believe that at least the children of Nicholas II were able to escape from the basement of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg.

The accusation of the murder of the royal family of the Romanovs was an excellent trump card against the Bolsheviks, giving grounds to accuse them of inhumanity. Isn't that why most of the documents and testimonies that tell about last days Romanov, appeared and continues to appear in Western countries? But some researchers believe that the crime of which the Bolshevik Russia was accused was not committed at all ...

In the investigation into the circumstances of the execution of the Romanovs, there were many secrets from the very beginning. In relatively hot pursuit, two investigators were engaged in it. The first investigation began a week after the alleged murder. The investigator concluded that the emperor was in fact executed on the night of July 16-17, but the former queen, her son and four daughters were spared. At the beginning of 1919, a new investigation was carried out. It was headed by Nikolai Sokolov. Was he able to find irrefutable evidence the fact that the entire Romanov family was killed in Yekaterinburg? Hard to say…

While examining the mine, where the bodies of the royal family were dumped, he found several things that, for some reason, did not catch the eye of his predecessor: a miniature pin that the prince used as a fishing hook, gems, which were sewn up in the belts of the Grand Duchesses, and the skeleton of a tiny dog, probably the favorite of Princess Tatiana. If we recall the circumstances of the death of the royal family, it is difficult to imagine that the dog's corpse was also transported from place to place in order to hide it ... Falcons did not find human remains, except for several fragments of bones and a severed finger of a middle-aged woman, presumably the empress.

1919 - Sokolov fled abroad, to Europe. But the results of his investigation were published only in 1924. Quite a long time, especially given the many emigrants who were interested in the fate of the Romanovs. According to Sokolov, all the Romanovs were killed on the fatal night. True, he was not the first to suggest that the empress and the children could not escape. Back in 1921, this version was published by the chairman of the Yekaterinburg Council, Pavel Bykov. It would seem that one could forget about the hopes that any of the Romanovs survived. But both in Europe and in Russia, numerous impostors and impostors constantly appeared, who declared themselves the children of the emperor. So there were doubts all the same?

The first argument of the supporters of the revision of the version of the death of the entire Romanov family was the announcement of the Bolsheviks about the execution of Nicholas II, which was made on July 19. It said that only the Tsar was executed, and Alexandra Feodorovna and her children were sent to a safe place. The second is that it was more profitable for the Bolsheviks at that time to exchange Alexandra Feodorovna for political prisoners held in German captivity. Rumors about negotiations on this topic circulated. Sir Charles Eliot, the British consul in Siberia, visited Yekaterinburg shortly after the emperor's death. He met with the first investigator in the Romanov case, after which he informed his superiors that, in his opinion, former queen and her children left Yekaterinburg by train on 17 July.

At almost the same time, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse, Alexandra's brother, allegedly informed his second sister, the Marquis of Milford Haven, that Alexandra was safe. Of course, he could simply console his sister, to whom rumors about the massacre of the Romanovs could not help but reach. If Alexandra and her children were actually exchanged for political prisoners (Germany would willingly take this step in order to save her princess), all the newspapers of both the Old and New World would trumpet about this. This would mean that the dynasty, tied by blood ties to many of the oldest monarchies in Europe, did not end. But no articles followed, because the version that the entire royal family was killed was recognized as official.

In the early 1970s, British journalists Anthony Summers and Tom Menschld got acquainted with the official documents of the Sokolov investigation. And they found many inaccuracies and shortcomings in them, which cast doubt on this version. First, a coded telegram about the execution of the entire royal family, sent to Moscow on July 17, appeared in the case only in January 1919, after the first investigator was removed. Secondly, the bodies have not yet been found. And to judge the death of the empress by the only fragment of the body - the severed finger - was not entirely correct.

1988 - it would seem that irrefutable proof of the death of the emperor, his wife and children appeared. Former investigator of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, screenwriter Geliy Ryabov, received a secret report from his son Yakov Yurovsky (one of the main participants in the execution). It contained detailed information about where the remains of members of the royal family were hidden. Ryabov began his search. He was able to find greenish-black bones with burn marks left by acid. 1988 - He published a report on his find. 1991, July - Russian archaeologists-professionals came to the place where the remains, presumably belonging to the Romanovs, were found.

9 skeletons were recovered from the ground. 4 of them belonged to Nikolai's servants and their family doctor. Another 5 - to the king, his wife and children. It was not easy to establish the identity of the remains. The skulls were first compared to surviving photographs of members of the imperial family. One of them was identified as the skull of the emperor. Was later held comparative analysis DNA prints. This required the blood of a person related to the deceased. The blood sample was provided by the British Prince Philip. His own maternal grandmother was the sister of the empress's grandmother.

The result of the analysis showed a complete coincidence of DNA in four skeletons, which gave grounds to officially recognize the remains of Alexandra and her three daughters in them. The bodies of the Tsarevich and Anastasia were not found. On this occasion, two hypotheses were put forward: either two descendants of the Romanov family still managed to stay alive, or their bodies were burned. It seems that Sokolov was still right, and his report turned out not to be a provocation, but a real coverage of the facts ...

1998 - the remains of the Romanov family were transferred with honors to St. Petersburg and buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. True, immediately there were skeptics who were sure that the remains of completely different people were in the cathedral.

2006 - performed another DNA analysis. This time, the samples of skeletons found in the Urals were compared with fragments of the relics of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. A series of studies was carried out by L. Zhivotovsky, Doctor of Science, an employee of the Institute of General Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. His American colleagues helped him. The results of this analysis were completely unexpected: the DNA of Elizabeth and the alleged empress did not match. The first thought that came to the researchers' mind was that the relics stored in the cathedral, in fact, did not belong to Elizabeth, but to someone else. However, this version had to be ruled out: Elizabeth's body was discovered in a mine near Alapaevsk in the fall of 1918, she was identified by people who were closely acquainted with her, including the confessor of the Grand Duchess Father Seraphim.

This priest subsequently accompanied the coffin with the body of his spiritual daughter to Jerusalem and would not allow any substitution. This meant that, as a last resort, one body no longer belonged to members of the Romanov family. Later, doubts arose about the identity of the rest of the remains. On the skull, which was previously identified as the skull of the emperor, there was no callus, which could not disappear even after so many years after death. This mark appeared on the skull of Nicholas II after an attempt on his life in Japan. In the Yurovsky protocol it was said that the tsar was killed by a point-blank shot, while the executioner shot in the head. Even taking into account the imperfection of the weapon, at least one bullet hole must have remained in the skull. However, it lacks both inlets and outlets.

It is possible that the 1993 reports were fake. Need to find the remains of the royal family? Please, here they are. To carry out an examination to prove their authenticity? Here is the result of the examination! In the 1990s, there were all the conditions for myth-making. It is not for nothing that the Russian Orthodox Church was so cautious, not wanting to recognize the bones that were discovered and to rank the emperor and his family among the martyrs ...

Again, talk began that the Romanovs were not killed, but hidden in order to be used in some kind of political game in the future. Could Nikolai live in the Soviet Union under an assumed name with his family? On the one hand, this option cannot be ruled out. The country is huge, there are many corners in it, in which no one would recognize Nikolai. The Romanov family could also be accommodated in some kind of shelter, where they would be completely isolated from contacts with the outside world, which means they are not dangerous.

