How the royal Romanov family lived in the last days before the execution. “The last days of the life of the Royal Family and their execution” The last days of the Royal Family

On the night of July 16-17, in the house of merchant Ipatiev in Yekaterinburg, the family of the last Russian emperor was sentenced to death. Although a hundred years have passed since the tragedy, new, sometimes contradictory facts are still being discovered.

Fact No. 1

The last three bullets from the Mauser of the commandant of the Ipatiev house, Yakov Yurovsky, went to the son of the last Russian emperor, Alexei.

Investigator Nikolai Sokolov, who was investigating the murder of the royal family, collected testimonies from all participants in the execution. So, Mikhail Medvedev, who was in the special purpose house at the time of the incident, said that Alexey Romanov woke up shortly after the massacre of the entire family.

Then Yakov Yurovsky approached him and fired the last three bullets from his Mauser. After this, they allegedly began checking everyone’s pulse and shot at Olga and Anastasia.

Fact No. 2

The royal family was shot by 12 people. Participation was voluntary.

According to investigator Sokolov, out of 12 people there were five foreigners. Pyotr Ermakov stated that he personally shot Nicholas II in the head. Mikhail Medvedev stated that it was he who killed the Tsar. He allegedly also shot at the Romanov princesses.

Pavel Medvedev not only shot, but also organized cleaning in Ipatiev’s house to hide traces of the massacre. Alexander Strekotin was also in the basement, but it is not clear who exactly he shot. In his 1928 memoirs, he recalled only the feeling of confusion after being handed the revolver. The list of killers also includes Alexey Kabanov and Imre Nagy, but their role has not been established. The rest are listed as “members of the firing squad.”

Fact No. 3

For 20 years after the execution, Military Commissar Pyotr Ermakov traveled around the country and gave lectures.

Ermakov stated that it was he who led the execution, although the participants in the murder never came to an agreement on this issue - everyone points to different people.

After the Civil War he worked in law enforcement. By 1927, he was promoted to the head of one of the Ural prisons. During meetings with employees, he lectured on the murder of the imperial family.

There is a legend in the Urals that one of the few famous people who treated him with contempt was Georgy Zhukov. When he headed the Ural Military District, they met with Ermakov during one of the meetings. And when the killer extended his hand to Zhukov, he laconicly replied: “I don’t shake hands with executioners!”

Fact No. 4

The size of the room where the Romanovs were killed is 5 × 6 meters.

The question still remains of how 23 people could fit in such a small room (Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, princesses Olga, Maria, Anastasia, Tatyana, son Alexei, physician Evgeny Botkin, chef Ivan Kharitonov, room girl Anna Demidova, valet Aloysius Trupp and 12 shooters). According to the most common version, those who were involved in the disposal of bodies and also supervised the house cleaning work were also included in the “execution squad.”

Fact No. 5

Before the murder, a truck drove up to the “special purpose house”, the engine of which did not stop running to drown out the sounds of gunfire.

In addition, for the same purposes they shot in the basement and behind a closed door. The murder of the Romanov family became known to the general public only in February 1919.

Fact No. 6

Vladimir Lenin insisted on an open trial of Nicholas II, speaking categorically against execution.

Initially, the Soviet leadership decided to try Nicholas II. This issue was discussed, among other things, in May 1918. Lenin, in particular, was in favor of an open trial of the emperor. Historians Dodonov and Kopylova also indicated that preparations for the trial had begun.

It is noted that the chairman of the Urals Council, Alexander Beloborodov, allegedly discussed with Lenin strengthening the tsar’s security. The historian Heinrich Ioffe also argued that Lenin could not have time to approve the actions in Ipatiev’s house: even if he actually received a telegram and he answered in the affirmative, by the time of the execution Lenin’s answer simply would not have had time to come back.

Fact No. 7

The murder of the entire royal family became known to the public only in 1919.

