Why were the children of Emperor Nicholas shot? How the royal Romanov family lived in the last days before the execution

He was not shot, but the entire female half of the royal family was taken to Germany. But the documents are still classified...

FOR me, this story began in November 1983. I then worked as a photojournalist for a French agency and was sent to a summit of heads of state and government in Venice. There I accidentally met an Italian colleague, who, having learned that I was Russian, showed me a newspaper (I think it was La Repubblica) dated the day of our meeting. In the article to which the Italian drew my attention, it was said that a certain nun, Sister Pascalina, died in Rome at a very old age. I later learned that this woman held an important position in the Vatican hierarchy under Pope Pius XII (1939 -1958), but that is not the point.

The mystery of the Vatican's "Iron Lady"

THIS sister Pascalina, who earned the honorable nickname of the “Iron Lady” of the Vatican, before her death called a notary with two witnesses and in their presence dictated information that she did not want to take with her to the grave: one of the daughters of the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II - Olga - was not shot by the Bolsheviks on the night of July 16-17, 1918, but lived long life and was buried in a cemetery in the village of Marcotte in northern Italy.

After the summit, I and my Italian friend, who was both my driver and translator, went to this village. We found the cemetery and this grave. On the stove was written in German: “Olga Nikolaevna, eldest daughter Russian Tsar Nikolai Romanov" - and dates of life: "1895 - 1976". We talked with the cemetery watchman and his wife: they, like all the village residents, remembered Olga Nikolaevna very well, knew who she was, and were sure that she was Russian The Grand Duchess is under the protection of the Vatican.

This strange find interested me extremely, and I decided to look into all the circumstances of the execution myself. And in general, was he there?

I have every reason to believe that there was no execution. On the night of July 16-17, all the Bolsheviks and their sympathizers left for railway to Perm. The next morning, leaflets were posted around Yekaterinburg with the message that royal family taken away from the city - that’s how it was. Soon the city was occupied by whites. Naturally, an investigative commission was formed “in the case of the disappearance of Emperor Nicholas II, the Empress, the Tsarevich and the Grand Duchesses,” which did not find any convincing traces of the execution.

Investigator Sergeev said in an interview with an American newspaper in 1919: “I don’t think that everyone was executed here - both the tsar and his family. In my opinion, the empress, prince and grand duchesses were not executed in Ipatiev’s house.” This conclusion did not suit Admiral Kolchak, who by that time had already proclaimed himself the “supreme ruler of Russia.” And really, why does the “supreme” need some kind of emperor? Kolchak ordered the collection of a second investigative team, which got to the bottom of the fact that in September 1918 the Empress and the Grand Duchesses were kept in Perm. Only the third investigator, Nikolai Sokolov (led the case from February to May 1919), turned out to be more understanding and issued the well-known conclusion that the entire family was shot, the corpses were dismembered and burned at the stake. “The parts that were not susceptible to fire,” wrote Sokolov, “were destroyed with the help of sulfuric acid.” What, then, was buried in 1998 in the Peter and Paul Cathedral? Let me remind you that shortly after the start of perestroika, some skeletons were found in Porosyonkovo ​​Log near Yekaterinburg. In 1998, they were solemnly reburied in the Romanov family tomb, after numerous genetic examinations were carried out before that. Moreover, the guarantor of the authenticity of the royal remains was the secular power of Russia in the person of President Boris Yeltsin. But the Russian Orthodox Church refused to recognize the bones as the remains of the royal family.

But let's go back to the times Civil War. According to my information, the royal family was divided in Perm. The path of the female part lay in Germany, while the men - Nikolai Romanov himself and Tsarevich Alexei - were left in Russia. Father and son were kept for a long time near Serpukhov at the former dacha of the merchant Konshin. Later, in NKVD reports, this place was known as “Object No. 17.” Most likely, the prince died in 1920 from hemophilia. Regarding the fate of the latter Russian Emperor I can't say anything. Except for one thing: in the 30s, “Object No. 17” was visited twice by Stalin. Does this mean that Nicholas II was still alive in those years?

The men were left hostage

TO understand why such incredible events from the point of view of a person of the 21st century became possible and to find out who needed them, you will have to go back to 1918. Remember from school course stories about the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk? Yes, on March 3, in Brest-Litovsk, a peace treaty was concluded between Soviet Russia on the one hand and Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey on the other. Russia lost Poland, Finland, the Baltic states and part of Belarus. But this was not why Lenin called the Brest Peace Treaty “humiliating” and “obscene.” By the way, the full text of the agreement has not yet been published either in the East or in the West. I believe that because of the secret conditions present in it. Probably the Kaiser, who was a relative of Empress Maria Feodorovna, demanded that all the women of the royal family be transferred to Germany. The girls had no rights to the Russian throne and, therefore, could not threaten the Bolsheviks in any way. The men remained hostages - as guarantors that the German army would not venture further east than stated in the peace treaty.

What happened next? What was the fate of the women brought to the West? Was their silence prerequisite their integrity? Unfortunately, I have more questions than answers.

By the way

Romanovs and false Romanovs

IN DIFFERENT years, more than a hundred “miraculously saved” Romanovs appeared in the world. Moreover, in some periods and in some countries there were so many of them that they even organized meetings. The most famous false Anastasia is Anna Anderson, who declared herself the daughter of Nicholas II in 1920. Supreme Court Germany finally refused her this only 50 years later. The most recent "Anastasia" is the hundred-year-old Natalia Petrovna Bilikhodze, who continued to play this old play as late as 2002!

Ilya Belous

Today, the tragic events of July 1918, when the Royal Family died as martyrdom, are increasingly becoming a tool for various political manipulations and indoctrination of public opinion.

Many consider the leadership of Soviet Russia, namely V.I. Lenin and Ya.M. Sverdlov, to be the direct organizers of the execution. It is very important to understand the truth about who conceived and committed this brutal crime, and why. Let's look into everything in detail, objectively using verified facts and documents.

On August 19, 1993, in connection with the discovery of the alleged burial of the royal family on the old Koptyakovskaya road near Sverdlovsk, on the instructions of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, criminal case No. 18/123666-93 was opened.

Investigator for particularly important cases of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation V.N. Solovyov, who led the criminal case into the death of the royal family, testified that not a single piece of evidence was found that the execution was sanctioned by Lenin or Sverdlov, or of any involvement in the murder.

But first things first.

In August 1917 The provisional government sent the royal family to Tobolsk.

Kerensky initially intended to send Nicholas II to England via Murmansk, but this initiative did not meet with support from either the British or the Provisional Government.

It is not clear what made Kerensky send the Romanovs to peasant-revolutionary Siberia, which was then under the rule of the Socialist Revolutionaries.

According to Karabchevsky’s lawyer, Kerensky did not rule out a bloody outcome:

“Kerensky leaned back in his chair, thought for a second and, running the index finger of his left hand along his neck, made an energetic upward gesture with it. I and everyone understood that this was a hint of hanging. - Two, three victims are probably necessary! - said Kerensky, looking around us with his either mysterious or half-blind gaze thanks to the upper eyelids hanging heavily over his eyes.” //Karabchevsky N.P. Revolution and Russia. Berlin, 1921. T. 2. What my eyes saw. Ch. 39.

After October Revolution the Soviet government took a position on the organization of Nicholas II open court over the former emperor.

February 20, 1918 At a meeting of the commission under the Council of People's Commissars, the issue of “preparing investigative material on Nikolai Romanov” was considered. For the trial former king Lenin spoke out.

April 1, 1918 The Soviet government decided to transfer the royal family from Tobolsk to Moscow. This was categorically opposed by local authorities, who believed that the royal family should remain in the Urals. They offered to transfer her to Yekaterinburg. // Kovalchenko I.D. The age-old problem of Russian history // Journal Russian Academy Sciences, No. 10, 1994. P.916.

Simultaneously Soviet leaders, including Yakov Sverdlov, the issue of the security of the Romanovs was studied. In particular, April 1, 1918 The All-Russian Central Executive Committee issued the following resolution:

“...Instruct the Commissioner for Military Affairs to immediately form a detachment of 200 people. (of which 30 people are from Partisan detachment Central Election Commission, 20 people. from a detachment of left Socialist-Revolutionaries) and send them to Tobolsk to reinforce the guard and, if possible, immediately transport all those arrested to Moscow. This resolution is not subject to publication in the press. Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Ya. Sverdlov. Secretary of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee V. Avanesov.”

Academician-Secretary of the Department of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ivan Dmitrievich Kovalchenko in 1994 gives information similar to the testimony of investigator Solovyov:

“Judging by the documents we found, the fate of the royal family as a whole was not discussed in Moscow at any level. It was only about the fate of Nicholas II. It was proposed to hold a trial against him; Trotsky volunteered to be the prosecutor. The fate of Nicholas II was actually predetermined: the court could only sentence him to death. Representatives of the Urals took a different position.

They believed that it was urgent to deal with Nicholas II. A plan was even developed to kill him on the road from Tobolsk to Moscow. The Chairman of the Ural Regional Council Beloborodov wrote in his memoirs in 1920: “We believed that, perhaps, there was not even a need to deliver Nikolai to Yekaterinburg, that if provided favorable conditions during his transfer, he was to be shot on the road. Zaslavsky (commander of the Yekaterinburg detachment sent to Tobolsk - I.K.) had such an order and all the time tried to take steps to implement it, although to no avail." // Kovalchenko I.D. The age-old problem of Russian history // Journal of the Russian Academy of Sciences, No. 10, 1994.

April 6, 1918 The All-Russian Central Executive Committee made a new decision - to transfer Nicholas II and his family to Yekaterinburg. Such a quick change of decision is the result of confrontation between Moscow and the Urals, says academician Kovalchenko.

In a letter from the Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Sverdlov Ya.M. The Ural Regional Council says:

“Yakovlev’s task is to deliver |Nicholas II| to Yekaterinburg alive and hand it over to either Chairman Beloborodov or Goloshchekin.” // Resolution to terminate criminal case No. 18/123666-93 “On clarifying the circumstances of the death of members of the Russian Imperial House and persons from their entourage in the period 1918-1919”, paragraphs 5-6.

Yakovlev Vasily Vasilyevich is a professional Bolshevik with many years of experience, a former Ural militant. Real name - Myachin Konstantin Alekseevich, pseudonyms - Stoyanovich Konstantin Alekseevich, Krylov. Yakovlev was provided with 100 revolutionary soldiers in his detachment, and he himself was endowed with emergency powers.

By this time, the leadership of the Council in Yekaterinburg decided the fate of the Romanovs in their own way - they made an unspoken decision on the need to secretly exterminate all members of the family of Nicholas II without trial or investigation during their move from Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg.