On the other hand, even if the remains found near Yekaterinburg are the result of falsification, this does not mean at all that there was no execution. They have been able to destroy the bodies of dead enemies and scatter their ashes since time immemorial. To burn a human body, you need 300-400 kg of wood - in India every day thousands of the dead are buried by the method of burning. So would the killers, who had an unlimited supply of firewood and a fair amount of acid, not be able to hide all traces? Relatively not so long ago, in the fall of 2010, during work in the vicinity of the Old Koptyakovskaya road in the Sverdlovsk region. discovered the places where the killers hid acid jugs. If there was no execution, where did they come from in the Ural wilderness?

Attempts to restore the events that preceded the execution were carried out several times. As you know, after renunciation royal family settled in the Alexander Palace, in August they were transported to Tobolsk, and later to Yekaterinburg, to the infamous Ipatiev House.

Aviation engineer Pyotr Duz in the fall of 1941 was sent to Sverdlovsk. One of his duties in the rear was the publication of textbooks and manuals for supplying the country's military universities. Getting acquainted with the property of the publishing house, Duz ended up in the Ipatiev House, where several nuns and two elderly women archivists lived at that time. While examining the premises, Douz, accompanied by one of the women, went down to the basement and drew attention to the strange grooves on the ceiling, which ended in deep recesses ...

At work, Peter often visited the Ipatius house. Apparently, the elderly employees felt trust in him, because one evening they showed him a small closet, in which a white glove, a lady's fan, a ring, and several buttons hung right on the wall on rusty nails. different sizes... On a chair lay a small Bible on French and a couple of old-bound books. According to one of the women, all these things once belonged to members of the royal family.

She also told about the last days of the life of the Romanovs, which, according to her, were unbearable. The security officers who guarded the prisoners behaved incredibly rudely. All the windows in the house were boarded up. The Chekists explained that these measures were taken for security reasons, but the interlocutor Duzya was convinced that this was one of thousands of ways to humiliate the "ex." It should be noted that the Chekists had reasons for concern. According to the archivist's recollections, every morning (!) The Ipatiev House was besieged by local residents and monks, who tried to convey notes to the tsar and his relatives, offered to help with chores around the house.

Of course, this does not justify the behavior of the Chekists, but any intelligence officer entrusted with the protection of an important person is simply obliged to limit his contacts with the outside world. But the behavior of the guards was not limited only to "excluding" sympathizers from the members of the Romanov family. Many of their antics were downright outrageous. They took particular pleasure in shocking Nikolai's daughters. They wrote obscene words on the fence and outhouse located in the courtyard, tried to watch the girls in the dark corridors. Nobody has mentioned such details yet. Therefore, Duz listened attentively to the story of the interlocutor. She also reported a lot about the last minutes of the life of the imperial family.

The Romanovs were ordered to go down to the basement. The emperor asked for a chair for his wife. Then one of the guards left the room, and Yurovsky took out a revolver and began to line everyone up in one line. Most versions say that the executioners fired volleys. But the inhabitants of the Ipatiev house recalled that the shots were chaotic.

Nicholas was killed immediately. But his wife and princesses were destined for a more difficult death. The fact is that diamonds were sewn into their corsets. In some places, they were arranged in several layers. Bullets ricocheted off this layer and went into the ceiling. The execution dragged on. When the Grand Duchesses were already lying on the floor, they were considered dead. But when one of them began to be lifted to load the body into the car, the princess groaned and stirred. Therefore, the Chekists began to finish off her and her sisters with bayonets.

After the execution, no one was allowed into the Ipatiev House for several days - apparently, the attempts to destroy the bodies took a lot of time. A week later, the Chekists allowed several nuns to enter the house - the premises had to be cleaned up. Among them was the interlocutor Dusya. According to him, she recalled with horror the picture that had opened in the basement of the Ipatiev house. The walls were full of bullet holes, and the floor and walls in the room where the shooting was carried out were covered in blood.

Subsequently, experts from the Main State Center for Forensic Medical and Forensic Examinations of the Russian Ministry of Defense reconstructed the picture of the execution to the nearest minute and to the millimeter. With the help of a computer, relying on the testimony of Grigory Nikulin and Anatoly Yakimov, they established where and at what moment the executioners and their victims were. Computer reconstruction showed that the Empress and the Grand Duchesses tried to protect Nicholas from bullets.

Ballistic examination established many details: from which weapon the members of the imperial family were eliminated, how many shots were fired approximately. The security officers needed to pull the trigger at least 30 times ...

Every year the chances of discovering the real remains of the royal family of Romanovs (if the Yekaterinburg skeletons are recognized as fakes) are fading. This means that the hope of ever finding an exact answer to the questions is melting: who died in the basement of the Ipatiev House, did any of the Romanovs manage to escape, and what was the further fate of the heirs to the Russian throne ...

Nicholas II and his family

The shooting of Nicholas II and his family members is one of the many crimes of the terrible 20th century. Russian Emperor Nicholas II shared the fate of other autocrats - Charles I of England, Louis XVI of France. But both were executed by the verdict of the court, and their relatives were not touched. Nicholas was destroyed by the Bolsheviks along with his wife and children, even the faithful servants paid with their lives. What caused such an animal cruelty, who was its initiator, historians are still wondering.

The unlucky man

The ruler should be not so much wise, just, merciful as lucky. Because it is impossible to take everything into account and many important decisions are made by guessing. And this is pan or lost, fifty-fifty. Nicholas II on the throne was no worse and no better than predecessors, but in matters crucial for Russia, choosing this or that path of its development, he was mistaken, simply did not guess. Not out of malice, not out of stupidity, or out of unprofessionalism, but solely according to the "heads-tails" law

“This means condemning hundreds of thousands of Russian people to death - the Emperor hesitated. - I sat opposite him, closely following the expression on his pale face, on which I could read the terrible inner struggle that was taking place in him at that moment. Finally, the emperor, as if with difficulty pronouncing the words, said to me: “You are right. We have no choice but to expect an attack. Give the Chief of the General Staff my order to mobilize "(Foreign Minister Sergei Dmitrievich Sazonov on the beginning of the First World War)

Could the king have chosen a different solution? I could. Russia was not ready for war. And, in the end, the war began with a local conflict between Austria and Serbia. The first declared a second war on 28 July. There was no need for Russia to intervene drastically, but on July 29, Russia began partial mobilization in four western districts. On July 30, Germany presented Russia with an ultimatum demanding an end to all military preparations. Minister Sazonov convinced Nicholas II to continue. On July 30, at 5 pm, Russia began a general mobilization. At midnight from July 31 to August 1, the German ambassador told Sazonov that if Russia does not demobilize on August 1 at 12 noon, Germany will also announce mobilization. Sazonov asked if this meant war. No, the ambassador replied, but we are very close to her. Russia did not stop mobilization. Germany began mobilization on August 1.

On August 1, in the evening, the German ambassador again came to Sazonov. He asked if the Russian government intended to give a favorable response to yesterday's note on the cessation of mobilization. Sazonov replied in the negative. Count Pourtales showed signs of growing excitement. He took a folded paper out of his pocket and repeated his question once more. Sazonov again refused. Pourtales asked the same question for the third time. “I cannot give you another answer,” Sazonov repeated again. "In that case," Pourtales said, breathless with excitement, "I must hand you this note." With these words he handed the paper to Sazonov. It was a note declaring war. The Russo-German War began (History of Diplomacy, Volume 2)

Brief biography of Nicholas II

• 1868, May 6 - in Tsarskoe Selo
• 1878, November 22 - Nikolai's brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich was born
• 1881, March 1 - death of Emperor Alexander II
• 1881, March 2 - Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich is declared heir to the throne with the title of "Tsarevich"
• 1894, October 20 - death of the emperor Alexander III, accession to the throne of Nicholas II
• 1895, January 17 - Nicholas II delivered a speech in the Nicholas Hall of the Winter Palace. Political Continuity Statement
• 1896, May 14 - coronation in Moscow.
• 1896, May 18 - Khodynskaya catastrophe. More than 1,300 people died in a stampede on Khodynskoye field during the coronation holiday

The coronation festivities continued in the evening at the Kremlin Palace, followed by a ball at a reception at French ambassador... Many expected that if the ball was not canceled, then at least it would take place without the sovereign. According to Sergei Alexandrovich, although Nicholas II was advised not to come to the ball, the tsar said that although the Khodynka catastrophe is the greatest misfortune, it should not darken the coronation holiday. According to another version, the entourage persuaded the king to attend the ball at the French embassy due to foreign policy considerations.(Wikipedia).