Thus, the newspapers Izvestia and Pravda published materials on July 19 that Nicholas II was executed. It was said about Alexandra Fedorovna and the children that they were “sent to a safe place.” Later rumors appeared that they were in Perm. Starting from July 30, 1918, the murder of Nicholas II was investigated.

The truth became known after a member of the Yekaterinburg District Court, Ivan Sergeev, stated that on February 11, 1919, Pavel Medvedev was interrogated in the city of Perm. He stated that on the night of July 17, not only the emperor, but also his family, as well as the doctor, maid, cook and footman were actually shot. Further investigative actions confirmed this information.

Fact No. 8

Shortly before the murder, the emperor's wife and daughters sewed jewelry into their clothes in case of escape.

The family of Nicholas II hoped until the last that they would be saved. Alexandra Feodorovna and her daughters sewed some of the jewelry into their bras.

When they began to undress one of the girls, they saw a corset, torn in places by bullets - diamonds were visible in the holes... Alexandra Fedorovna was wearing a whole pearl belt, sewn into linen. The diamonds immediately began to evaporate. There were about half a pound of them (more than eight kilograms. - Ed.), - Yurovsky later said.

Something was later found from the then former guards of the Ipatiev House (they couldn’t sell it).

Fact No. 9

The only servant who was with the royal family until the last day and survived the execution was the cook Leonid Sednev.

The boy was the same age as Tsarevich Alexei; during his exile in Tobolsk and his stay in Ipatiev’s house, they often played together.

Suddenly they sent for Lyonka Sednev to go and check on his uncle, and he hastily ran away, we wonder if all this is true and whether we will see the boy again - such lines are found in one of Alexandra Fedorovna’s last diary entries.

The boy’s life was allegedly saved on Yurovsky’s personal orders. However, for what reason the child was not killed remains a mystery. He was sent to his homeland, to the Tula province.

After this, the trace of Leonid Sednev disappears. Information about the date of his death is also contradictory. So, according to some sources, he died in 1941 during the battles near Moscow. And according to others, he was shot in 1929 in Yaroslavl on charges of participating in a counter-revolutionary conspiracy.

Fact No. 10

The two executioners refused to shoot the women.

Two of the Latvians refused to shoot the girls, Yakov Yurovsky later wrote.

They did not explain the reasons for this decision. But, since this became known only on the evening of July 16, the composition of the “firing squad” was decided not to change.

Beloborodov’s secret telegram to the Secretary of the Council of People’s Commissars, Gorbunov, dated July 17, 1918, reads: “Tell Sverdlov that the whole family suffered the same fate as the head, officially the family will die during the evacuation.” The story of the tragic death of the royal family today is overgrown with many legends, versions and opinions. It is probably no longer possible to completely reliably establish some facts, taking into account the fact that initially all the information was completely classified by the Bolsheviks and deliberately distorted. And in this article we only provide information from various historical and literary sources.

“On Lenin’s conscience, as the main organizer, is the destruction of the royal family: the former Tsar Nicholas II, who voluntarily abdicated the throne, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna and their five children - son Alexei and daughters Olga, Maria, Tatiana and Anastasia. Along with them, Doctor B.S. Botkin, room girl Demidova, servant Troup and cook Tikhomirov were killed. This monstrous act was committed in the basement of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg on the night of July 16-17, 1918" - Arutyunov A. A. "VLADIMIR ULYANOV (LENIN) Documents. Data. Evidence. Research".

At night, a detachment of Latvians, replacing the previous guard, received an order from Yurovsky, who had completed the appropriate training course in Germany before the revolution, to shoot all the prisoners. The abdicated Emperor, his wife, son, daughters and maid of honor were summoned from their bedrooms under the pretext of immediate evacuation from Yekaterinburg. When they all went out to the Latvians in a room 8 arshins long and 6 arshins wide, they were told that everyone would be shot immediately. Approaching the Emperor, Yurovsky said coldly: “Your relatives wanted to save you, but they failed. We will kill you now.” The Emperor did not have time to answer. Amazed, he whispered: "What? what?" Twelve revolvers fired almost simultaneously. The volleys followed one after another.