Chairman of the Urals Council A.G. Beloborodov recalled:

“...it is necessary to dwell on one extremely important circumstance in the line of conduct of the Regional Council. We believed that, perhaps, there was not even a need to deliver Nikolai to Yekaterinburg, that if favorable conditions were provided during his transfer, he should be shot on the road. This was the order given by the |commander of the Yekaterinburg detachment| Zaslavsky tried all the time to take steps towards its implementation, although to no avail. In addition, Zaslavsky obviously behaved in such a way that his intentions were guessed by Yakovlev, which to some extent explains the rather large-scale misunderstandings that later arose between Zaslavsky and Yakovlev.” // Resolution to terminate criminal case No. 18/123666-93 “On clarifying the circumstances of the death of members of the Russian Imperial House and persons from their entourage in the period 1918-1919”, paragraphs 5-6.

At the same time, the Ural leadership was ready to enter into direct conflict with Moscow. An ambush was being prepared to kill Yakovlev's entire detachment.

Here is a statement from the statement of the Red Guardsman of the Ural detachment A.I. Nevolin to Commissioner Yakovlev V.V.

“... In Yekaterinburg he was a member of the Red Army in the 4th hundred... Gusyatsky... says that Commissar Yakovlev is traveling with the Moscow detachment, we need to wait for him... assistant instructor Ponomarev and instructor Bogdanov begin: “We... now decided this: on the way to Tyumen We'll make an ambush. When Yakovlev goes with Romanov, as soon as they catch up with us, you must use machine guns and rifles to cut Yakovlev’s entire detachment to the ground. And don't say anything to anyone. If they ask what kind of detachment you are, then say that you are from Moscow, and don’t say who your boss is, because this needs to be done in addition to the regional one and all the Soviets in general.” I then asked the question: “Do you mean to be robbers?” I personally don’t agree with your plans. If you need to kill Romanov, then let someone decide on his own, but I don’t allow such a thought in my head, keeping in mind that our entire armed force stands guard over the defense Soviet power, and not for individual benefits, and people, if Commissar Yakovlev, sent behind him, is from the Council of People's Commissars, then he should present him where he was ordered. But we were not and cannot be robbers, so that because of Romanov alone we would shoot fellow Red Army soldiers like us. ... After this, Gusyatsky became even more angry with me. I see that this is starting to affect my life. Looking for exits, I finally decided to escape with Yakovlev’s detachment.” // Resolution to terminate criminal case No. 18/123666-93 “On clarifying the circumstances of the death of members of the Russian Imperial House and persons from their entourage in the period 1918-1919”, paragraphs 5-6.

There was also a secretly approved plan by the Urals Council to liquidate the royal family by means of a train crash on the way from Tyumen to Yekaterinburg.

A set of documents related to the move of the royal family from Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg indicates that the Urals Council was in sharp confrontation with the central authorities on issues related to the security of the royal family.

A telegram from the Chairman of the Urals Council A.G. Beloborodov, sent to V.I., has been preserved. Lenin, in which he complains in an ultimatum form about the actions of the Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Ya.M. Sverdlov, in connection with his support for the actions of Commissioner V.V. Yakovlev (Myachin), aimed at the safe passage of the royal family from Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg.

Correspondence of Yakovlev V.V. with the Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Sverdlov Ya.M. shows the true intentions of the Bolsheviks of the Urals towards the royal family. Despite the clearly expressed position of Lenin V.I. and Sverdlova Y.M. about bringing the royal family to Yekaterinburg alive, the Bolsheviks of Yekaterinburg went against the Kremlin leadership in this matter and made an official decision to arrest V.V. Yakovlev. and even the use of armed force against his squad.

On April 27, 1918, Yakovlev sends a telegram to Sverdlov, in which he testifies to the attempts of his soldiers to repulse the assassination of the Royal Family by local Bolsheviks (referring to it with the code word “baggage”):

“I just brought some luggage. I want to change the route due to the following extremely important circumstances. Special people arrived from Yekaterinburg to Tobolsk before me to destroy the luggage. The special forces unit fought back and almost led to bloodshed. When I arrived, the Yekaterinburg residents gave me a hint that there was no need to carry my luggage to the place. ...They asked me not to sit next to the luggage (Petrov). This was a direct warning that I could also be destroyed. ...Having failed to achieve their goal either in Tobolsk, or on the road, or in Tyumen, the Yekaterinburg detachments decided to ambush me near Yekaterinburg. They decided that if I didn’t give them my luggage back without a fight, they decided to kill us too. ...Ekaterinburg, with the exception of Goloshchekin, has one desire: to do away with the luggage at all costs. The fourth, fifth and sixth companies of the Red Army are preparing an ambush for us. If this is at odds with the central opinion, then it is madness to carry luggage to Yekaterinburg.” // Resolution to terminate criminal case No. 18/123666-93 “On clarifying the circumstances of the death of members of the Russian Imperial House and persons from their entourage in the period 1918-1919”, paragraphs 5-6.

When Nicholas II arrived in Yekaterinburg, local authorities provoked a crowd at the Yekaterinburg I station, which tried to carry out lynching of the family of the former emperor. Commissioner Yakovlev acted decisively, threatening those who attempted to assassinate the Tsar with machine guns. Only this made it possible to avoid the death of the royal family.

April 30, 1918 Yakovlev handed over to the representatives of the Ural Regional Council of Nicholas II, Alexandra Fedorovna, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, Court Marshal V.A. Dolgorukov and life physician prof. Botkin, valet T.I. Chemodurov, footman I.L. Sednev and room girl A.S. Demidov. Dolgorukov and Sednev were arrested upon arrival and placed in the Yekaterinburg prison. The rest were sent to the house of industrialist and engineer N.N. Ipatiev.

May 23, 1918 Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, Grand Duchesses Olga Nikolaevna, Tatyana Nikolaevna and Anastasia Nikolaevna were transported from Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg. Came with them large group servants and people from the environment. In Yekaterinburg, immediately after their arrival, Tatishchev, Gendrikova, Schneider, Nagornov, and Volkov were arrested and placed in prison. The following were placed in Ipatiev's house: Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, Grand Duchesses Olga Nikolaevna, Tatyana Nikolaevna and Anastasia Nikolaevna, the boy Sednev and footman Trupp A.E. Lackey Chemodurov was transferred from Ipatiev’s house to the Yekaterinburg prison.

June 4, 1918 At a meeting of the board of the People's Commissariat of Justice of the RSFSR, the order of the Council of People's Commissars was considered, on which a decision was made: to delegate to the disposal of the Council of People's Commissars a representative from the People's Commissariat of Justice "as an investigator, Comrade Bogrov." Materials concerning Nicholas II were systematically collected. Such a trial could only take place in the capitals. In addition, V.I. Lenin and L.D. Trotsky received messages from the Urals and Siberia about the unreliability of the security of the royal family. // Resolution to terminate criminal case No. 18/123666-93 “On clarifying the circumstances of the death of members of the Russian Imperial House and persons from their entourage in the period 1918-1919”, paragraphs 5-6. 5.4. The situation of the family and people from the circle of the former Emperor Nicholas II after the Bolsheviks came to power

Sentiment towards Nicholas II in the Urals

Archival, newspaper and memoir sources emanating from the Bolsheviks have preserved a lot of evidence that the “working masses” of Yekaterinburg and the Urals in general constantly expressed concern about the reliability of the security of the royal family, the possibility of the release of Nicholas II, and even demanded his immediate execution. If you believe the editor of the Ural Worker V. Vorobyov, “they wrote about this in letters that came to the newspaper, they talked about it at meetings and rallies.” This was probably true, and not only in the Urals. Among the archival documents there is, for example, this one.

July 3, 1918 The Council of People's Commissars received a telegram from the Kolomna district party committee. It reported that the Kolomna Bolshevik organization

“unanimously decided to demand from the Council of People’s Commissars the immediate destruction of the entire family and relatives of the former tsar, because the German bourgeoisie, together with the Russian, are restoring the tsarist regime in the captured cities.” “In case of refusal,” the Kolomna Bolsheviks threatened, “it was decided to carry out this decree on our own.” //Ioffe, G.Z. Revolution and the fate of the Romanovs / M.: Republic, 1992. P.302—303

The Ural elite was all “leftist”. This was manifested in the issue of the Brest Peace, and in the separatist aspirations of the Ural Regional Council, and in the attitude towards the deposed tsar, whom the Urals did not trust in Moscow. The Ural security officer I. Radzinsky recalled:

“The dominance in the leadership was leftist, left-communist... Beloborodov, Safarov, Nikolai Tolmachev, Evgeny Preobrazhensky - all of these were leftists.”

The party line, according to Radzinsky, was led by Goloshchekin, also a “leftist” at that time.

In their “leftism,” the Ural Bolsheviks were forced to compete with the left Socialist Revolutionaries and anarchists, whose influence was always noticeable, and by the summer of 1918 it even increased. A member of the Ural Regional Party Committee, I. Akulov, wrote to Moscow back in the winter of 1918 that the Left Socialist Revolutionaries were simply “baffling” with “their unexpected radicalism.”

The Ural Bolsheviks could not and did not want to give political competitors the opportunity to reproach them for “sliding to the right.” The Social Revolutionaries presented similar advertisements. Maria Spiridonova reproached the Bolshevik Central Committee for dissolving “tsars and sub-tsars” in “the Ukraine, Crimea and abroad” and raising its hand against the Romanovs “only at the insistence of the revolutionaries,” meaning the left Socialist Revolutionaries and anarchists.

Commandant of the Ipatiev House (until July 4, 1918) A.D. Avdeev testified in his memoirs that a group of anarchists tried to pass a resolution “to former king was immediately executed." Extremist groups were not limited to just demands and resolutions. // Avdeev A. Nicholas II in Tobolsk and Yekaterinburg // Red news. 1928. No. 5. P. 201.

Chairman of the Yekaterinburg City Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies P.M. Bykov in his memoirs points to attempts to organize an attack on Ipatiev’s house and eliminate the Romanovs. // Bykov P. The last days of the Romanovs. Uralbook. 1926. P. 113

“In the morning they waited a long time, but in vain, for the priest to come to perform the service; everyone was busy with churches. For some reason we were not allowed into the garden during the day. Avdeev came and talked with Evg for a long time. Serg. According to him, he and the Regional Council are afraid of anarchist protests and therefore, perhaps, we will have to leave soon, probably to Moscow! He asked to prepare for departure. They immediately began to pack up, but quietly, so as not to attract the attention of the guard officials, at the special request of Avdeev.” Around 11 o'clock. In the evening he returned and said that we would stay a few more days. Therefore, on June 1, we remained in a bivouac style, without laying out anything. The weather was fine; The walk took place, as always, in two turns. Finally, after dinner, Avdeev, slightly tipsy, announced to Botkin that the anarchists had been captured and that the danger had passed and our departure was cancelled! After all the preparations it even became boring! In the evening we played bezique. // Diary of Nikolai Romanov // Red Archive. 1928. No. 2 (27). pp. 134-135

The next day, Alexandra Fedorovna wrote in her diary:

“Now they say that we are staying here, because they managed to capture the leader of the anarchists, their printing house and the entire group.” //TsGAOR. F. 640. Op.1. D.332. L.18.