• 1898, August - the proposal of Nicholas II to convene a conference and discuss at it the possibilities to "put a limit to the growth of armaments" and "preserve" world peace
• 1898, March 15 - Russia's occupation of the Liaodong Peninsula.
• 1899, February 3 - Nicholas II signed the Manifesto on Finland and published the "Basic Provisions on the Drafting, Consideration and Publication of Laws Issued for the Empire with the Inclusion of the Grand Duchy of Finland."
• 1899, May 18 - the beginning of the work of the "peace" conference in The Hague, initiated by Nicholas II. The conference discussed issues of limiting armaments and ensuring a lasting peace; representatives of 26 countries took part in its work
• 1900, June 12 - decree on the abolition of exile to Siberia for settlement
• 1900, July - August - the participation of Russian troops in the suppression of the "boxing uprising" in China. Russia's occupation of all of Manchuria - from the border of the empire to the Liaodong Peninsula
• 1904, January 27 - beginning
• 1905, January 9 - Bloody Sunday in St. Petersburg. Start

Diary of Nicholas II

— January 6th. Thursday.
Until 9 o'clock. went to the city. The day was gray and quiet at -8 ° C. We changed clothes in our Winter Palace. AT 10? went to the halls to greet the troops. Until 11 a.m. set off for the church. The service lasted an hour and a half. We went out to Jordan in a coat. During the salute, one of the guns of my 1st cavalry battery fired buckshot from the Vasiliev [sky] island. and doused with it the area closest to the Jordan and part of the palace. One policeman was wounded. Several bullets were found on the platform; the banner of the Marine Corps was pierced.
After breakfast, ambassadors and envoys were received in the Golden Drawing Room. At 4 o'clock we left for Tsarskoe. I took a walk. I did. We dined together and went to bed early.
— January 7th. Friday.
The weather was calm, sunny with wonderful frost on the trees. In the morning I had a meeting with D. Alexey and some ministers on the case of the Argentine and Chilean courts (1). He had breakfast with us. Received nine people.
Let's go together to venerate the icon of the Sign of the Mother of God. I read a lot. We spent the evening together.
— January 8th. Saturday.
Clear frosty day. There were many cases and reports. Fredericks had breakfast. Walked for a long time. All factories and factories have been on strike in St. Petersburg since yesterday. Troops were called in from the vicinity to strengthen the garrison. The workers have been calm so far. Their number is determined at 120,000 hours. At the head of the workers' union is some priest - the socialist Gapon. Mirsky came in the evening to report on the measures taken.
— January 9th. Sunday.
Tough day! In St. Petersburg, there were serious riots as a result of the desire of the workers to reach the Winter Palace. The troops had to shoot in different parts of the city, there were many killed and wounded. Lord, how painful and hard it is! Mom came to us from the city right for mass. We had breakfast with everyone. Walked with Misha. Mom stayed with us for the night.
— January 10th. Monday.
There were no special incidents in the city today. There were reports. Uncle Alexey had breakfast. Received a deputation of the Ural Cossacks who came with caviar. Walked. We drank tea at Mom's. To unite actions to end the riots in St. Petersburg, he decided to appoint a general-m. Trepov as the governor-general of the capital and the province. In the evening I had a conference on this matter with him, Mirsky and Hesse. Dabich dined (dej.).
— January 11th. Tuesday.
During the day, there were no special disturbances in the city. Had the usual reports. After breakfast he took over the rear adm. Nebogatov, appointed commander of the additional detachment of the Pacific Ocean squadron. Walked. It was a cold gray day. I did a lot. We all spent the evening together, reading aloud.

• 1905, January 11 - Nicholas II signed a decree establishing the St. Petersburg General Government. Petersburg and the province were transferred to the jurisdiction of the governor-general; he was subordinate to all civilian institutions and was given the right to independently call the troops. On the same day, former Moscow Chief Police Officer D.F. Trepov was appointed to the post of Governor-General
• 1905, January 19 - reception in Tsarskoe Selo by Nicholas II of the deputation of the workers of St. Petersburg. From his own funds, the tsar allocated 50 thousand rubles to help family members of those killed and wounded on January 9
• 1905, April 17 - signing of the Manifesto "On the approval of the principles of religious tolerance"
• 1905, August 23 - the conclusion of the Peace of Portsmouth, which put an end to the Russo-Japanese War
• 1905, October 17 - signing of the Manifesto on political freedoms, the establishment of the State Duma
• 1914, August 1 - the beginning of World War I
• 1915, August 23 - Nicholas II took over the duties of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief
• 1916, November 26 and 30 - State Council and the congress of the united nobility joined the demand of the State Duma deputies to eliminate the influence of "dark irresponsible forces" and create a government ready to rely on the majority in both chambers of the State Duma
• 1916, December 17 - the assassination of Rasputin
• 1917, end of February - Nicholas II decided on Wednesday to go to the Headquarters, located in Mogilev

The palace commandant, General Voeikov, asked why the emperor made such a decision when it was relatively calm at the front, while there was little calm in the capital and his presence in Petrograd would be very important. The emperor replied that the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, General Alekseev, was waiting for him at Headquarters and wanted to discuss some issues .... Meanwhile, the Chairman of the State Duma, Mikhail Vladimirovich Rodzianko, asked the Emperor for an audience: its loyal duty as the chairman of the State Duma to report to you in full on the threatening To the Russian state danger ". The emperor accepted it, but rejected the advice not to dissolve the Duma and to form a "ministry of trust", which would enjoy the support of the entire society. Rodzianko vainly called on the emperor: “The hour that will decide the fate of yours and your homeland has come. Tomorrow may be too late "(L. Mlechin" Krupskaya ")

• 1917, February 22 - the imperial train departed from Tsarskoe Selo to Headquarters
• 1917, February 23 - Began
• 1917, February 28 - the adoption by the Provisional Committee of the State Duma of the final decision on the need for the tsar to abdicate in favor of the heir to the throne under the regency of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich; departure of Nicholas II from Headquarters to Petrograd.
• 1917, March 1 - the arrival of the royal train to Pskov.
• 1917, March 2 - the signing of the Manifesto abdicating the throne for himself and for Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich in favor of his brother - Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich.
• 1917, March 3 - the refusal of the Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich to accept the throne

Family of Nicholas II. Briefly

• 1889, January - the first acquaintance at a court ball in St. Petersburg with his future wife, Princess Alice of Hesse
• 1894, April 8 - engagement of Nikolai Alexandrovich and Alice of Hesse in Coburg (Germany)
• 1894, October 21 - chrismation of the bride of Nicholas II and her naming "the Blessed Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna"
• 1894, November 14 - wedding of Emperor Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna

Before me stood a tall, slender lady of about 50 in a simple gray suit of her sister and in a white kerchief. The Empress greeted me affectionately and asked me where I was wounded, in what business and on what front. Slightly worried, I answered all Her questions without taking my eyes off Her face. Almost classically correct, this face in his youth was undoubtedly beautiful, very beautiful, but this beauty, obviously, was cold and impassive. And now, too, aged from time to time and with small wrinkles around the eyes and the corners of the lips, this face was very interesting, but too stern and too pensive. I just thought: what a correct, intelligent, strict and energetic person (memories of the empress of the warrant officer of the machine-gun command of the 10th Kuban Plastun battalion S.P. Pavlov. Wounded in January 1916, he ended up in Her Majesty's Own infirmary in Tsarskoe Selo)

• 1895, November 3 - the birth of her daughter, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna
• 1897, May 29 - the birth of her daughter, Grand Duchess Tatyana Nikolaevna
• 1899, June 14 - the birth of her daughter, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna
• 1901, June 5 - the birth of her daughter, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna
• 1904, July 30 - birth of a son, heir to the throne of the Tsarevich and Grand Duke Alexei Nikolaevich

Diary of Nicholas II: “An unforgettable great day for us, on which the grace of God so clearly visited us,” Nicholas II wrote in his diary. “Alix gave birth to a son, who was named Alexei during prayer ... There are no words to be able to thank God enough for the consolation He sent down in this time of difficult trials!”
German Kaiser Wilhelm II telegraphed Nicholas II: “Dear Niki, how sweet it is that you offered me to be your boy's godfather! It's good that they are waiting for a long time, says a German proverb, so be it with this dear baby! May he grow up to be a brave soldier, a wise and strong statesman, may the blessing of God always keep his body and soul. Let him all his life be the same sunbeam for both of you, as it is now, during the trials! "

• 1904, August - on the fortieth day after birth, Aleksey was diagnosed with hemophilia. The palace commandant, General Voeikov: “For the royal parents, life has lost its meaning. We were afraid to smile in their presence. We behaved in the palace as in the house in which someone died "
• 1905, November 1 - acquaintance of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna with Grigory Rasputin. Rasputin somehow positively influenced the state of health of the Tsarevich, therefore Nicholas II and the Empress favored him

The execution of the royal family. Briefly

• 1917, March 3-8 - stay of Nicholas II at Headquarters (Mogilev)
• 1917, March 6 - the decision of the Provisional Government to arrest Nicholas II
• 1917, March 9 - after wandering around Russia, Nicholas II returned to Tsarskoe Selo
• 1917, March 9-July 31 - Nicholas II and his family live under house arrest in Tsarskoe Selo
• 1917, July 16-18 - July days - powerful spontaneous popular anti-government demonstrations in Petrograd
• 1917, August 1 - Nicholas II and his family went into exile in Tobolsk, where he was sent by the Provisional Government after the July days
• 1917, December 19 - formed after. The soldiers' committee of Tobolsk banned Nicholas II from attending church
• 1917, December - The Soldiers' Committee decided to remove the shoulder straps from the tsar, which was perceived by him as humiliation
• 1918, February 13 - Commissioner Karelin decided to pay from the treasury only soldier rations, heating and lighting, and everything else - at the expense of prisoners, and the use of personal capital was limited to 600 rubles per month
• 1918, February 19 - an ice slide built in the garden for the tsar's children to ride was destroyed at night with pickaxes. The pretext for this was that from the slide it was possible to "look through the fence"
• 1918, March 7 - the ban on attending the church is lifted
• 1918, April 26 - Nicholas II and his family went from Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg

We do not claim the reliability of all the facts that are presented in this article, however, the arguments that are presented below are very curious.

There was no execution of the royal family.The heir to the throne, Alyosha Romanov, became People's Commissar Alexei Kosygin.
The royal family was torn apart in 1918, but not shot. Maria Feodorovna left for Germany, while Nicholas II and the heir to the throne Alexei remained hostages in Russia.

In April of this year, Rosarkhiv, which was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture, was reassigned directly to the head of state. The changes in status were explained by the special state value of the materials stored there. While the experts wondered what all this would mean, a historical investigation appeared in the President newspaper registered on the platform of the Presidential Administration. Its essence lies in the fact that no one shot the royal family. All of them lived a long life, and Tsarevich Alexei even made a nomenklatura career in the USSR.

The transformation of Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich Romanov into Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Alexei Nikolaevich Kosygin was first discussed during perestroika. They referred to a leak from the party archives. The information was perceived as a historical anecdote, although the thought - and suddenly the truth - stirred among many. After all, no one saw the remains of the royal family then, and there were always a lot of rumors about their miraculous salvation. And suddenly, on you - a publication about the life of the royal family after the alleged execution comes out in a publication that is as far as possible from the pursuit of a sensation.

- Was it possible to escape or be taken out of the Ipatiev house? It turns out, yes! - historian Sergei Zhelenkov writes to the newspaper "President". “There was a factory nearby. In 1905, the owner dug an underground passage to it in case of seizure by revolutionaries. During the destruction of the house by Boris Yeltsin after the decision of the Politburo, the bulldozer fell into the tunnel that no one knew about.

STALIN in front of everyone often called KOSYGIN (left) the prince

Left hostage

What grounds did the Bolsheviks have to save the life of the royal family?

Researchers Tom Mangold and Anthony Summers published in 1979 the book The Case of the Romanovs, or the Shooting That Didn't Happen. They started with the fact that in 1978 the 60-year secrecy class expired from the Brest Peace Treaty signed in 1918, and it would be interesting to look into the declassified archives.

The first thing they dug up were telegrams from the British ambassador, announcing the evacuation of the royal family by the Bolsheviks from Yekaterinburg to Perm.

According to British intelligence agents in the army of Alexander Kolchak, entering Yekaterinburg on July 25, 1918, the admiral immediately appointed an investigator in the case of the shooting of the royal family. Three months later, Captain Nametkin put a report on his table, where he said that instead of being shot, he was staged. Not believing, Kolchak appointed a second investigator, Sergeev, and soon received the same results.

In parallel with them, the commission of Captain Malinovsky worked, who in June 1919 gave the third investigator Nikolai Sokolov the following instructions: simulation of murder. "

Admiral Kolchak, who had already proclaimed himself the Supreme Ruler of Russia, did not need a living tsar at all, so Sokolov received very clear instructions - to find evidence of the death of the emperor.

Sokolov does not think of anything better than to tell: "The corpses were thrown into the mine, doused with acid."

Tom Mangold and Anthony Summers considered that the clue should be sought in the Treaty of the Brest-Litovsk Peace itself. However, his full text not in the declassified archives of London or Berlin. And they came to the conclusion that there are points concerning the royal family.

Probably, Emperor Wilhelm II, who was a close relative of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, demanded that all the august women be handed over to Germany. The girls did not have the right to the Russian throne and, therefore, could not threaten the Bolsheviks. Men remained hostage - as guarantors that the German army would not go to St. Petersburg and Moscow.

This explanation looks quite logical. Especially if you remember that the tsar was overthrown not by the Reds, but by their own liberal-minded aristocracy, the bourgeoisie and the top of the army. The Bolsheviks had no particular hatred for Nicholas II. He did not threaten them with anything, but at the same time he was an excellent trump card in his sleeve and a good bargaining chip in negotiations.

In addition, Lenin perfectly understood that Nicholas II was a chicken, capable, if shaken well, of laying down many golden eggs so necessary for the young Soviet state. After all, in the head of the king were kept the secrets of many family and government deposits in Western banks. Later, these riches Russian Empire were used for industrialization.