All victims fell. The death of the Tsar, Empress, three children and footman Troupe was instantaneous. Tsarevich Alexei was on his last legs, the youngest Grand Duchess was alive. Yurovsky finished off the Tsarevich with several shots from his revolver; the executioners finished off Anastasia Nikolaevna with bayonets, who was screaming and fighting back. When everything calmed down, Yurovsky, Voikov and two Latvians examined the executed, firing a few more bullets into some of them for good measure or piercing them with bayonets. Voikov said that it was a terrible picture.

The corpses lay on the floor in nightmarish poses, with faces disfigured from horror and blood. The floor became completely slippery... Only Yurovsky was calm. He calmly examined the corpses, removing all the jewelry from them... Having established the death of everyone, they began to clean up... The room in which the beating took place was hastily put in order, trying mainly to hide traces of blood, which, in the literal expression of the narrator , "shoved with brooms." By three (six) o'clock in the morning everything in this regard was completed. (From the testimony of M. Tomashevsky, data from the commission of I.A. Sergeev).

Yurovsky gave the order, and the Latvians began to carry the corpses across the yard to the truck parked at the entrance. ...We set off outside the city to a pre-prepared place near one of the mines. Yurovsky left with the car. Voikov remained in the city, as he had to prepare everything necessary to destroy the corpses. For this work, 15 responsible members of the Yekaterinburg and Verkhne-Isetsk party organizations were allocated. All were equipped with new, sharpened axes of the type that are used in butcher shops for chopping up carcasses. Voikov, in addition, prepared sulfuric acid and gasoline...

The hardest work was cutting up corpses. Voikov remembers this picture with an involuntary shudder. He said that when this work was completed, near the mine lay a huge bloody mass of human stumps, arms, legs, torsos, heads. This bloody mass was poured with gasoline and sulfuric acid and immediately burned. They burned for two days. The taken supplies of gasoline and sulfuric acid were not enough. We had to bring in new supplies from Yekaterinburg several times... It was a terrible picture,” Voikov concluded. - Even Yurovsky, in the end, could not stand it and said that a few more days like this, and he would have gone crazy.

Towards the end we began to hurry. They raked into a heap everything that was left of the burned remains of those executed, threw several hand grenades into the mine to break through the never-melting ice in it, and threw a bunch of burnt bones into the resulting hole... At the top, on the platform near the mine, they dug up the earth and they covered it with leaves and moss to hide the traces of the fire... Yurovsky left immediately after July 6 (19), taking with him seven large chests full of Romanov goods. He undoubtedly shared the spoils with his friends in Moscow.

One of the even more monstrous versions about the last days of the Romanovs is described in the historical chronicle of S. A. Mesyats “SEVEN COMMENTS ON THE COMMUNIST PARTY” (Commentary 5 THE HISTORY OF THE KILLINGS OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY): “Shortly before the execution of the Tsar, the Bolsheviks committed a monstrous crime. They raped members of the imperial family, including the emperor himself. The boy Alexei was also supposed to be raped, but the act of pedophilia did not occur: Nicholas II, in order to save the prince, took upon himself torment and humiliation for the second time. This may seem incredible, and for a long time I myself did not believe that this was possible. ...But read the officially published “Diaries of Emperor Nicholas II” (M., 1991, p. 682).

There is not a word about the crime itself, but what do the entries from May 24 and 25, 1918 mean: “All day I suffered from pain from hemorrhoidal cones... Dear Alix (wife - S.M.) spent his birthday in bed with severe pain in his legs and in other places!” The Emperor, neither before nor after this, does not express a single complaint about hemorrhoids, but this is a long and painful disease that lasts for months and years. And what is this “dr. places"? Why did the emperor not even dare to name them in his personal diary? Why did I mark them with a meaningful exclamation mark?