Rumors of lynching of the Romanovs swept the Urals in June 1918. Moscow began sending alarming requests to Yekaterinburg. On June 20 the following telegram arrived:

“In Moscow, information spread that former Emperor Nicholas II had allegedly been killed. Provide the information you have. Manager of the Council of People's Commissars V. Bonch-Bruevich.” // TsGAOR. F. 130. Op.2. D.1109. L.34

In accordance with this request, the commander of the North Ural Group of Soviet Forces, R. Berzin, together with the military commissar of the Ural Military District, Goloshchekin, and other officials, inspected the Ipatiev House. In telegrams to the Council of People's Commissars, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the People's Commissariat of Military Affairs, he reported that

“All family members and Nicholas II himself are alive. All information about his murder is a provocation.” // TsGAOR. F.1235. op.93. D.558.L.79; F.130.Op.2.D.1109.L.38

June 20, 1918 In the premises of the Postal and Telegraph Office of Yekaterinburg, a conversation took place over a direct wire between Lenin and Berzin.

According to three former officials of this office (Sibirev, Borodin and Lenkovsky), Lenin ordered Berzin:

“... to take under your protection the entire Royal Family, and to prevent any violence against it, responding in this case with your (i.e. Berzin’s) own life.” // Summary of information on the Royal Family of the Department of Military Field Control under the Commissioner for the Protection of State Order and Public Peace in the Perm Province dated 11/III/1919. Published: The Death of the Royal Family. Materials of the investigation into the murder of the Royal Family, (August 1918 - February 1920), p. 240.

Newspaper "Izvestia" June 25 and 28, 1918 published refutations of rumors and reports from some newspapers about the execution of the Romanovs in Yekaterinburg. //Ioffe, G.Z. Revolution and the fate of the Romanovs / M.: Respublika, 1992. P.303—304

Meanwhile, the White Czechs and Siberian troops were already bypassing Yekaterinburg from the south, trying to cut it off from the European part of Russia, capturing Kyshtym, Miass, Zlatoust and Shadrinsk.

Apparently, the Ural authorities made a fundamental decision to execute by July 4, 1918: on this day, commandant Avdeev, loyal to Nicholas II, was replaced by security officer Ya.M. Yurovsky. There was a change in the security of the royal family.

Security guard V.N. Netrebin wrote in his memoirs:

“Soon [after joining the internal guard on July 4, 1918 - S.V.] it was explained to us that... we might have to execute the b/ts [former tsar. - S.V.], and that we must strictly keep everything secret, everything that could happen in the house... Having received explanations from Comrade. Yurovsky that we needed to think about how best to carry out the execution, we began to discuss the issue... The day when the execution would have to be carried out was unknown to us. But we still felt that it would come soon.”

“The All-Russian Central Executive Committee does not give permission for execution!”

At the beginning of July 1918, the Ural Regional Council tried to convince Moscow to shoot the Romanovs. At this time, a member of the Presidium of the Regional Council, Philip Isaevich Goloshchekin, who knew Yakov Sverdlov well from his underground work, went there. He was in Moscow during the Fifth All-Russian Congress of Soviets from July 4 to July 10, 1918. The congress ended with the adoption of the Constitution of the RSFSR.

According to some reports, Goloshchekin stopped at Sverdlov’s apartment. Among the main issues then could be: the defense of the Urals from the troops of the Siberian Army and the White Czechs, the possible surrender of Yekaterinburg, the fate of the gold reserves, the fate of the former tsar. It is possible that Goloshchekin tried to coordinate the imposition of a death sentence on Romanov.

Probably, Goloshchekin did not receive permission to execute Goloshchekin from Sverdlov, and the central Soviet government, represented by Sverdlov, insisted on trial, for which I was preparing. M.A. Medvedev (Kudrin), a participant in the execution of the royal family, writes:

“...When I entered [the premises of the Ural Cheka on the evening of July 16, 1918], those present were deciding what to do with the former Tsar Nicholas II Romanov and his family. Report about a trip to Moscow to Ya.M. Sverdlov was made by Philip Goloshchekin. Goloshchekin failed to obtain sanctions from the All-Russian Central Executive Committee to execute the Romanov family. Sverdlov consulted with V.I. Lenin, who spoke out for bringing the royal family to Moscow and an open trial of Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Fedorovna, whose betrayal during the First World War cost Russia dearly... Y.M. Sverdlov tried to give [Lenin] Goloshchekin’s arguments about the dangers of transporting a train of the royal family through Russia, where counter-revolutionary uprisings broke out in cities every now and then, about the difficult situation on the fronts near Yekaterinburg, but Lenin stood his ground: “Well, so what if the front is withdrawing ? Moscow is now in the deep rear! And here we will arrange a trial for them for the whole world.” At parting, Sverdlov said to Goloshchekin: “So tell it, Philip, to your comrades: the All-Russian Central Executive Committee does not give official sanction for execution.” // Resolution to terminate criminal case No. 18/123666-93 “On clarifying the circumstances of the death of members of the Russian Imperial House and persons from their entourage in the period 1918-1919”, paragraphs 5-6

This position of the Moscow leadership must be considered in the context of the events taking place at that time on the fronts. For several months by July 1918, the situation had become increasingly critical.

Historical context

At the end of 1917, the Soviet government was strenuously trying to get out of the First World War. Great Britain sought to resume the conflict between Russia and Germany. On December 22, 1917, peace negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk. On February 10, 1918, the German coalition, in an ultimatum, demanded that the Soviet delegation accept extremely difficult peace conditions (Russia’s renunciation of Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, parts of Latvia, Estonia and Belarus). Contrary to Lenin’s instructions, the head of the delegation, Trotsky, arbitrarily interrupted the peace negotiations, although the ultimatum had not yet been officially received, and declared that Soviet Russia was not signing peace, but was ending the war and demobilizing the army. The negotiations were interrupted, and soon the Austro-German troops (over 50 divisions) went on the offensive from the Baltic to the Black Sea. In Transcaucasia, on February 12, 1918, the offensive of Turkish troops began.

Trying to provoke Soviet Russia into continuing the war with Germany, the Entente governments offered it “help,” and on March 6, an English landing force occupied Murmansk under the false pretext of the need to protect the Murmansk region from the powers of the German coalition.

An open military intervention by the Entente began. // Ilya Belous / “Red” terror arose in response to international and “white” terror

Not having sufficient forces to repel Germany, the Soviet Republic was forced to sign the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty on March 3, 1918. On March 15, the Entente declared non-recognition of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty and accelerated the deployment of military intervention. On April 5, Japanese troops landed in Vladivostok.

Despite its severity, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk temporarily stopped the advance of German troops in the central directions and gave the Soviet Republic a short respite.

In March - April 1918, an armed struggle unfolded in Ukraine against the occupying Austro-German troops and the Central Rada, which on February 9 concluded a “peace treaty” with Germany and its allies. Small Ukrainian Soviet units fought back to the borders of the RSFSR in the direction of Belgorod, Kursk and the Don region.

In mid-April 1918, German troops, violating the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, occupied Crimea and eliminated Soviet power there. Part of the Black Sea Fleet went to Novorossiysk, where, due to the threat of the ships being captured by the German occupiers, they were scuttled on June 18 by order of the Soviet government. German troops also landed in Finland, where they helped the Finnish bourgeoisie eliminate the revolutionary power of the working people.

Located in Helsingfors Baltic Fleet made the transition to Kronstadt under difficult conditions. On April 29, the German invaders in Ukraine eliminated the Central Rada, placing the puppet hetman P. P. Skoropadsky in power.

The Don Cossack counter-revolution also adopted a German orientation, again starting a civil war on the Don in mid-April.

On May 8, 1918, German units occupied Rostov, and then helped the kulak-Cossack “state” - the “Great Don Army” led by Ataman Krasnov - to take shape.

Türkiye, taking advantage of the fact that the Transcaucasian Commissariat declared its independence from Soviet Russia, launched a broad intervention in Transcaucasia.

On May 25, 1918, a rebellion of the Czechoslovak Corps, prepared and provoked by the Entente, began, the echelons of which were located between Penza and Vladivostok in view of the upcoming evacuation to Europe. At the same time, German troops, at the request of the Georgian Mensheviks, landed in Georgia. The rebellion caused a sharp revival of the counter-revolution. Mass counter-revolutionary uprisings unfolded in the Volga region, on Southern Urals, Northern Caucasus, Transcaspian and Semirechensk regions. and other areas. The Civil War began to unfold with renewed vigor in the Don, North Caucasus and Transcaucasia.

Soviet power and the Soviet state were under threat of complete occupation and liquidation. Central Committee Communist Party directed all efforts to organize defense. Volunteer units of the Red Army were being formed throughout the country.

At the same time, the Entente allocated significant funds and agents for the creation of military-conspiratorial organizations within the country: the right-wing Socialist Revolutionary Union for the Defense of the Motherland and Freedom led by Boris Savinkov, the right-wing cadet monarchist National Center, the coalition Union for the Revival of Russia. The Social Revolutionaries and Mensheviks supported the petty-bourgeois counter-revolution, ideologically and organizationally. Work was carried out to destabilize the internal political life in the country.

On July 5, 1918, the left Socialist Revolutionary Yakov Blumkin killed the German ambassador to Moscow under the government of the RSFSR, Count Wilhelm Mirbach, in Moscow. The terrorist attack was designed to break the Brest Peace Treaty and a possible resumption of the war with Germany. Simultaneously with the terrorist attack on July 6, 1918, in Moscow and a number of large Russian cities There was an uprising of the Left Social Revolutionaries.

The Entente began landing large landings in Vladivostok, the bulk of which were Japanese (about 75 thousand people) and American (about 12 thousand people) troops. The intervention troops in the North, consisting of British, American, French and Italian units, were strengthened. In July, the Right Socialist Revolutionary Yaroslavl rebellion of 1918, prepared with the support of the Entente, and smaller revolts in Murom, Rybinsk, Kovrov and others took place. A left Socialist Revolutionary rebellion broke out in Moscow, and on July 10, the commander of the Eastern Front, the Left Socialist Revolutionary Muravyov, raised a rebellion, who tried to capture Simbirsk, so that, having concluded agreement with the White Czechs, together with them to move towards Moscow.

The efforts of the interventionists and the internal counter-revolution united.

“Their war with the civil war merges into one single whole, and this constitutes the main source of the difficulties of the present moment, when the military question, military events, have again come onto the scene as the main, fundamental question of the revolution” // Lenin V.I. Full collection cit., 5th ed., vol. 37, p. 14.