In the cemetery in the Italian village of Marcotte, there was a tombstone on which Princess Olga Nikolaevna, the eldest daughter of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II, rested. In 1995, the grave, under the pretext of non-payment of rent, was destroyed, and the ashes were moved.

Life after death"

According to the newspaper "President", in the KGB of the USSR, on the basis of the 2nd Main Directorate, there was a special department that monitored all movements of the royal family and their descendants across the territory of the USSR:

“Stalin built a dacha in Sukhumi next to the dacha of the royal family and came there to meet with the emperor. In the form of an officer, Nicholas II visited the Kremlin, which was confirmed by General Vatov, who served in the guard of Joseph Vissarionovich. "

According to the newspaper, to honor the memory of the last emperor, the monarchists can travel to Nizhny Novgorod at the Krasnaya Etna cemetery, where he was buried on December 26, 1958. The famous Nizhny Novgorod elder Gregory served the funeral service and buried the sovereign.

Much more surprising is the fate of the heir to the throne, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich.

Over time, he, like many, resigned himself to the revolution and came to the conclusion that it was necessary to serve the Fatherland, regardless of his political convictions. However, he had no other choice.

Historian Sergei Zhelenkov provides a lot of evidence of the transformation of Tsarevich Alexei into the Red Army soldier Kosygin. In the thundering years of the Civil War, and even under the cover of the Cheka, it was really not difficult to do this. Much more interesting is his further career. Stalin considered a great future in the young man and moved far-sightedly along the economic line. Not according to the party.

In 1942 the commissioner State Committee defense in besieged Leningrad, Kosygin led the evacuation of the population and industrial enterprises and property of Tsarskoye Selo. Aleksey went to Ladoga many times on a yacht "Shtandart" and knew the surroundings of the lake well, therefore he organized the "Road of Life" to supply the city.

In 1949, during Malenkov's promotion of the Leningrad Affair, Kosygin "miraculously" survived. Stalin, who in front of everyone called him tsarevich, sent Alexei Nikolaevich on a long trip to Siberia in connection with the need to strengthen the activities of cooperation, to improve matters with the procurement of agricultural products.

Kosygin was so far removed from internal party affairs that he retained his position after the death of his patron. Khrushchev and Brezhnev needed a good proven business executive, and as a result, Kosygin served as head of government for the longest time in the history of the Russian Empire, the USSR and the Russian Federation - 16 years.

As for the wife of Nicholas II and his daughters, their trace cannot be called lost either.

In the 90s, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica published an article about the death of a nun, Sister Pascaline Lenart, who from 1939 to 1958 held an important post under Pope Pius XII.

Before her death, she called a notary and said that Olga Romanova, the daughter of Nicholas II, was not shot by the Bolsheviks, but lived a long life under the auspices of the Vatican and was buried in the cemetery in the village of Marcotte in northern Italy.

The journalists, who went to the indicated address, actually found a slab on the churchyard, where it was written in German: “ Olga Nikolaevna, the eldest daughter of the Russian Tsar Nikolai Romanov, 1895 - 1976».

In this regard, the question arises: who was buried in 1998 in the Peter and Paul Cathedral? President Boris Yeltsin assured the public that these were the remains of the royal family. But the Russian Orthodox Church then refused to admit this fact. Let us recall that in Sofia, in the building of the Holy Synod on St. Alexander Nevsky Square, lived the confessor of the Highest Surname, Vladyka Theophan, who had fled from the horrors of the revolution. He never served a requiem for the august family and said that the royal family was alive!

The result of the economic reforms developed by Alexei Kosygin was the so-called golden eighth five-year plan of 1966-1970. During this time:

- national income increased by 42 percent,

- the volume of gross industrial output increased by 51 percent,

- profitability Agriculture increased by 21 percent,

- the formation of the Unified Energy System of the European part of the USSR was completed, the Unified Energy System of Central Siberia was created,

- the development of the Tyumen oil and gas production complex began,

- Bratsk, Krasnoyarsk and Saratovskaya hydroelectric power plants, Pridneprovskaya TPP were put into operation,

- the West Siberian Metallurgical and Karaganda Metallurgical Combines were put into operation,

- the first Zhiguli were released,

- the provision of the population with TV sets has doubled, washing machines- two and a half times, refrigerators - three times.

The Bolsheviks and the execution of the royal family

Per last decade the topic of the execution of the royal family became relevant in connection with the discovery of many new facts. Documents and materials reflecting this tragic event, began to actively publish, causing various comments, questions, doubts. This is why it is important to analyze the available written sources.

Emperor Nicholas II

Perhaps the earliest historical source is the materials of the investigator for special important matters Omsk District Court during the period of activity of the Kolchak army in Siberia and the Urals N.A. Sokolov, who, in hot pursuit, conducted the first investigation of this crime.

Nikolay Alekseevich Sokolov

He found traces of fireplaces, fragments of bones, pieces of clothing, jewelry, and other fragments, but he did not find the remains of the royal family.

According to the modern investigator, V.N. Solovyov, manipulations with the corpses of the royal family because of the slovenliness of the Red Army would not fit into any schemes of the smartest investigator on especially important cases. The subsequent offensive of the Red Army reduced the search time. The version of N.A. Sokolova was that the corpses were dismembered and burned. Those who deny the authenticity of the royal remains rely on this version.

Another group of written sources is the memoirs of participants in the execution of the royal family. They often contradict each other. They clearly show the desire to exaggerate the role of the authors in this atrocity. Among them - “note by Ya.M. Yurovsky ", which was dictated by Yurovsky to the chief keeper of party secrets, academician M.N. Pokrovsky back in 1920, when information about the investigation of N.A. Sokolov has not yet appeared in print.

Yakov Mikhailovich Yurovsky

In the 60s, the son of Ya.M. Yurovsky transferred copies of his father's memoirs to the museum and archive so that his "feat" would not be lost in the documents.
Also preserved are the memories of the head of the Ural workers' squad, a member of the Bolshevik party since 1906, an employee of the NKVD since 1920 P.Z. Ermakov, who was entrusted with organizing the burial, for he, as a local resident, knew the surroundings well. Ermakov said that the corpses were burnt to ashes, and the ashes were buried. His memoirs contain many factual errors that are refuted by the testimony of other witnesses. Memories date back to 1947. It was important for the author to prove that the instruction of the Yekaterinburg Executive Committee: “to shoot and bury so that no one ever finds their corpses,” has been fulfilled, the grave does not exist.

The Bolshevik leadership also created considerable confusion, trying to cover up the traces of the crime.

Initially, it was assumed that the Romanovs would be awaiting trial in the Urals. Materials were collected in Moscow, and L.D. Trotsky. But Civil War exacerbated the situation.
At the beginning of the summer of 1918, it was decided to take the royal family out of Tobolsk, since the local council was headed by the Social Revolutionaries.

transfer of the Romanov family to the Yekaterinburg security officers

This was done on behalf of Ya.M. Sverdlov, Extraordinary Commissar of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, Myachin (aka - Yakovlev, Stoyanovich).

Nicholas II with his daughters in Tobolsk

In 1905 he rose to fame as a member of one of the most daring train robbery gangs. Subsequently, all the militants - Myachin's comrades-in-arms - were arrested, imprisoned or shot. He also managed to escape abroad with gold and jewelry. Until 1917, he lived in Capri, where he was acquainted with Lunacharsky and Gorky, sponsored underground schools and printing houses of the Bolsheviks in Russia.

Myachin tried to send the tsarist train from Tobolsk to Omsk, but a detachment of Yekaterinburg Bolsheviks accompanying the train, having learned about the route change, blocked the road with machine guns. The Ural Council has repeatedly demanded that the royal family be placed at its disposal. Myachin, with the approval of Sverdlov, was forced to concede.