After these entries, 3 days in a row were missed, although Nicholas II made entries daily for 24 years without missing a single day. This rule was not even affected by the abdication of the throne - an event that disrupted the natural course of events in the imperial family and throughout Russia. (Perhaps the rapists tore out several incriminating pages from the diary: it is difficult to believe that the emperor’s punctuality was so unexpectedly violated). What so extraordinary happened on the 20th of May 1918? Since there are no intelligible answers to these questions, we are forced to accept that nightmare version.

Of course, even in his personal diary, the emperor could not be completely frank, since he wanted to preserve for posterity the only evidence of his last days and was aware that if there was any compromising evidence, the Bolsheviks would immediately destroy the records.” “Later, when information about the execution of the tsar and the royal family received wide publicity, a version appeared about the arbitrariness of the local authorities, that is, the Ural Council. The absurdity of this version is obvious. It is unlikely that the Bolsheviks of Yekaterinburg would have decided to carry out this action without the sanction of the Center.

I admit that the formal decision to execute the Romanovs was formalized within the walls of the Yekaterinburg Council. But what is certain is that this decision was preceded by an imperious order from Moscow. ... This is what Trotsky writes in his diary: “I arrived in Moscow from the front after the fall of Yekaterinburg. Talking to Sverdlov, I asked:

Where is the king?

“It’s over,” he answered, “they shot me.”

Where is the family?

And his family is with him.

All? - I asked, apparently with a tinge of surprise.

All! - Sverdlov answered. - And what?

He was waiting for my reaction. I didn't answer.

Who decided? - I asked.

We decided here. Ilyich believed that we should not leave them a living banner, especially in the current difficult conditions" - Arutyunov A. A. "VLADIMIR ULYANOV (LENIN) Documents. Data. Evidence. Research".

The October Revolution destroyed the Autocracy and caused enormous damage to Orthodoxy - the foundations of the state and moral structure of Russia. After the devilry of the October revolution, atheism became the core of the new Soviet religion (more precisely, anti-religion), which has not died to this day. Its name is communism.

Most of the Russian tsars of the great Romanov dynasty lived relatively short lives. The last Russian Emperor Nicholas II is no exception. Martyrdom is far from the only secret of the royal family. What other amazing facts does history keep about the Romanovs?

Direct descendant of the Romanov dynasty

Nicholas II is a descendant of the great Romanov dynasty, which dates back to 1613. She remained in power for 304 years until the February Revolution of 1917.

Nikolai had titles since birth. He accepted the throne in 1894 in Crimea after the death of his father Alexander III. His predecessor died in a terrorist attack organized by the populists. Three weeks after ascending the throne, he married Alexandra Feodorovna. Since during this period there was still mourning for the departed father, the honeymoon passed in the atmosphere of funeral services.

Not many people know the amazing fact that the sovereign was like two peas in a pod like his cousin on his mother’s side. In adolescence, “George” and “Nicky” were confused even by close relatives. The “Double” was destined to become the English King George V.

Nicholas II, like his eminent ancestors, loved to travel. For trips around Russia, his family had at its disposal the yacht “Standart” and two trains. He was one of the first in Russia to appreciate such a new “thing” as a car. Nikolai drove the car personally and had a sizable fleet of vehicles.

Before the February Revolution of 1917, the ruling Romanov dynasty was one of the richest families in Europe. Works of art that decorated the imperial court were created by the best masters of those times. To give the jewelry national characteristics, court jewelers complemented them with double-headed eagles and golden ears of corn. Chests with relics of the Russian crown were first preserved within the walls of the St. Petersburg Winter Palace. With the outbreak of the First World War, they were transported to the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin. Now they can be found in Russian museums and private collections around the world.

Achievements of the Russian Tsar

Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov ruled the state for 23 years. A man known for his religiosity, he was actively involved in economics and foreign policy. During the reign from 1890 to 1913, thanks to competent leadership, the country's GDP grew 4 times. During the global economic crisis, which lasted from 1911 to 1912, unlike other countries, the economy of the Russian Empire was at its peak. At the beginning of the 20th century, Tsarist Russia was rightfully considered the absolute leader who “fed half of Europe.”