English trace

Western services, based on Socialist-Revolutionary-Anarchist elements, posed a serious threat to Russia, fanning chaos and banditry in the country in opposition to the policies of the new government.

The former Minister of War of the Provisional Government and Kolchakite A.I. Verkhovsky joined the Red Army in 1919. //Verkhovsky Alexander Ivanovich. On a difficult pass.

In his memoirs, Verkhovsky wrote that he was an activist in the “Union for the Revival of Russia,” which had a military organization that trained personnel for anti-Soviet armed protests, which was financed by the “allies.”

“In March 1918, I was personally invited by the Union for the Revival of Russia to join the military headquarters of the Union. The military headquarters was an organization that had the goal of organizing an uprising against Soviet power... The military headquarters had connections with the allied missions in Petrograd. General Suvorov was in charge of relations with the allied missions... Representatives of the allied missions were interested in my assessment of the situation from the point of view the possibility of restoring... the front against Germany. I had conversations about this with General Nissel, a representative of the French mission. Military headquarters through the cashier of the headquarters Suvorov received funds from allied missions». //Golinkov D. L. Secret operations of the Cheka

The testimony of A. I. Verkhovsky is fully consistent with the memoirs of another figure in the Union for the Revival of Russia, V. I. Ignatiev (1874-1959, died in Chile).

In the first part of his memoirs, “Some facts and results of four years of the civil war (1917-1921),” published in Moscow in 1922, Ignatiev confirms that the organization’s source of funds was “exclusively allied”. First amount from foreign sources Ignatiev received from General A.V. Gerua, to whom General M.N. Suvorov sent him. From a conversation with Gerua, he learned that the general was instructed to send officers to the Murmansk region at the disposal of the English General F. Poole, and that funds were allocated to him for this task. Ignatiev received a certain amount from Gerua, then received money from one agent of the French mission - 30 thousand rubles.

A spy group was operating in Petrograd, headed by sanitary doctor V.P. Kovalevsky. She also sent officers, mainly guards, to the English General Bullet in Arkhangelsk via Vologda. The group spoke out for the establishment of a military dictatorship in Russia and was kept on English means. The representative of this group, English agent Captain G. E. Chaplin, worked in Arkhangelsk under the name Thomson. On December 13, 1918, Kovalevsky was shot on charges of creating a military organization associated with the British mission.

On January 5, 1918, the Union for the Defense of the Constituent Assembly was preparing a coup d'etat, which was prevented by the Cheka. The English plan failed. The Constituent Assembly was dispersed.

Dzerzhinsky was aware of the counter-revolutionary activities of the socialists, mainly the Socialist Revolutionaries; their connections with British services, about the flow of their funding from the Allies.

Detailed information about the activities of the Socialist Revolutionaries in various committees “Saving the Motherland and Revolution”, “Defense of the Constituent Assembly” and others, disclosed by the Cheka, was given already in 1927 by Vera Vladimirova in her book “The Year of Service of the “Socialists” to the Capitalists. Essays on history, counter-revolution in 1918"

Russian historian and politician V. A. Myakotin, one of the founders and leaders of the Union for the Revival of Russia, also published his memoirs in 1923 in Prague “From the Recent Past. On the wrong side." According to his story, relations with the diplomatic representatives of the allies were carried out by members of the “Union for the Revival of Russia” specially authorized for this purpose. These connections were made through French Ambassador Nulansa. Later, when the ambassadors left for Vologda, through the French consul Grenard. The French financed the “Union”, but Nulans directly stated that “the allies, in fact, do not need the assistance of Russian political organizations” and could well land their troops in Russia themselves. //Golinkov D.L. Secret operations of the Cheka.

The Russian Civil War was actively supported by British Prime Minister Lloyd George and US President Woodrow Wilson.

The US President personally supervised the work of agents to discredit Soviet power, and above all, the young government led by Lenin, both in the West and in Russia.

In October 1918, on the direct orders of Woodrow Wilson, a publication was published in Washington "German-Bolshevik conspiracy" better known as "Sisson papers", supposedly proving that the Bolshevik leadership consisted of direct agents of Germany, controlled by directives of the German General Staff. // The German-Bolshevik conspiracy / by United States. Committee on Public Information; Sisson, Edgar Grant, 1875-1948; National Board for Historical Service

The “documents” were purchased at the end of 1917 by the US Presidential Special Envoy to Russia Edgar Sisson for $25,000. The publication was published by CPI - the US Government Committee on Public Information. This committee was created by US President Woodrow Wilson and had the task of “influencing public opinion on questions of US participation in the First World War", that is CPI was a propaganda structure serving the US military department. The committee existed from April 14, 1917 to June 30, 1919.

The “documents” were fabricated by Polish journalist and traveler Ferdinand Ossendowski. They allowed the myth to spread throughout Europe about the leader of the Soviet state, Lenin, who allegedly “made a revolution with German money.”

Sisson's mission was "brilliant." He “obtained” 68 documents, some of which allegedly confirmed Lenin’s connection with the Germans and even the direct dependence of the Council of People’s Commissars on the Government of Kaiser Germany until the spring of 1918. More information about the forged documents can be found on the website of Academician Yu. K. Begunov.

Counterfeits continue to spread in modern Russia. Thus, in 2005, the documentary film “Secrets of Intelligence. Revolution in a suitcase."

Murder

In July, the White Czechs and White Guards captured Simbirsk, Ufa and Yekaterinburg, where the “regional government of the Urals” was created. Germany demanded that the Kremlin give permission to send a battalion of German troops to Moscow to protect its subjects.

Under these conditions, the execution of the royal family could have a negative impact on the development of relations with Germany, since the former Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and the Grand Duchesses were German princesses. Given the current situation, under certain conditions, the extradition of one or more members of the royal family to Germany was not excluded in order to soften serious conflict caused by murder German Ambassador Mirbach.

On July 16, 1918, a telegram arrived from Petrograd to Moscow with a quote from another telegram, from a member of the presidium of the Ural Regional Council F.I. Goloshchekin to Moscow:

“July 16, 1918. Submitted 16.VII.1918 [at] 5:50 p.m. Accepted 16.VII.1918 [at] 9:22 p.m. From Petrograd. Smolny. HP 142.28 Moscow, Kremlin, copy to Lenin.
From Yekaterinburg the following is transmitted via direct wire: “Inform Moscow that the [trial] agreed upon with Filippov due to military circumstances cannot be delayed, we cannot wait. If your opinions are contrary, please tell us right now, out of turn. Goloshchekin, Safarov”
Contact Yekaterinburg about this yourself
Zinoviev."

At that time, there was no direct connection between Yekaterinburg and Moscow, so the telegram went to Petrograd, and from Petrograd Zinoviev sent it to Moscow, to the Kremlin. The telegram arrived in Moscow on July 16, 1818 at 21:22. In Yekaterinburg it was already 23 hours 22 minutes.

“At this time, the Romanovs were already offered to go down to the execution room. We don’t know whether Lenin and Sverdlov read the telegram before the first shots were fired, but we know that the telegram did not say anything about family and servants, so blaming the Kremlin leaders for the murder of children is at least unfair,” says the investigator Solovyov in an interview with Pravda

On July 17, at 12 noon, a telegram with the following content arrived in Moscow addressed to Lenin from Yekaterinburg:

“In view of the approach of the enemy to Yekaterinburg and the disclosure by the Extraordinary Commission of a large White Guard conspiracy aimed at kidnapping the former Tsar and his family... by decision of the Presidium of the Regional Council, Nikolai Romanov was shot on the night of July 16th-17th. His family was evacuated to a safe place.” // Heinrich Ioffe. Revolution and the Romanov family

Thus, Yekaterinburg lied to Moscow: The whole family was killed.

Lenin did not immediately learn about the murder. On July 16, the editors of the Danish newspaper National Tidende sent Lenin the following request:

“There are rumors here that the former king has been killed. Please report the actual state of affairs." // V.I. Lenin. Unknown documents. 1891-1922 M., Russian Political Encyclopedia (ROSSPEN). 2000. p. 243

Lenin sent a reply by telegraph:

"National Tidende. Copenhagen. The rumor is incorrect, the former Tsar is unharmed, all rumors are just lies of the capitalist press.” //V.I. Lenin. Unknown documents. 1981-1922 M., Russian Political Encyclopedia (ROSSPEN). 2000. p. 243

Here is the conclusion of the ICR investigator on particularly important cases of Solovyov:

“The investigation has reliably established that Yakov Mikhailovich (Yankel Khaimovich) Yurovsky, his deputy Grigory Petrovich Nikulin, security officer Mikhail Aleksandrovich Medvedev (Kudrin), head of the 2nd Ural squad Pyotr Zakharovich Ermakov, his assistant Stepan Petrovich Vaganov, security guard Pavel took part in the execution Spiridonovich Medvedev, security officer Alexey Georgievich Kabanov. The participation of security guard Viktor Nikiforovich Netrebin, Yan Martynovich Tselms and Red Guard Andrei Andreevich Strekotin in the execution is not excluded. There is no reliable information about the remaining participants in the execution.

According to the national composition, the “firing” team included Russians, Latvians, one Jew (Yurovsky), possibly one Austrian or Hungarian.

The indicated persons, as well as other participants in the execution after Yurovsky’s speech by Ya.M. the verdict began indiscriminate shooting, and the shooting was carried out not only in the room where the execution was carried out, but also from the adjacent room. After the first salvo, it turned out that Tsarevich Alexei, the Tsar’s daughters, the maid A.S. Demidova and Dr. E.S. Botkin is showing signs of life. Grand Duchess Anastasia screamed, the maid A.S. Demidova rose to her feet, and Tsarevich Alexei remained alive for a long time. They were shot with pistols and revolvers, Ermakov P.Z. finished off the survivors with a rifle bayonet. After death was confirmed, all the corpses began to be transferred to the truck.

As established by the investigation, on the night of July 16-17, 1918, in Ipatiev’s house in Yekaterinburg, the following were shot: former Emperor Nicholas II (Romanov), former Empress Alexandra Fedorovna Romanova, their children - Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich Romanov, Grand Duchesses Olga Nikolaevna Romanova, Tatyana Nikolaevna Romanova, Maria Nikolaevna Romanova and Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, physician Evgeniy Sergeevich Botkin, maid Anna Stepanovna Demidova, cook Ivan Mikhailovich Kharitonov and footman Aloisy Yegorovich Trupp.”

The version that the murder was “ritual” is often discussed, that the corpses of members of the royal family were beheaded after death. This version is not confirmed by the results of forensic examination.