Konstantin Alekseevich Myachin

Nicholas II and his family were taken to Yekaterinburg.

This fact reflects the confrontation in the Bolshevik environment over the question of who and how will decide the fate of the royal family. Whatever the balance of power, one could hardly hope for a humane outcome, given the mood and track record of the people who made the decisions.
Another memory appeared in 1956 in Germany. They belong to I.P. Meyer, who was sent to Siberia as a captured soldier in the Austrian army, but the Bolsheviks freed him, and he joined the Red Guard. Since Meyer knew foreign languages, then he became a confidant of the international brigade in the Ural military district and worked in the mobilization department of the Soviet Ural administration.

I.P. Meyer witnessed the execution of the royal family. His memoirs supplement the picture of the execution with essential details, details, including the names of the participants, their role in this atrocity, but do not resolve the contradiction that arose in previous sources.

Later, written sources began to be supplemented with material ones. So, in 1978 the geologist A. Avdonin found a burial place. In 1989, he and M. Kochurov, as well as screenwriter G. Ryabov, spoke about their discovery. In 1991, the ashes were recovered. On August 19, 1993, the prosecutor's office of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case in connection with the discovery of the Yekaterinburg remains. The investigation began to be conducted by the prosecutor-criminalist of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation V.N. Soloviev.

In 1995 V.N. Solovyov managed to get 75 negatives in Germany, which were made hot on the heels in the Ipatiev house by the investigator Sokolov and were considered lost forever: the toys of Tsarevich Alexei, the bedroom of the grand duchesses, the execution room and other details. Unknown originals of N.A.'s materials were also delivered to Russia. Sokolov.

Material sources made it possible to answer the question whether there was a burial of the royal family, and whose remains were found near Yekaterinburg. For this, numerous Scientific research, in which more than a hundred of the most authoritative Russian and foreign scientists took part.

The latest methods were used to identify the remains, including DNA examination, which was assisted by some of the now reigning persons and other genetic relatives of the Russian emperor. To remove any doubts about the conclusions of numerous examinations, the remains of Georgy Alexandrovich, the brother of Nicholas II, were exhumed.

Georgy Alexandrovich Romanov

Modern advances in science have helped to restore the picture of events, despite some discrepancies in written sources. This made it possible for the government commission to confirm the identity of the remains and to bury Nicholas II, the Empress, three Grand Duchesses and courtiers with dignity.

There is another controversial issue related to the tragedy of July 1918. For a long time it was believed that the decision to shoot the royal family was made in Yekaterinburg by the local authorities at their own peril and risk, and Moscow learned about this after the fact. This needs to be clarified.

According to the memoirs of I.P. Meyer, on July 7, 1918, a meeting of the revolutionary committee was held, chaired by A.G. Beloborodov. He proposed to send F. Goloshchekin to Moscow and receive a decision from the Central Committee of the RCP (b) and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, since the Ural Council cannot decide on its own the fate of the Romanovs.

It was also proposed to give Goloshchekin an accompanying paper outlining the position of the Ural authorities. However, the majority of votes adopted F. Goloshchekin's resolution that the Romanovs deserve death. Goloshchekin as an old friend of Ya.M. Sverdlov, was nevertheless sent to Moscow for consultations with the Central Committee of the RCP (b) and the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Sverdlov.

Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov

On July 14, F. Goloshchekin, at a meeting of the revolutionary tribunal, made a report on his trip and on negotiations with Ya.M. Sverdlov about the Romanovs. The Central Executive Committee did not want the tsar and his family to be taken to Moscow. The Ural Soviet and the local revolutionary headquarters must decide for themselves what to do with them. But the decision of the Ural Revolutionary Committee had already been made in advance. This means that Moscow did not object to Goloshchekin.

E.S. Radzinsky published a telegram from Yekaterinburg, in which V.I. Lenin, Ya.M. Sverdlov, G.E. Zinoviev. G. Safarov and F. Goloshchekin, who sent this telegram, asked to urgently inform if there were any objections. Judging by further events, there were no objections.

The answer to the question, but whose decision the royal family was put to death, was also given by L.D. Trotsky in his memoirs relating to 1935: “The liberals were inclined, as if, to the fact that the Ural executive committee, cut off from Moscow, acted independently. This is not true. The decision was made in Moscow. " Trotsky reported that he was proposing an open trial in order to achieve widespread propaganda effect. The process was to be broadcast throughout the country and commented on every day.

IN AND. Lenin reacted positively to this idea, but expressed doubts about its feasibility. There might not be enough time. Later, Trotsky learned from Sverdlov about the execution of the royal family. To the question: "Who decided?" Ya.M. Sverdlov replied: “We decided here. Ilyich believed that we should not leave them a living banner, especially in the current difficult conditions. " These diary entries by L.D. Trotsky was not intended for publication, did not respond to "the news of the day", and were not expressed in polemics. The degree of reliability of the presentation in them is great.

Lev Davydovich Trotsky

There is another clarification of L.D. Trotsky, concerning the authorship of the idea of ​​regicide. In the drafts of the unfinished chapters of the biography of I.V. Stalin, he wrote about the meeting between Sverdlov and Stalin, where the latter spoke in favor of the death sentence to the tsar. At the same time, Trotsky did not rely on his own memories, but quoted the memoirs of the Soviet functionary Besedovsky, who had fled to the West. These data need to be verified.

Message from Ya.M. Sverdlov at a meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on July 18 about the execution of the Romanov family was greeted with applause and recognition that in the current situation the Ural Regional Council did the right thing. And at the meeting of the Council of People's Commissars Sverdlov announced this incidentally, without causing any discussion.

The most complete ideological substantiation of the shooting by the Bolsheviks of the royal family with elements of pathos was presented by Trotsky: “In essence, the decision was not only expedient, but also necessary. The severity of the reprisals showed everyone that we would fight mercilessly, stopping at nothing. The execution of the royal family was needed not only to confuse, horrify, and deprive the enemy of hope, but also to shake up their own ranks, to show that there was no retreat, that there was a complete victory or complete death ahead. In the intellectual circles of the party, there were probably doubts and shaking their heads. But the masses of workers and soldiers did not hesitate for a minute: they would not have understood or accepted any other decision. Lenin felt this well: the ability to think and feel for the masses and with the masses was in the highest measure characteristic of him, especially at great political turns ... "

For some time, the Bolsheviks tried to hide the fact of the execution not only of the tsar, but also of his wife and children, and even from their own. So, one of the prominent diplomats of the USSR, A.A. Ioffe, officially reported only about the execution of Nicholas II. He knew nothing about the king's wife and children and thought that they were alive. His inquiries to Moscow did not yield any results, and only from an unofficial conversation with F.E. Dzerzhinsky, he managed to find out the truth.

“Let Ioffe know nothing,” Vladimir Ilyich said, according to Dzerzhinsky, “it will be easier for him there, in Berlin, to lie ...” The text of the telegram about the execution of the royal family was intercepted by the White Guards who entered Yekaterinburg. Investigator Sokolov deciphered and published it.

The royal family from left to right: Olga, Alexandra Fedorovna, Alexey, Maria, Nicholas II, Tatiana, Anastasia

The fate of the people involved in the liquidation of the Romanovs is of interest.

F.I. Goloshchekin (Isai Goloshchekin), (1876-1941), secretary of the Ural regional committee and member of the Siberian Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), military commissar of the Ural military district, was arrested on October 15, 1939 at the direction of L.P. Beria and was shot as an enemy of the people on October 28, 1941.