During the reign of Nicholas II, the population grew by 40%, reaching 50 million people. Moreover, along with natural growth, people were able to increase their overall level of well-being.

Nicholas became the first global peacemaker. With his input, a program for an international convention regarding the general limitation of weapons was developed. The Tsar introduced a military reform, according to which the service life was shortened and the living conditions of sailors and soldiers were improved. During the First World War, he without hesitation took command of the Russian army and gave a worthy rebuff to Germany.

The great sovereign himself was a very educated man, who spoke 5 foreign languages and was well versed in military affairs, economics and world history. Through his efforts, the program for introducing universal education came into force in 1908, thanks to which primary education became accessible and free.

At the expense of funds created by the tsar, 140 thousand schools were organized in different parts of the Russian Empire. As a result, by 1916 the number of literate people in the state was 85%. On the eve of the revolution, over 100 universities were already functioning in the country.

Life of the royal family

He met his future wife Alexandra Fedorovna in May 1884 at the wedding of Elizaveta Fedorovna. Having married for love, the couple managed to maintain a reverent relationship with each other until their death. Many people know that the family raised five children: daughters Olga, Tatyana, Maria and Anastasia and son Alexei.

Few people know the amazing fact about the Romanovs that, in addition to their children, the couple raised the offspring of their uncle Pavel Alexandrovich - Maria and Dmitry. The adopted children called the emperor and his wife “mom and dad.” As fate would have it, it would be Dmitry in the future, together with Yusupov, who would kill the famous Rasputin, for which he would go into exile. Having passed all the tests, he will subsequently escape to Europe, where he will even have time to start an affair with the inimitable Coco Chanel.

In order to maintain the strictness of upbringing, the life of the imperial family was not pompous. The daughters were accommodated two to a room. The young ladies slept on folding army beds, each of which was crowned with an inscription with the name of the owner. Near the beds there were small bedside tables and a sofa. The walls were decorated with numerous photographs, for which the king had a weakness, and icons.

As in simple families, younger sisters had to wear the clothes of their elders. With the weekly pocket money, the girls could spoil each other with inexpensive gifts.

Parents paid great attention to their children's education. At the age of 8 they began to learn the Law of God, reading, arithmetic and penmanship. A little later, the program was expanded by adding 4 languages: Russian, French, English and German. Also, girls were required to learn the rules of etiquette, playing musical instruments, natural sciences and dancing.

Family relationships were built on mutual love and respect. According to the recollections of contemporaries, the palette of children’s feelings for their father was so wide that it included almost religious worship and the most cordial friendship.

Favorite of the Russian Emperor

The life of the imperial family was darkened by the incurable illness of the heir. But her parents were forced to hide their experiences, since her character was a state secret. Realizing that traditional medicine was powerless in this situation, the empress pinned her hopes only on a miraculous healing.

One of those people who was able to alleviate the suffering of the young crown prince was the holy elder Rasputin. Spiritual mentor, martyr, spy, sorcerer... They called the layman whatever they called him. Only one thing is clear - he was an extraordinary person.

Researchers believe that the elder helped relieve Alexei’s painful attacks and reduce bleeding using hypnotic techniques. By instilling the idea of improving the boy’s condition, Rasputin helped overcome the crisis and thereby calm both the sufferer and his family.

Blindly believing in the “visions” and the unearthly gift of the man who alleviated the suffering of her son, the empress began to consult with him on many state issues. Contemporaries noted that people appointed to government positions were forced to go through the “Rasputin filter.” The family's spiritual mentor greatly influenced even strategic decisions during the First World War. This fueled passions in society and caused general rejection.

Attempts by members of the royal family to influence the ruling couple were unsuccessful. Therefore, starting in 1914, several attempts were organized on Rasputin’s life. It was possible to achieve the desired goal only in 1916.