“To investigate the possible post-mortem decapitation, the necessary forensic medical studies were carried out on all sets of skeletons. According to the categorical conclusion of the forensic medical examination on the cervical vertebrae of skeletons Nos. 1-9 there are no traces that could indicate post-mortem decapitation. At the same time, the version about the possible opening of the burial in 1919-1946 was checked. Investigative and expert data indicate that the burial was not opened until 1979, and during this opening the remains of Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna were not touched. An inspection of the FSB Directorate for Yekaterinburg and the Sverdlovsk Region showed that the FSB does not have data on the possible opening of a burial place in the period from 1919 to 1978.” // Resolution to terminate criminal case No. 18/123666-93 “On clarifying the circumstances of the death of members of the Russian Imperial House and persons from their entourage in the period 1918-1919”, paragraphs 7-9.

The All-Russian Central Executive Committee did not punish the Ural Regional Council for arbitrariness. Some consider this evidence that the sanction for murder still existed. Others - that the central government did not enter into conflict with the Ural government, since in the conditions of the successful offensive of the Whites, the loyalty of the local Bolsheviks, and the propaganda of the Socialist Revolutionaries about Lenin’s slide “to the right” were more important factors than the disobedience and execution of the Romanovs. The Bolsheviks may have feared a split under difficult conditions.

People's Commissar of Agriculture in the first Soviet government, Chairman of the Supreme Economic Council of the RSFSR V.P. Milyutin recalled:

“I returned late from the Council of People's Commissars. There were “current” matters. During the discussion of the health care project, Semashko’s report, Sverdlov entered and sat down in his place on the chair behind Ilyich. Semashko finished. Sverdlov came up, leaned towards Ilyich and said something.
- Comrades, Sverdlov asks for the floor for a message.
“I must say,” Sverdlov began in his usual tone, “a message has been received that in Yekaterinburg, by order of the regional Council, Nikolai was shot... Nikolai wanted to escape.” The Czechoslovaks were approaching. The Presidium of the Central Election Commission decided to approve...
“Let’s now move on to an article-by-article reading of the draft,” suggested Ilyich...” // Sverdlova K. T. Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov. - 4th. - M.: Young Guard, 1985.

“On July 8, the first meeting of the Presidium of the Central I.K. of the 5th convocation took place. Comrade presided. Sverdlov. Members of the Presidium were present: Avanesov, Sosnovsky, Teodorovich, Vladimirsky, Maksimov, Smidovich, Rosengoltz, Mitrofanov and Rozin.
Chairman Comrade Sverdlov announces a message just received via direct wire from the Regional Ural Council about the execution of the former Tsar Nikolai Romanov.
In recent days, the capital of the Red Urals, Yekaterinburg, was seriously threatened by the approach of Czecho-Slovak gangs. At the same time, a new conspiracy of counter-revolutionaries was uncovered, with the goal of wresting the crowned executioner from the hands of Soviet power. In view of this, the Presidium of the Ural Regional Council decided to shoot Nikolai Romanov, which was carried out on July 16th.
The wife and son of Nikolai Romanov were sent to a safe place. Documents about the uncovered conspiracy were sent to Moscow by special courier.
Having made this message, Comrade. Sverdlov recalls the story of the transfer of Nikolai Romanov from Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg after the discovery of the same organization of White Guards, which was preparing the escape of Nikolai Romanov. IN lately it was intended to bring the former king to trial for all his crimes against the people, and only recent events prevented this from happening.
The Presidium of the Central I.K., having discussed all the circumstances that forced the Ural Regional Council to decide to shoot Nikolai Romanov, decided:
The All-Russian Central I.K., represented by its Presidium, recognizes the decision of the Ural Regional Council as correct.”

The historian Ioffe believes that specific people played a fatal role in the fate of the royal family: the head of the Ural party organization and military commissar of the Ural region F.I. Goloshchekin, Chairman of the Presidium of the Executive Committee of the Ural Regional Council A. Beloborodov, and member of the board of the Ural Cheka, commandant of the “special purpose house” Ya.M. Yurovsky. //Ioffe, G.Z. Revolution and the fate of the Romanovs / M.: Republic, 1992. P.311—312 Golo

It should be noted that in the summer of 1918, an entire “campaign” was carried out in the Urals to exterminate the Romanovs.

into the night from 12 to 13 June 1918 to a hotel in Perm, where they lived in exile Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich and his personal secretary and friend Brian Johnson, several armed people appeared. They took their victims into the forest and killed them. The remains have not yet been found. The murder was presented to Moscow as the abduction of Mikhail Alexandrovich by his supporters or a secret escape, which was used by local authorities as a pretext to tighten the regime of detention of all exiled Romanovs: the royal family in Yekaterinburg and the grand dukes in Alapaevsk and Vologda.

into the night from 17 to 18 July 1918, simultaneously with the execution of the royal family in the Ipatiev House, the murder of six grand dukes who were in Alapaevsk was committed. The victims were taken to an abandoned mine and dumped into it.

The corpses were discovered only on October 3, 1918, after policeman T.P. Malshikov. excavations in an abandoned coal mine located 12 versts from the city of Alapaevsk at the fork in the roads leading from the city of Alapaevsk to the Verkhotursky tract and to the Verkhne-Sinyachikhinsky plant. The doctor of the military hospital train No. 604 Klyachkin, on the instructions of the chief of police of Alapaevsk, opened the corpses and found the following:

“Based on the data of the forensic autopsy of a citizen of Petrograd, doctor Fedor Semenovich REMEZ, I conclude:
Death occurred from hemorrhage of the pleural cavity and hemorrhages under the dura mater due to a bruise.
I consider the injuries from the bruise to be fatal...
1. Death b. Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich suffered from hemorrhage under the dura mater and disruption of the integrity of the brain substance as a result of a gunshot wound.
The indicated damage is classified as fatal.
2. Death b. Prince John Konstantinovich's death occurred from hemorrhage under the dura mater and into both pleural cavities. The indicated injuries could have occurred from blows with a blunt hard object or from bruises when falling from a height onto some hard object.
3. Death b. Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich's death occurred from hemorrhage under the dura mater and in the area of ​​the pleural sacs. The indicated injuries occurred either as a result of blows to the head and chest with some hard blunt object, or from a bruise when falling from a height. The damage is classified as fatal.
4. Death b. Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna suffered from hemorrhage under the dura mater. This damage could occur from a blow to the head with some blunt heavy object or from a fall from a height. The damage is classified as fatal.
5. The death of Prince Vladimir Paley occurred from hemorrhages under the dura mater and into the substance of the brain and into the pleura. These injuries could occur from a fall from a height or from blows to the head and chest with a blunt, hard instrument. The damage is classified as fatal.
6. Death b. Prince Igor Konstantinovich's death occurred from hemorrhage under the dura mater and disruption of the integrity of the cranial bones and base of the skull and from hemorrhages into the pleural cavity and into the peritoneal cavity. These injuries occurred from blows from any blunt hard object or from a fall from a height. The damage is classified as fatal.
7. The death of nun Varvara Yakovleva occurred from hemorrhage under the dura mater. This damage could have occurred from blows from a blunt hard object or from a fall from a height.
This entire act was drawn up in accordance with the most fundamental justice and conscience, in accordance with the rules of medical science and out of duty, which we certify with our signatures...”

Investigator Sokolov, Judicial Investigator for Particularly Important Cases of the Omsk District Court N.A. Sokolov, whom Kolchak instructed in February 1919 to continue conducting the case of the murder of the Romanovs, testified:

“Both the Yekaterinburg and Alapaevsk murders are the product of the same will of the same individuals.” // Sokolov N. Murder of the royal family. P. 329.

Obviously: incitement of the Ural Bolshevik elite to the murder of the royal family, and the Socialist Revolutionaries inciting such public demands in the Urals; material and consulting support White movement; sabotage activities of the counter-revolution inside Russia; attempts to incite a conflict between Russia and Germany; accusing the Soviet leadership of “involvement in German intelligence,” which was allegedly the reason for its reluctance to continue the war with Germany - all links in the same chain that stretches to the British and American intelligence services. We should not forget: such a policy of confrontation between Russia and Germany was supported by British and American bankers literally just a few years after the events we are considering, taking up the financing of the Nazi war machine and fanning the fire of a new World War. // .

At the same time, even during World War II, the Third Reich, with all its sophisticated propaganda, did not publish any documents German intelligence, indicating connections with Lenin. But what a moral blow it would be to Leninism, to the system of ideological coordinates of the Red Army soldiers who went into battle under Lenin’s banners, and in general to all Soviet citizens! Obviously: such documents simply did not exist, just as Lenin’s connection with German intelligence did not exist.

Let us note: the version that the execution of the Royal Family was initiated by the Soviet leadership does not find a single scientific confirmation, just like the myth of “ritual murder”, which today has become the core of monarchist propaganda, through which Western intelligence services incite Black Hundred, anti-Semitic extremism in Russia.

Was everyone who in one way or another came close to the execution of the royal family killed? Why can’t you trust the books of Sokolov (the seventh! investigator in this case), published after his murder? The historian of the royal family, Sergei Ivanovich, answers these questions.

The royal family was not shot!

The last Russian Tsar was not shot, but perhaps left hostage.

Agree: it would be stupid to shoot the Tsar without first shaking out his honestly earned money from his cashboxes. So he was not shot. However, it was not possible to get the money right away, because the times were too turbulent...

Regularly, by the middle of summer of each year, loud crying for the king, who was killed for no reason, is resumed. NicholasII, whom Christians also “canonized” in 2000. Here is Comrade. Starikov, exactly on July 17, once again threw “wood” into the firebox of emotional lamentations about nothing. I was not interested in this issue before, and would not have paid attention to another dummy, BUT... At the last meeting in his life with readers, Academician Nikolai Levashov just mentioned that in the 30s Stalin met with NikolaiII and asked him for money to prepare for a future war. This is how Nikolai Goryushin writes about it in his report “There are prophets in our fatherland!” about this meeting with readers:

“...In this regard, the information related to tragic fate last EmperorRussian Empire Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov and his family... In August 1917, he and his family were deported to the last capital of the Slavic-Aryan Empire, the city of Tobolsk. The choice of this city was not accidental, since the highest degrees of Freemasonry are aware of the great past of the Russian people. The exile to Tobolsk was a kind of mockery of the Romanov dynasty, which in 1775 defeated the troops of the Slavic-Aryan Empire (Great Tartaria), and later this event was called the suppression of the peasant revolt of Emelyan Pugachev... In July 1918 Jacob Schiff gives a command to one of his trusted persons in the Bolshevik leadership Yakov Sverdlov for the ritual murder of the royal family. Sverdlov, after consulting with Lenin, orders the commandant of Ipatiev’s house, a security officer Yakov Yurovsky carry out the plan. According to official history, on the night of July 16-17, 1918, Nikolai Romanov, along with his wife and children, was shot.