A.G. Beloborodoe (1891-1938), chairman of the executive committee of the Ural regional council, participated in the twenties in the internal party struggle on the side of L.D. Trotsky. Beloborodoy provided Trotsky with his housing when the latter was evicted from the Kremlin apartment. In 1927 he was expelled from the CPSU (b) for factional activities. Later, in 1930, Beloborodov was reinstated in the party as a repentant oppositionist, but this did not save him. In 1938 he was repressed.

As for the direct participant in the execution, Ya.M. Yurovsky (1878-1938), a member of the collegium of the regional Cheka, it is known that his daughter Rimma suffered from repression.

Yurovsky's assistant in the "House of Special Purpose" P.L. Voikov (1888-1927), People's Commissar for Supply in the government of the Urals, when appointed in 1924 as the USSR ambassador to Poland for a long time could not get an agreman from the Polish government, since his personality was associated with the execution of the royal family.

Pyotr Lazarevich Voikov

G.V. Chicherin gave the Polish authorities a characteristic explanation on this matter: “... Hundreds and thousands of fighters for the freedom of the Polish people who perished over the course of a century on the tsar's gallows and in Siberian prisons, otherwise they would have reacted to the fact of the destruction of the Romanovs, than this could be concluded from Your messages ". In 1927 P.L. Voikov was killed in Poland by one of the monarchists for participating in the massacre of the royal family.

Another name in the list of persons who took part in the shooting of the royal family is of interest. This is Imre Nagy. The leader of the Hungarian events of 1956 was in Russia, where in 1918 he joined the RCP (b), then served in the Special Department of the Cheka, and later collaborated with the NKVD. However, his autobiography says about his stay not in the Urals, but in Siberia, in the region of Verkhneudinsk (Ulan-Ude).

Until March 1918 he was in a prisoner of war camp in Berezovka, in March he joined the Red Guard, took part in the battles on Lake Baikal. In September 1918, his detachment, located on the Soviet-Mongolian border, in Troitskosavsk, was then disarmed and arrested by the Czechoslovakians in Berezovka. Then he ended up in a military town near Irkutsk. The curriculum vitae shows how the future leader of the Hungarian Communist Party led a mobile lifestyle on the territory of Russia during the period of the execution of the royal family.

In addition, the information indicated in his autobiography did not always correspond to the personal data. However, direct evidence of the involvement of Imre Nagy, and not his probable namesake, in the execution of the royal family, on this moment are not traceable.

Imprisonment in the Ipatiev house

Ipatiev's house

The Romanovs and their servants in the Ipatiev house

The Romanov family was placed in a "special purpose house" - the requisitioned mansion of a retired military engineer NN Ipatiev. Doctor E.S.Botkin, chamberlaine A.E. Trup, maid of Empress A.S.Demidov, cook I.M.Kharitonov and cook Leonid Sednev lived here with the Romanov family.

The house is nice, clean. We were assigned four rooms: a corner bedroom, a dressing room, next to a dining room with windows to the garden and overlooking the low-lying part of the city, and, finally, a spacious hall with an arch without doors. They were positioned as follows: Alix [the empress], Maria and I three of us in the bedroom, the common dressing room, in the dining room - N [yuta] Demidova, in the hall - Botkin, Chemodurov and Sednev. Near the entrance there is a guard officer's room. The guard was placed in two rooms near the dining room. To go to the bathroom and W.C. [water closet], you need to go past the sentry at the door of the guardhouse. A very high plank fence was built around the house, two fathoms from the windows; there was a chain of sentries, in the kindergarten too.

The royal family spent 78 days in their last house.

AD Avdeev was appointed commandant of the "special purpose house".

Firing squad

It is known from the memoirs of the participants in the execution that they did not know in advance how the "execution" would be carried out. Proposed different variants: stab the arrested with daggers while sleeping, throw grenades into the room with them, shoot them. According to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, the issue of the procedure for carrying out the "execution" was resolved with the participation of employees of the UraloblChK.

At 1:30 am on July 16-17, a truck arrived at Ipatiev's house to transport corpses, which was one and a half hours late. After that, the doctor Botkin was woken up, who was informed of the need for everyone to urgently go downstairs due to the alarming situation in the city and the danger of staying on the top floor. It took about 30-40 minutes to get ready.

Evgeny Botkin, medical life Ivan Kharitonov, cook Alexey Trup, valet Anna Demidova, maid

went to the basement room (Nicholas II was carrying Alexei, who could not walk). There were no chairs in the basement, then, at the request of Alexandra Fedorovna, two chairs were brought. Alexandra Fedorovna and Alexei sat on them. The rest were placed along the wall. Yurovsky introduced a firing squad and read out the verdict. Nicholas II only had time to ask: "What?" (other sources report last words Nikolay as "Huh?" or “How, how? Reread "). Yurovsky gave the command and indiscriminate shooting began.

The gunmen did not succeed in immediately killing Alexei, the daughters of Nicholas II, the maid A.S. Demidova, and Dr. E.S. Botkin. Anastasia screamed, Demidov's maid rose to her feet, Alexei remained alive for a long time. Some of them were shot; the survivors, according to the investigation, were finished off with a bayonet by P.Z. Ermakov.

According to Yurovsky's memoirs, the shooting was indiscriminate: many probably fired from a nearby room, through the threshold, and the bullets bounced off stone wall... At the same time, one of the gunmen was slightly wounded (“A bullet from one of the shooters from behind buzzed past my head, and I don’t remember one of them, either hand, palm, or finger, hurt and shot through”).

According to T. Manakova, two dogs of the royal family, the French bulldog Ortino Tatiana and the royal spaniel Jimmy (Jemmy) Anastasia, were also killed during the execution. The third dog - Aleksey Nikolayevich's spaniel named Joy - was spared its life, as it did not howl. The spaniel was later taken by the guard Letemin, who because of this was identified and arrested by whites. Subsequently, according to the story of Bishop Vasily (Rodzianko), Joy was taken to Great Britain by an emigrant officer and handed over to the British royal family.

after the shooting

The basement of the Ipatiev house in Yekaterinburg, where the royal family was shot. GA RF

From a speech by Ya.M. Yurovsky to the old Bolsheviks in Sverdlovsk in 1934

The younger generation may not understand us. They can reproach that we killed the girls, killed the boy heir. But to today girls-boys would grow ... into what?

In order to muffle the shots, a truck was started near the Ipatiev House, but shots were still heard in the city. In the materials of Sokolov there are, in particular, testimony about this by two incidental witnesses, the peasant Buyvyd and the night watchman Tsegov.

According to Richard Pipes, immediately after that, Yurovsky harshly suppresses attempts by the guards to plunder the jewelry they discovered, threatening to be shot. After that, he instructed PS Medvedev to organize the cleaning of the premises, and he himself left to destroy the corpses.

The exact text of the sentence pronounced by Yurovsky before the execution is unknown. In the materials of the investigator N. A. Sokolov, there is testimony from the guard guard Yakimov, who, with reference to the guard Kleschev who watched the scene, stated that Yurovsky said: “Nikolai Alexandrovich, your relatives tried to save you, but they did not have to. And we are forced to shoot you ourselves. "

M.A.Medvedev (Kudrin) described this scene as follows:

Mikhail Alexandrovich Medvedev-Kudrin

- Nikolai Alexandrovich! The attempts of your associates to save you were unsuccessful! And so, in a difficult time for the Soviet Republic ... - Yakov Mikhailovich raises his voice and chops the air with his hand: - ... we are entrusted with the mission of ending the house of the Romanovs!