Last days of reign

The widespread claim that Nikolai Alexandrovich abdicated the throne is nothing more than a myth. The surviving manifesto on the renunciation and will of the army to obey the Provisional Government was found to be fake. Although the great sovereign had the opportunity to escape with his family abroad, he remained true to his idea, for which he died.

On April 30, 1917, along with his family and some servants, the Tsar was transported to the Ipatiev house in Yekaterinburg. For more than two months, the family had to huddle in four rooms, two of which were reserved for the restroom and dining room. The Red Army soldiers did not stand on ceremony with them. Food was given out in minimal portions.

Throughout this time, the top Soviet leadership decided how to destroy the “remnants of the tsarist regime”: publicly try the sovereign or immediately shoot him. The sentence was carried into effect on the night of July 17, 1918. A family with children was shot in the basement of the house. The youngest son, Alexei, was only 14 years old at that time.

The bodies of the murdered were loaded into a truck and taken to the forest, where they were doused with acid and hastily burned. The information that the entire family died along with the king was kept secret for a long time. The official version: the wife and children were exiled to a safe place. True information was made public only several years later. This misinformation contributed to rumors that some family members managed to escape. Some pretended to be the “miracle surviving” children of Nicholas II intentionally, others – due to mental disorders. According to the most conservative estimates, over the century since the tragedy, the number of impostors has exceeded two hundred.

Romanovs today

The remains of the Romanov family, found in July 1991 under the embankment of the old Koptyakovskaya road, were identified and carefully studied by scientists. The researchers were most interested in DNA. Many years of research led to the conclusion that the genes of the sovereign's youngest son Alexei contained mutations that led to hemophilia. This was manifested in the Tsarevich by frequent hemorrhages in the organs, which could be provoked by ordinary bruises. Mother Anna Fedorovna and sister Anastasia were also carriers of the hemophilia gene. But this gene did not manifest itself in the female line.

On July 17, 1998, the remains of members of the imperial family were buried in St. Petersburg in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

In 1917, the new government failed to find and destroy all the Romanov representatives. The house of the great family consisted of 65 people. Those who were abroad during this period were able to avoid a sad fate. Today, 4 branches of “survivors” are officially recognized. These are all male descendants of the sons of Nicholas I:

The Alexandrovichs are descendants of Alexander II; among the living representatives are the brothers Dmitry and Mikhail Pavlovich Romanovsky-Ilyinsky.
Nikolaevich - the female line still exists, but the male line, represented by brothers Nikolai and Dmitry Romanovich, was interrupted in 2017.
Kirillovich - Prince Nikolai Kirillovich, princes Yuryevsky. Among the living representatives of the branch is Maria Vladimirovna, head of the Russian imperial house, and her son Georgy Mikhailovich born in 1981.
Mikhailovichs - this branch includes all the other living Romanov men. The youngest male representative was born in 2013.

Most of them live in the USA and Western European countries. They are united in the “House of Romanov”. Descendants of the branch of Alexander II can lay claim to the Russian throne. It is the “Kirillovichs” who are recognized as dynasties of European monarchs.

The history of the Romanov dynasty began in the Ipatiev Monastery, from where Mikhail Romanov was called to the throne, and ended in the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg. On April 30, 1918, the family of Nicholas II entered these doors, never to leave them again. After 78 days, the bodies of the last tsar, his wife, four daughters and the heir to the Russian throne were taken from the basement where they were shot by truck to the Ganina pit.

Hundreds of publications are devoted to the history of the execution of the royal family. Ten times less is known about how the crowned spouses and their children spent the last two and a half months before their execution. Historians told Russian Planet what life was like in the House of Special Purpose, as the Bolsheviks called the Ipatiev House in the late spring and early summer of 1918.