At the meeting, Nikolai Levashov said that in fact NikolaiII and his family were not shot! This statement immediately raises many questions. I decided to look into them. Many works have been written on this topic, and the picture of the execution and the testimony of witnesses look plausible at first glance. The facts obtained by investigator A.F. do not fit into the logical chain. Kirstoy, who joined the investigation in August 1918. During the investigation, he interviewed Dr. P.I. Utkin, who reported that at the end of October 1918 he was invited to the building occupied by the Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution to provide medical care. The victim turned out to be a young girl, presumably 22 years old, with a cut lip and a tumor under her eye. To the question “who is she?” the girl replied that she was “ daughter of the Tsar Anastasia" During the investigation, investigator Kirsta did not find the corpses of the royal family in Ganina Pit. Soon, Kirsta found numerous witnesses who told him during interrogations that in September 1918, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and the Grand Duchesses were kept in Perm. And witness Samoilov stated from the words of his neighbor, the guard of Ipatiev’s house Varakushev, that there was no execution, the royal family was loaded into a carriage and taken away.

After receiving this data, A.F. Kirst is removed from the case and ordered to hand over all materials to investigator A.S. Sokolov. Nikolai Levashov reported that the motive for saving the lives of the Tsar and his family was the desire of the Bolsheviks, contrary to the orders of their masters, to take possession of hidden the wealth of the dynasty The Romanovs, whose location Nikolai Alexandrovich certainly knew. Soon the organizers of the execution in 1919, Sverdlov, and Lenin in 1924 die. Nikolai Viktorovich clarified that Nikolai Aleksandrovich Romanov communicated with I.V. Stalin, and the wealth of the Russian Empire was used to strengthen the power of the USSR..."

Speech by Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Veniamin Alekseev.
Ekaterinburg remains - more questions than answers:

If this was the first lie of Comrade. Starikova, one might well think that the person still knows little and was simply mistaken. But Starikov is the author of several very good books and is very savvy in matters of recent Russian history. This leads to the obvious conclusion that he is deliberately disingenuous. I won’t write here about the reasons for this lie, although they lie right on the surface... I’d rather give some more evidence that the royal family was not executed in July 1918, and the rumor about the execution was most likely started for “reporting” before customers - Schiff and other comrades who financed the coup in Russia in February 1917…

Did Nicholas II meet with Stalin?

There are suggestions that Nicholas II was not shot, and the entire female half of the royal family was taken to Germany. But the documents are still classified...

For me, this story began in November 1983. I then worked as a photojournalist for a French agency and was sent to a summit of heads of state and government in Venice. There I accidentally met an Italian colleague, who, having learned that I was Russian, showed me a newspaper (I think it was La Repubblica) dated the day of our meeting. In the article to which the Italian drew my attention, it was said that a certain nun, Sister Pascalina, died in Rome at a very old age. I later learned that this woman held an important position in the Vatican hierarchy under Pope Pius XII (1939-1958), but that is not the point.

The secret of the “Iron Lady” of the Vatican

This sister Pascalina, who earned the honorable nickname of the “Iron Lady” of the Vatican, before her death called a notary with two witnesses and in their presence dictated information that she did not want to take with her to the grave: one of the daughters of the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II - Olga- was not shot by the Bolsheviks on the night of July 16-17, 1918, but lived a long life and was buried in a cemetery in the village of Marcotte in northern Italy.

After the summit, I and my Italian friend, who was both my driver and translator, went to this village. We found the cemetery and this grave. On the plate was written in German:

« Olga Nikolaevna, eldest daughter of Russian Tsar Nikolai Romanov” – and dates of life: “1895-1976”.

We talked with the cemetery watchman and his wife: they, like all the village residents, remembered Olga Nikolaevna very well, knew who she was, and were sure that the Russian Grand Duchess was under the protection of the Vatican.

This strange find interested me extremely, and I decided to look into all the circumstances of the execution myself. And in general, was he there?

I have every reason to believe that there was no execution. On the night of July 16-17, all the Bolsheviks and their sympathizers left by rail for Perm. The next morning, leaflets were posted around Yekaterinburg with the message that the royal family was taken away from the city, - so it was. Soon the city was occupied by whites. Naturally, an investigative commission was formed “in the case of the disappearance of Sovereign Nicholas II, the Empress, the Tsarevich and the Grand Duchesses,” which did not find any convincing traces of the execution.

Investigator Sergeev in 1919 he said in an interview with an American newspaper:

“I don’t think that everyone was executed here - both the king and his family. “In my opinion, the empress, prince and grand duchesses were not executed in Ipatiev’s house.” This conclusion did not suit Admiral Kolchak, who by that time had already proclaimed himself the “supreme ruler of Russia.” And really, why does the “supreme” need some kind of emperor? Kolchak ordered the assembly of a second investigative team, which got to the bottom of the fact that in September 1918 the Empress and the Grand Duchesses were kept in Perm. Only the third investigator, Nikolai Sokolov (led the case from February to May 1919), turned out to be more understanding and issued the well-known conclusion that the entire family was shot, the corpses dismembered and burned at the stake. “Parts that were not susceptible to fire,” wrote Sokolov, “were destroyed with the help of sulfuric acid».

What, then, was buried? in 1998. in the Peter and Paul Cathedral? Let me remind you that shortly after the start of perestroika, some skeletons were found in Porosyonkovo ​​Log near Yekaterinburg. In 1998, they were solemnly reburied in the Romanov family tomb, after numerous genetic examinations were carried out before that. Moreover, the guarantor of the authenticity of the royal remains was the secular power of Russia in the person of President Boris Yeltsin. But the Russian Orthodox Church refused to recognize the bones as the remains of the royal family.

But let's go back to the Civil War. According to my information, the royal family was divided in Perm. The path of the female part lay in Germany, while the men - Nikolai Romanov himself and Tsarevich Alexei - were left in Russia. Father and son were kept for a long time near Serpukhov at the former dacha of the merchant Konshin. Later in the NKVD reports this place was known as "Object No. 17". Most likely, the prince died in 1920 from hemophilia. I can’t say anything about the fate of the last Russian emperor. Except for one thing: in the 30s “Object No. 17” Stalin visited twice. Does this mean that Nicholas II was still alive in those years?

The men were left hostage

To understand why such incredible events from the point of view of a person of the 21st century became possible and to find out who needed them, you will have to go back to 1918. Do you remember from the school history course about the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty? Yes, on March 3, in Brest-Litovsk, a peace treaty was concluded between Soviet Russia on the one hand and Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey on the other. Russia lost Poland, Finland, the Baltic states and part of Belarus. But this was not why Lenin called the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty “humiliating” and “obscene.” By the way, the full text of the agreement has not yet been published either in the East or in the West. I believe that because of the secret conditions present in it. Probably the Kaiser, who was a relative of Empress Maria Feodorovna, demanded that all women of the royal family be transferred to Germany. The girls had no rights to the Russian throne and, therefore, could not threaten the Bolsheviks in any way. The men remained hostages - as guarantors that the German army would not venture further east than stated in the peace treaty.

What happened next? What was the fate of the women brought to the West? Was their silence a requirement for their integrity? Unfortunately, I have more questions than answers.

Interview with Vladimir Sychev on the Romanov case

A most interesting interview with Vladimir Sychev, who refutes the official version of the execution of the royal family. He talks about the grave of Olga Romanova in northern Italy, about the investigation of two British journalists, about the conditions of the Brest Peace of 1918, under which all the women of the royal family were handed over to the Germans in Kyiv...

Author – Vladimir Sychev

The execution of the royal family is a falsification (Sychev V.):

In June 1987, I was in Venice as part of the French press accompanying François Mitterrand to the G7 summit. During breaks between pools, an Italian journalist approached me and asked me something in French. Realizing from my accent that I was not French, he looked at my French accreditation and asked where I was from. “Russian,” I answered. - Is that so? – my interlocutor was surprised. Under his arm he held an Italian newspaper, from which he translated a huge, half-page article.

Sister Pascalina dies in a private clinic in Switzerland. She was known throughout the Catholic world because... passed with the future Pope Pius XXII from 1917, when he was still Cardinal Pacelli in Munich (Bavaria), until his death in the Vatican in 1958. She had such a strong influence on him that he entrusted her with the entire administration of the Vatican, and when the cardinals asked for an audience with the Pope, she decided who was worthy of such an audience and who was not. This is a short retelling great article, the meaning of which was that we had to believe the phrase uttered at the end and not by a mere mortal. Sister Pascalina asked to invite a lawyer and witnesses because she did not want to take her to the grave the secret of your life. When they appeared, she only said that the woman buried in the village Morcote, near Lake Maggiore – indeed daughter of the Russian Tsar - Olga!!

I convinced my Italian colleague that this was a gift from Fate, and that it was useless to resist it. Having learned that he was from Milan, I told him that I would not fly back to Paris on the presidential press plane, but he and I would go to this village for half a day. We went there after the summit. It turned out that this was no longer Italy, but Switzerland, but we quickly found a village, a cemetery and a cemetery watchman who led us to the grave. On gravestone– a photograph of an elderly woman and an inscription in German: Olga Nikolaevna(no surname), eldest daughter of Nikolai Romanov, Tsar of Russia, and dates of life – 1985-1976!!!

The Italian journalist was an excellent translator for me, but he clearly didn’t want to stay there for the whole day. All I had to do was ask questions.

– When did she live here? – In 1948.

– She said that she was the daughter of the Russian Tsar? - Of course, the whole village knew about it.

– Did this get into the press? - Yes.

– How did the other Romanovs react to this? Did they sue? - They served it.

- And she lost? - Yes, I lost.

– In this case, she had to pay the legal costs of the other party. - She paid.

– Did she work? - No.

-Where does she get the money from? – Yes, the whole village knew that the Vatican was supporting her!!

The ring has closed. I went to Paris and began to look for what was known on this issue... And quickly came across a book by two English journalists.

II

Tom Mangold and Anthony Summers published a book in 1979 "Dossier on the Tsar"(“The Romanov Case, or the Execution that Never Happened”). They started with the fact that if the classification of secrecy from state archives is removed after 60 years, then in 1978 60 years will expire from the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, and you can “dig up” something there by looking into the declassified archives. That is, at first the idea was just to look... And they very quickly got to telegrams the British ambassador to his Foreign Ministry that the royal family was taken from Yekaterinburg to Perm. There is no need to explain to BBC professionals that this is a sensation. They rushed to Berlin.

It quickly became clear that the Whites, having entered Yekaterinburg on July 25, immediately appointed an investigator to investigate the execution of the royal family. Nikolai Sokolov, whose book everyone still refers to, is the third investigator who received the case only at the end of February 1919! Then a simple question arises: who were the first two and what did they report to their superiors? So, the first investigator named Nametkin, appointed by Kolchak, having worked for three months and declaring that he is a professional, the matter is simple, and he does not need additional time (and the Whites were advancing and did not doubt their victory at that time - i.e. all the time is yours, don’t rush, work!), puts a report on the table stating that there was no execution, but there was a mock execution. Kolchak shelved this report and appointed a second investigator named Sergeev. He also works for three months and at the end of February hands Kolchak the same report with the same words (“I am a professional, it’s a simple matter, no additional time is needed,” there was no execution– there was a mock execution).