In the memoirs of Yurovsky's assistant G.P. Nikulin, this episode is described as follows: Comrade Yurovsky uttered such a phrase that:

"Your friends are attacking Yekaterinburg, and therefore you are sentenced to death."

Yurovsky himself could not remember the exact text: “… right there, as far as I remember, I told Nikolai something like the following that his royal relatives and friends both in the country and abroad tried to free him, and that the Council of Workers' Deputies decided to shoot them ".

On July 17, in the afternoon, several members of the executive committee of the Uraloblsovet contacted Moscow by telegraph (the telegram indicates that it was received at 12 o'clock) and reported that Nicholas II had been shot, and his family had been evacuated. V. Vorobyov, editor of the Uralsky Rabochy, member of the executive committee of the Uraloblsovet, later claimed that they “were very uncomfortable when they approached the apparatus: the former tsar was shot by a decree of the Presidium of the Regional Council, and it was not known how he would react to this“ arbitrariness ” central government ... ". The reliability of this testimony, wrote G.Z. Ioffe, cannot be verified.

Investigator N. Sokolov claimed that he had found an encrypted telegram from the chairman of the Uraloblispolkom A. Beloborodov to Moscow, dated July 17 at 21:00, which was allegedly deciphered only in September 1920. It said: “To the Secretary of the Council of People's Commissars, NP Gorbunov: tell Sverdlov that the whole family suffered the same fate as the head. Officially, the family will die during the evacuation. " Sokolov concluded: this means that on the evening of July 17, Moscow knew about the death of the entire royal family. However, the minutes of the meeting of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on July 18 only mention the execution of Nicholas II.

Destruction and burial of remains

Ganinsky ravines - the burial place of the Romanovs

Jurowski's version

According to Yurovsky's recollections, he went to the mine at three o'clock in the morning on July 17. Yurovsky reports that Goloshchekin must have instructed P.Z. Ermakov to carry out the burial. However, things did not go as smoothly as they would have liked: Ermakov brought in too many people as the funeral team (“Why are there so many, I still don’t know , I heard only individual cries - we thought that they would be given to us here alive, but here, it turns out, they are dead "); the truck is stuck; jewelry was found sewn into the clothes of the grand duchesses, some of Ermakov's people began to appropriate them. Yurovsky ordered to put security guards on the truck. The bodies were loaded onto bays. On the way and near the mine planned for burial, strangers met. Yurovsky assigned people to cordon off the area, as well as to report to the village that Czechoslovakians are active in the area and that it is forbidden to leave the village under threat of execution. In an effort to get rid of the presence of an overly large funeral team, he sends some of the people to the city "as unnecessary." Orders to make fires to burn clothes as possible physical evidence.

From the memoirs of Yurovsky (spelling preserved):

The daughters wore bodices, so well made of solid diamond and other valuable stones, which were not only containers for valuables, but also protective armor.

That is why neither the bullet nor the bayonet gave results when shooting and bayonet strikes. In these death throes, by the way, except for themselves, no one is to blame. These values ​​turned out to be only about (half) a pound. The greed was so great that on Alexandra Feodorovna, by the way, there was just a huge piece of round gold wire, bent in the form of a bracelet, weighing about a pound ... in the ashes of the fires.

After the confiscation of valuables and the burning of clothes on bonfires, the bodies were thrown into the mine, but “... a new hassle. The water slightly covered the bodies, what can I do here? " The funeral team unsuccessfully tried to bring down the mine with grenades ("bombs"), after which Yurovsky, according to him, finally came to the conclusion that the burial of the corpses had failed, since they were easy to find and, in addition, there were witnesses that something was happening here ... Leaving the guards and taking the valuables, at about two o'clock in the afternoon (in the earlier version of his memoirs - “at 10-11 am”) on July 17, Yurovsky drove to the city. I came to the Uraloblispolkom and reported on the situation. Goloshchekin summoned Ermakov and sent him to retrieve the corpses. Yurovsky went to the city executive committee to its chairman S.E. Chutskaev for advice on the place of burial. Chutskaev reported about deep abandoned mines on the Moscow highway. Yurovsky went to inspect these mines, but he could not get to the place immediately due to a breakdown of the car, he had to walk. Returned on requisitioned horses. During this time, another plan appeared - to burn the corpses.

Yurovsky was not entirely sure that the incineration would be successful, so the plan for burial of corpses in the mines of the Moscow highway was still an option. In addition, he had an idea, in case of any failure, to bury the bodies in groups in different places on the muddy road. Thus, there were three options for action. Yurovsky went to the Ural supply commissar Voikov to get gasoline or kerosene, as well as sulfuric acid to disfigure faces, and shovels. Having received this, they were loaded onto carts and sent to the location of the corpses. A truck was sent there. Yurovsky himself stayed to wait for Polushin, “the“ specialist ”in burning," and waited for him until 11 o'clock in the evening, but he never arrived, because, as Yurovsky later learned, fell from his horse and injured his leg. At about 12 o'clock at night, Yurovsky, not counting on the reliability of the car, went to the place where the bodies of the dead were, on horseback, but this time another horse crushed his leg, so that he could not move for an hour.

Yurovsky arrived at the site at night. Work was underway to extract the bodies. Yurovsky decided to bury several corpses along the way. By dawn on July 18, the pit was almost ready, but a stranger appeared nearby. I had to abandon this plan too. Waiting for the evening, they loaded onto a cart (the truck was waiting in a place where it shouldn't have gotten stuck). Then we were driving a truck and it got stuck. Midnight was approaching, and Yurovsky decided that it was necessary to bury somewhere here, since it was dark and no one could be a witness to the burial.

... everyone was so devilishly tired that they didn't want to dig a new grave, but, as always in such cases, two or three got down to business, then others started, immediately lit a fire, and while the grave was being prepared, we burned two corpses: Alexei and by mistake instead of Alexandra Feodorovna they burned, obviously, Demidova. A hole was dug at the site of the burning, the bones were laid, they were leveled, a large fire was re-lit and all traces were hidden with ashes.

Before putting the rest of the corpses into the pit, we doused them with sulfuric acid, the pit was filled up, the sleepers were closed, the truck drove through empty, the sleepers were rammed a little and put an end to it.

I. Rodzinsky and M.A.Medvedev (Kudrin) also left their memories of the burial of corpses (Medvedev, by his own admission, did not personally participate in the burial and retold the events from the words of Yurovsky and Rodzinsky). According to the memoirs of Rodzinsky himself:

The place where the remains of the alleged bodies of the Romanovs were found

We have immediately opened this quagmire. She is deep, God knows where. Well, then some of these same darlings were decomposed and they began to pour sulfuric acid, disfigure everything, and then all this into a quagmire. Was nearby Railway... We brought in rotten sleepers, laid a pendulum through the bog. They laid out these sleepers in the form of a bridge so thrown through the bog, and the rest at some distance began to be burned.

But now, I remember, Nikolai was burned, there was this very Botkin, now I cannot tell you for sure, this is already a memory. How many we burned, whether four, or five, or six people were burned. Whom, I don’t remember exactly. I remember exactly Nicholas. Botkin and, in my opinion, Alexei.

Shooting without trial and investigation of the king, his wife, children, including minors, was another step on the path of lawlessness, neglect of human life, terror. Many problems of the Soviet state began to be solved with the help of violence. The Bolsheviks who unleashed the terror themselves often became its victims.
The burial of the last Russian emperor eighty years after the execution of the royal family is another indicator of the inconsistency and unpredictability of Russian history.

"Church on blood" on the site of the Ipatiev house