Domestic terror

Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Grand Duchess Maria were brought from Tobolsk to the requisitioned mansion of retired military engineer Ipatiev. Three more daughters and the heir to the throne Alexei joined them later - they waited in Tobolsk until the Tsarevich could get back on his feet after his injury, and arrived at the Ipatiev House only on May 23. Also allowed to live with the Romanovs were the royal family's physician Evgeniy Botkin, the chamberlain Aloysius Trupp, the Empress's room girl Anna Demidova, the senior cook of the imperial kitchen Ivan Kharitonov and the cook Leonid Sednev, who shared their sad fate.

Ipatiev's house. Source: wikipedia.org

The history of the stay of the family of the last Russian emperor and her entourage in Yekaterinburg is unique in terms of its study in that we can reconstruct events from the memories of both the prisoners themselves and their guards, historian Stepan Novichikhin tells a RP correspondent. - All 78 days spent in custody in the Ipatiev House, Nicholas II, Maria Fedorovna and the Grand Duchesses kept diaries, according to the custom established in the royal family. They knew that they could be read at any moment, but they did not hide their thoughts, thus showing their contempt for the jailers. Many of those who kept citizen Romanov in custody also left their memories - it was here, in the Ipatiev House, that it was henceforth forbidden to address Nicholas II as “Your Majesty.”

The Bolsheviks decided to turn Ipatiev’s house into a prison for citizen Nikolai Aleksandrovich Romanov, as he was now supposed to be called, because of the convenient location of the building. The spacious two-story mansion was located on a hill in the suburbs of Yekaterinburg, the surrounding area was clearly visible. The requisitioned house was one of the best in the city - it had electricity and running water. All that remained was to build a high double fence around it to prevent all attempts to free the prisoners or lynching them, and to post guards with machine guns.

Immediately after arriving at the Ipatiev House, the guards conducted a thorough search of all the luggage of the imperial family, which lasted several hours, historian Ivan Silantiev tells the RP correspondent. - They even opened bottles of medicine. Nicholas II was so enraged by the mocking inspection that almost for the first time in his life he lost his temper. This most intelligent of kings never raised his voice or used rude words. And here he spoke extremely categorically, saying: “Until now, I have dealt with honest and decent people.” This search was only the beginning of systematic humiliation, from which the “natural feeling of modesty” suffered, as Nicholas II wrote.

In Yekaterinburg, the royal prisoners were treated incomparably harsher than in Tobolsk. There they were guarded by riflemen of the former guards regiments, and here by Red Guards recruited from former workers of the Sysert and Zlokazov factories, many of whom went through prisons and hard labor. To take revenge on citizen Romanov, they used all means. The deprivations associated with hygiene turned out to be the most sensitive for the royal family.

Nicholas II often notes in his diary whether he managed to take a bath that day or not, says Stepan Novichikhin. - The inability to wash was extremely painful for the clean emperor. The Grand Duchesses were extremely embarrassed by the need to visit the common water closet, as they called it, under the supervision of security. Moreover, the guards decorated all the walls of the latrine with cynical drawings and inscriptions on the topic of the empress’s relationship with Rasputin. The cleanliness of the faience vessel was so questionable that Nicholas II and Doctor Botkin hung a piece of paper on the wall with the inscription “We kindly ask you to leave the chair as clean as you occupied it.” The call had no effect. Moreover, the guards did not consider it shameful to take a spoon from the dinner table and try food from other people’s plates, after which the Romanovs, of course, could not continue the meal. Minor everyday abuse also included singing indecent ditties and revolutionary songs under the windows that shocked the royal family. The windows themselves were whitewashed with lime, after which the rooms became dark and gloomy. The prisoners could not even see the sky.

There were even bigger problems. So, one of the guards shot at Princess Anastasia when she went to the window to get some fresh air. By luck, the bullet missed. The security guard said that he was doing his duty - allegedly the girl was trying to give some signs. Although it was obvious that through the high double fence surrounding the Ipatiev House, no one could see them. They also shot at Nicholas II himself, who stood on the windowsill to view the Red Army soldiers marching to the front through the painted window. Machine gunner Kabanov recalled with pleasure how, after the shot, Romanov “fell head over heels” from the windowsill and never got up on it again.