Here it is necessary to explain and remind that it was the Whites who overthrew the Tsar, not the Reds, and they sent him into exile in Siberia! Lenin was in Zurich these February days. No matter what ordinary soldiers say, the white elite are not monarchists, but republicans. And Kolchak did not need a living Tsar. I advise those who have doubts to read Trotsky’s diaries, where he writes that “if the Whites had nominated any tsar - even a peasant one - we would not have lasted even two weeks”! These are the words of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Red Army and the ideologist of the Red Terror!! Please believe me.

Therefore, Kolchak already appoints “his” investigator Nikolai Sokolov and gives him a task. And Nikolai Sokolov also works for only three months - but for a different reason. The Reds entered Yekaterinburg in May, and he retreated along with the Whites. He took the archives, but what did he write?

1. He did not find any corpses, and for the police of any country in any system “no bodies - no murder” is a disappearance! After all, upon arrest serial killers The police are demanding to see where the corpses are hidden!! You can say anything, even about yourself, but the investigator needs physical evidence!

And Nikolai Sokolov “hangs the first noodles on our ears”:

“thrown into a mine, filled with acid”.

Nowadays they prefer to forget this phrase, but we heard it until 1998! And for some reason no one ever doubted it. Is it possible to fill a mine with acid? But there won't be enough acid! In the local history museum of Yekaterinburg, where director Avdonin (the same one, one of the three who “accidentally” found the bones on the Starokotlyakovskaya road, cleared before them by three investigators in 1918-19), there is a certificate about those soldiers on the truck that they had 78 liters of gasoline (not acid). In July, in the Siberian taiga, with 78 liters of gasoline, you can burn the entire Moscow zoo! No, they went back and forth, first they threw it into the mine, poured it with acid, and then took it out and hid it under the sleepers...

By the way, on the night of the “execution” from July 16 to 17, 1918, a huge train with the entire local Red Army, the local Central Committee and the local Cheka left Yekaterinburg for Perm. The Whites entered on the eighth day, and Yurovsky, Beloborodov and his comrades shifted responsibility to two soldiers? Inconsistency, - tea, we were not dealing with a peasant revolt. And if they shot at their own discretion, they could have done it a month earlier.

2. The second “noodle” by Nikolai Sokolov - he describes the basement of the Ipatievsky house, publishes photographs where it is clear that there are bullets in the walls and in the ceiling (when they stage an execution, this is apparently what they do). Conclusion - the women's corsets were filled with diamonds, and the bullets ricocheted! So, this is it: the king from the throne and into exile in Siberia. Money in England and Switzerland, and they sew diamonds into corsets to sell to peasants at the market? Well, well!

3. The same book by Nikolai Sokolov describes the same basement in the same Ipatiev house, where in the fireplace there are clothes from every member of the imperial family and hair from every head. Did they have their hair cut and changed (undressed??) before being shot? Not at all - they were taken out on the same train on that very “night of the execution”, but they cut their hair and changed their clothes so that no one would recognize them there.

III

Tom Magold and Anthony Summers intuitively understood that the answer to this intriguing detective story must be sought in Treaty of the Brest-Litovsk Peace. And they began to look for the original text. So what?? With all the secrets being removed after 60 years of this official document nowhere! It is not in the declassified archives of London or Berlin. They searched everywhere - and found only quotes everywhere, but could not find them anywhere full text! And they came to the conclusion that the Kaiser demanded from Lenin that the women be extradited. The Tsar's wife was a relative of the Kaiser, his daughters were German citizens and had no right to the throne, and besides, the Kaiser at that moment could crush Lenin like a bug! And here are Lenin’s words that “The world is humiliating and obscene, but it must be signed”, and the July attempt at a coup by the Socialist Revolutionaries with Dzerzhinsky joining them at the Bolshoi Theater takes on a completely different form.

Officially we were taught that Trotsky signed the treaty only on the second attempt and only after the start of the offensive German army, when it became clear to everyone that the Republic of Soviets could not resist. If there is simply no army, what is “humiliating and obscene” here? Nothing. But if it is necessary to hand over all the women of the royal family, and even to the Germans, and even during the First World War, then ideologically everything is in its place, and the words are read correctly. Which Lenin did, and the entire ladies’ section was handed over to the Germans in Kyiv. And immediately the murder of the German ambassador Mirbach in Moscow and the German consul in Kyiv begins to make sense.

“Dossier on the Tsar” is a fascinating investigation into one cunningly intricate intrigue of world history. The book was published in 1979, so the words of sister Paskalina in 1983 about Olga’s grave could not have been included in it. And if there were no new facts, there would be no point in simply retelling someone else’s book here.

10 years have passed. In November 1997, in Moscow, I met former political prisoner Geliy Donskoy from St. Petersburg. The conversation over tea in the kitchen also touched upon the king and his family. When I said that there was no execution, he calmly answered me:

– I know it wasn’t.

- Well, you are the first in 10 years,

- I answered him, almost falling from my chair.

Then I asked him to tell me his sequence of events, wanting to find out at what point our versions coincide and at what point they begin to diverge. He did not know about the extradition of the women, believing that they died somewhere in different places. There was no doubt that they were all taken out of Yekaterinburg. I told him about the “Dossier on the Tsar,” and he told me about one seemingly insignificant find that he and his friends noticed in the 80s.

They came across the memoirs of the participants in the “execution”, published in the 30s. In them, except known facts that two weeks before the “execution” a new guard arrived, it was said that a high fence was built around the Ipatievsky house. It would be of no use for execution in a basement, but if a family needs to be taken out unnoticed, then it would come in handy. The most important thing - which no one had ever paid attention to before - was that the head of the new guard spoke to Yurovsky in a foreign language! They checked the lists - the head of the new guard was Lisitsyn (all participants in the “execution” are known). It seems nothing special. And here they were really lucky: at the beginning of perestroika, Gorbachev opened hitherto closed archives (my Sovietologist acquaintances confirmed that this happened for two years), and then they began searching in declassified documents. And they found it! It turned out that Lisitsyn was not Lisitsyn at all, but an American Fox!!! I was ready for this a long time ago. I already knew from books and from life that Trotsky came to make a revolution from New York on a ship full of Americans (everyone knows about Lenin and the two carriages with Germans and Austrians). The Kremlin was full of foreigners who did not speak Russian (there was even Petin, but an Austrian!) Therefore, the guards were made up of Latvian riflemen, so that the people would not even think that foreigners had seized power.

And then mine new friend Helium Donskoy completely captivated me. He asked himself one very important question. Fox-Lisitsyn arrived as the head of the new guard (in reality, the head of the royal family’s security) on July 2. On the night of the “execution” on July 16-17, 1918, he left on the same train. And where did he get his new assignment? He became the first head of the new secret facility No. 17 near Serpukhov (on the estate of the former merchant Konshin), which Stalin visited twice! (why?! More on that below.)

I have been telling this whole story with the new continuation to all my friends since 1997.

On one of my visits to Moscow, my friend Yura Feklistov asked me to visit his school friend, and now a candidate of historical sciences, so that I could tell him everything myself. That historian named Sergei was the press secretary of the Kremlin commandant’s office (scientists were not paid salaries in those days). At the appointed hour, Yura and I climbed the wide Kremlin stairs and entered the office. Just like now in this article, I started with sister Pascalina and when I came to her phrase that “the woman buried in the village of Morkote is really the daughter of the Russian Tsar Olga,” Sergei almost jumped: “Now it’s clear why The Patriarch did not go to the funeral! - he exclaimed.

This was also obvious to me - after all, despite the strained relations between different faiths, when it comes to persons of this rank, information is exchanged. I just did not understand the position of the “workers”, who from faithful Marxists-Leninists suddenly became devout Christians, do not value several statements of His Holiness himself. After all, even I, being in Moscow only on visits, twice heard the Patriarch say on central television that the examination of the royal bones cannot be trusted! I heard it twice, but what, no one else?? Well, he could not say more and declare publicly that there was no execution. This is the prerogative of the highest government officials, not the church.

Further, when at the very end I told that the tsar and the prince were settled near Serpukhov on the Konshin estate, Sergei shouted: “Vasya!” You have all of Stalin's movements in your computer. Well, tell me, was he in the Serpukhov area? “Vasya turned on the computer and answered: “I was there twice.” Once at the dacha of a foreign writer, and another time at Ordzhonikidze’s dacha.

I was prepared for this turn of events. The fact is that not only John Reed (a journalist and writer of one book) is buried in the Kremlin wall, but 117 foreigners are buried there! And this was from November 1917 to January 1919!! These are the same German, Austrian and American communists from the Kremlin offices. People like Fox-Lisitsyn, John Reed and other Americans who left their mark on Soviet history after the fall of Trotsky were legalized by official Soviet historians as journalists. (An interesting parallel: the expedition of the artist Roerich to Tibet from Moscow was paid for by the Americans in 1920! This means there were a lot of them there). Others ran away - they were not children and knew what awaited them. By the way, apparently, this Fox was the founder of the cinema empire “XX Century Fox” in 1934 after the expulsion of Trotsky.

But let's return to Stalin. I think few people will believe that Stalin traveled 100 km from Moscow to meet with a “foreign writer” or even Sergo Ordzhonikidze! He received them in the Kremlin.

He met the Tsar there!! With the man in the iron mask!!!

And this was in the 30s. This is where the imagination of writers can unfold!

These two meetings are very intriguing to me. I'm sure they discussed at least one topic seriously. And Stalin did not discuss this topic with anyone. He believed the Tsar, not his marshals! This Finnish war- Finnish campaign, as it is shyly called in Soviet history. Why the campaign - after all, there was a war? Yes, because there was no preparation - a campaign! And only the tsar could give such advice to Stalin. He had been in captivity for 20 years. The king knew the past - Finland was never a state. The Finns really defended themselves to the last. When the order for a truce came, several thousand soldiers came out of the Soviet trenches, and only four from the Finnish ones.

Instead of an afterword

About 10 years ago I told this story to my Moscow colleague Sergei. When he reached the Konshin estate, where the Tsar and the Tsarevich were settled, he became agitated, stopped the car and said:

- Let my wife tell you.

– I dialed the number on my mobile and asked:

- Darling, do you remember how we were students in 1972 in Serpukhov on the Konshina estate, where local history museum? Tell me, why were we shocked then?

“And my dear wife answered me on the phone:

“We were completely horrified.” All graves have been opened. We were told that they were plundered by bandits.

I think that it was not the bandits, but that they had already decided to deal with the bones at the right moment. By the way, in the Konshin estate there was the grave of Colonel Romanov. The king was a colonel.

June 2012, Paris – Berlin

The Romanov case, or the execution that never happened

A. Summers T. Mangold

translation: Yuri Ivanovich Senin

The Romanov Case, or the Execution that Never Happened

The story described in this book can be called a detective story, although it is the result of a serious journalistic investigation. Dozens of books told with great conviction how the Bolsheviks shot the Royal Family in the basement of the Ipatiev House.

It would seem that the version of the execution of the Royal Family has been clearly proven. However, in most of these works, the “bibliography” section mentions the book by American journalists A. Summers and T. Mangold “The file on the tsar”, published in London in 1976. Mentioned, that's all. No comments, no links. And no translations. Even the original of this book is not easy to find.

Exactly one hundred years have passed since the death of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his family. In 1918, on the night of July 16-17, the royal family was shot. We talk about life in exile and the death of the Romanovs, disputes about the authenticity of their remains, the version of the “ritual” murder and why the Russian Orthodox Church canonized the royal family.

CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

What happened to Nicholas II and his family before their death?

After abdicating the throne, Nicholas II turned from a tsar into a prisoner. The last milestones in the life of the royal family are house arrest in Tsarskoye Selo, exile in Tobolsk, imprisonment in Yekaterinburg, writes TASS. The Romanovs were subjected to many humiliations: the guard soldiers were often rude, they imposed restrictions on everyday life, and prisoners’ correspondence was viewed.

While living in Tsarskoe Selo, Alexander Kerensky forbade Nicholas and Alexandra from sleeping together: the spouses were allowed to see each other only at the table and speak to each other exclusively in Russian. True, this measure did not last long.

In Ipatiev’s house, Nicholas II wrote in his diary that he was only allowed to walk for an hour a day. When asked to explain the reason, they answered: “To make it look like a prison regime.”

Where, how and who killed the royal family?

The royal family and their entourage were shot in Yekaterinburg in the basement of the house of mining engineer Nikolai Ipatiev, RIA Novosti reports. Together with Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, their children - Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, Tsarevich Alexei, as well as physician Evgeny Botkin, valet Alexei Trupp, room girl Anna Demidova and cook Ivan Kharitonov died.

The commandant of the Special Purpose House, Yakov Yurovsky, was assigned to organize the execution. After the execution, all the bodies were transferred to a truck and taken out of Ipatiev’s house.

Why was the royal family canonized?

In 1998, in response to a request from the Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, the senior prosecutor-criminologist of the Main investigation department The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Solovyov, responded that “the circumstances of the death of the family indicate that the actions of those involved in the direct execution of the sentence (choice of the place of execution, team, murder weapon, burial place, manipulation of corpses) were determined by random circumstances,” quotes “ “It is said about the assumption that doubles of the royal family could have been shot in Ipatiev’s house. In a publication by Meduza, Ksenia Luchenko refutes this version:

This is out of the question. On January 23, 1998, the Prosecutor General's Office presented the government commission led by Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov with a detailed report on the results of the study into the circumstances of the death of the royal family and people from its circle.<…>AND general conclusion was unequivocal: everyone died, the remains were identified correctly.

Exactly 100 years ago, on July 17, 1918, security officers shot the royal family in Yekaterinburg. The remains were found more than 50 years later. There are many rumors and myths surrounding the execution. At the request of colleagues from Meduza, journalist and associate professor at RANEPA Ksenia Luchenko, the author of many publications on this topic, answered key questions about the murder and burial of the Romanovs

How many people were shot?

The royal family and their entourage were shot in Yekaterinburg on the night of July 17, 1918. In total, 11 people were killed - Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Empress Alexandra Fedorovna, their four daughters - Anastasia, Olga, Maria and Tatiana, son Alexei, the family doctor Yevgeny Botkin, cook Ivan Kharitonov and two servants - valet Aloysius Troupe and maid Anna Demidova.

The execution order has not yet been found. Historians have found a telegram from Yekaterinburg, in which it is written that the tsar was shot because the enemy was approaching the city and the discovery of a White Guard conspiracy. The decision to execute was made by the local government authority Uralsovet. However, historians believe that the order was given by the party leadership, and not the Urals Council. The commandant of the Ipatiev House, Yakov Yurovsky, was appointed the main person in charge of the execution.

Is it true that some members of the royal family did not die immediately?

Yes, according to the testimony of witnesses to the execution, Tsarevich Alexei survived the machine gun fire. He was shot by Yakov Yurovsky with a revolver. Security guard Pavel Medvedev spoke about this. He wrote that Yurovsky sent him outside to check if shots were heard. When he returned, the whole room was covered in blood, and Tsarevich Alexei was still moaning.

Photo: Grand Duchess Olga and Tsarevich Alexei on the ship "Rus" on the way from Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg. May 1918, last known photograph

Yurovsky himself wrote that it was not only Alexei who had to be “finished”, but also his three sisters, the “maid of honor” (maid Demidova) and Doctor Botkin. There is also evidence from another eyewitness, Alexander Strekotin.

“The arrested were all already lying on the floor, bleeding, and the heir was still sitting on the chair. For some reason he did not fall from the chair for a long time and remained alive.”

They say that bullets bounced off the diamonds on the princesses' belts. This is true?

Yurovsky wrote in his note that the bullets ricocheted off something and jumped around the room like hailstones. Immediately after the execution, the security officers tried to appropriate the property of the royal family, but Yurovsky threatened them with death so that they would return the stolen property. Jewels were also found in Ganina Yama, where Yurovsky’s team burned the personal belongings of the murdered (the inventory includes diamonds, platinum earrings, thirteen large pearls, and so on).

Is it true that their animals were killed along with the royal family?

Photo: Grand Duchesses Maria, Olga, Anastasia and Tatiana in Tsarskoe Selo, where they were detained. With them are Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Jemmy and French bulldog Ortino. Spring 1917

The royal children had three dogs. After the night execution, only one survived - Tsarevich Alexei's spaniel named Joy. He was taken to England, where he died of old age in the palace of King George, cousin of Nicholas II. A year after the execution, the body of a dog was found at the bottom of a mine in Ganina Yama, which was well preserved in the cold. Her right leg was broken and her head was pierced. Teacher English language royal children Charles Gibbs, who helped Nikolai Sokolov in the investigation, identified her as Jemmy, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel of Grand Duchess Anastasia. The third dog, Tatiana's French bulldog, was also found dead.

How were the remains of the royal family found?

After the execution, Yekaterinburg was occupied by the army of Alexander Kolchak. He ordered to begin an investigation into the murder and find the remains of the royal family. Investigator Nikolai Sokolov studied the area, found fragments of burnt clothing of members of the royal family and even described a “bridge of sleepers”, under which a burial was found several decades later, but came to the conclusion that the remains were completely destroyed in Ganina Yama.

The remains of the royal family were found only in the late 1970s. Film writer Geliy Ryabov was obsessed with the idea of ​​finding the remains, and Vladimir Mayakovsky’s poem “Emperor” helped him in this. Thanks to the poet’s lines, Ryabov got an idea of ​​the Tsar’s burial place, which the Bolsheviks showed to Mayakovsky. Ryabov often wrote about the exploits of the Soviet police, so he had access to classified documents of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Photo: Photo No. 70. An open mine at the time of its development. Ekaterinburg, spring 1919

In 1976, Ryabov came to Sverdlovsk, where he met local historian and geologist Alexander Avdonin. It is clear that even the scriptwriters favored by the ministers in those years were not allowed to openly search for the remains of the royal family. Therefore, Ryabov, Avdonin and their assistants secretly searched for the burial place for several years.

The son of Yakov Yurovsky gave Ryabov a “note” from his father, where he described not only the murder of the royal family, but also the subsequent scrambles of the security officers in attempts to hide the bodies. The description of the final burial site under a flooring of sleepers near a truck stuck on the road coincided with Mayakovsky’s “instructions” about the road. It was the old Koptyakovskaya road, and the place itself was called Porosenkov Log. Ryabov and Avdonin explored the space with probes, which they delineated by comparing maps and various documents.

In the summer of 1979, they found a burial and opened it for the first time, taking out three skulls. They realized that it would be impossible to conduct any examinations in Moscow, and keeping the skulls in their possession was dangerous, so the researchers put them in a box and returned them to the grave a year later. They kept the secret until 1989. And in 1991, the remains of nine people were officially found. Two more badly burnt bodies (by that time it was already clear that these were the remains of Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria) were found in 2007 a little further away.

Is it true that the murder of the royal family was ritual?

There is a typical anti-Semitic myth that Jews allegedly kill people for ritual purposes. And the execution of the royal family also has its own “ritual” version.

Finding themselves in exile in the 1920s, three participants in the first investigation into the murder of the royal family - investigator Nikolai Sokolov, journalist Robert Wilton and General Mikhail Diterichs - wrote books about it.

Sokolov cites an inscription he saw on the wall in the basement of the Ipatiev house where the murder took place: “Belsazar ward in selbiger Nacht Von seinen Knechten umgebracht.” This is a quote from Heinrich Heine and translates as “On this very night Belshazzar was killed by his slaves.” He also mentions that he saw there a certain “designation of four signs.” Wilton in his book concludes from this that the signs were “kabbalistic”, adds that among the members of the firing squad there were Jews (of those directly involved in the execution, only one Jew was Yakov Yurovsky, and he was baptized into Lutheranism) and comes to the version about the ritual murder of the royal family. Dieterichs also adheres to the anti-Semitic version.

Wilton also writes that during the investigation, Dieterichs assumed that the heads of the dead were severed and taken to Moscow as trophies. Most likely, this assumption was born in attempts to prove that the bodies were burned in Ganina Yama: teeth that should have remained after the burning were not found in the fire pit, therefore, there were no heads in it.

The version of ritual murder circulated in emigrant monarchist circles. The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad canonized the royal family in 1981 - almost 20 years earlier than the Russian Orthodox Church, so many of the myths that the cult of the martyr king had acquired in Europe were exported to Russia.

In 1998, the Patriarchate asked the investigation ten questions, which were fully answered by the senior prosecutor-criminologist of the Main Investigation Department of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Solovyov, who led the investigation. Question No. 9 was about the ritual nature of the murder, question No. 10 was about the cutting off of heads. Solovyov replied that in Russian legal practice there are no criteria for “ritual murder,” but “the circumstances of the death of the family indicate that the actions of those involved in the direct execution of the sentence (choice of the place of execution, team, murder weapon, burial place, manipulation of corpses) , were determined by random circumstances. People of various nationalities (Russians, Jews, Magyars, Latvians and others) took part in these actions. The so-called “Kabbalistic writings have no analogues in the world, and their writing is interpreted arbitrarily, with essential details being discarded.” All the skulls of those killed were intact and relatively intact; additional anthropological studies confirmed the presence of all cervical vertebrae and their correspondence to each of the skulls and bones of the skeleton.