With the tacit approval of the first commandant of the Ipatiev House, Alexander Avdeev, the guards stole valuables that belonged to the imperial family and rummaged through their personal belongings. Most of the products that were brought to the royal table by novices from the nearby Novo-Tikhvin Convent ended up on the table of the Red Army soldiers.

Only Joy survived

Nicholas II and his loved ones perceived all humiliation and bullying with a sense of inner dignity. Ignoring external circumstances, they tried to build a normal life.

Every day the Romanovs gathered between 7 and 8 a.m. in the living room. Together they read prayers and sang spiritual chants. Then the commandant conducted a mandatory daily roll call, and only after that the family received the right to go about their business. Once a day they were allowed a walk in the fresh air, in the garden behind the house. We were only allowed to walk for an hour. When Nicholas II asked why, he was told: “To make it look like a prison regime.”

The former autocrat, in order to keep himself in good physical shape, enjoyed chopping and sawing wood. When allowed, he carried Tsarevich Alexei for a walk in his arms. Weak legs could not support the sick boy, who hurt himself again and suffered from another attack of hemophilia. His father put him in a special stroller and rolled him around the garden. I collected flowers for my son and tried to entertain him. Sometimes Alexei was carried out into the garden by his older sister Olga. The Tsarevich loved to play with his spaniel named Joy. Three other family members had their own dogs: Maria Fedorovna, Tatyana and Anastasia. All of them were subsequently killed along with their mistresses for barking in an attempt to protect them.

Only Joy survived, says Ivan Silantiev. “The morning after the execution, he stood in front of the locked rooms and waited. And when he realized that the doors would not open again, he howled. He was taken by one of the guards, who felt sorry for the dog, but Joy soon ran away from him. When Yekaterinburg was captured by the White Czechs, the spaniel was found on Ganina Yama. One of the officers identified him and took him in. He went into exile with him, where he passed on the last living memory of the Romanovs to their English relatives - the family of George V. The dog lived to a ripe old age in Buckingham Palace. Perhaps it was a silent rebuke to the British monarch who refused to accept the family of the deposed Russian emperor in 1917, which would have saved their lives.

Nicholas II read a lot in prison: the Gospel, the stories of Leikin, Averchenko, Apukhtin’s novels, Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” Saltykov-Shchedrin’s “Poshekhon Antiquity” - in general, everything that could be found in the bookcase of the former owner of the house, engineer Ipatiev. In the evenings, I played my favorite games with my wife and daughters - card bezique and backgammon, that is, backgammon. When Alexandra Fedorovna could get out of bed, she read spiritual literature, painted watercolors, and embroidered. I personally gave my husband a haircut so that he would look neat.

To relieve boredom, the princesses also read a lot and often sang in chorus - mostly spiritual and folk songs. They played solitaire and played trick-or-treating. They washed and mended their things. When cleaners from the city came to the House of Special Purpose to wash the floors, they helped them move the beds and clean the rooms. Then they decided to take lessons from chef Kharitonov. We kneaded the dough ourselves and baked the bread. The father, stingy with praise, assessed the results of their work in his diary in one word - “Not bad!”

Together with their mother, the Grand Duchesses often “prepared medicines” - this is how Maria Feodorovna encrypted in her diary an attempt to save family jewelry, continues Ivan Silantiev. “She sought to preserve as many diamonds and gems as possible, which could help bribe the guards or provide the family with a normal life in exile. Together with her daughters, she sewed stones into clothes, belts, and hats. Later, during the execution, the mother’s thriftiness will play a cruel joke on the princesses. The precious chain mail into which their dresses will eventually turn will save the girls from being shot. The executioners will have to finish them off with bayonets, which will prolong the torment.

Executioner instead of "bastard"

Observing the dignified life of the imperial family, the guards involuntarily gained respect for her.

Therefore, it was decided to change the guards and appoint a new commandant of the Special Purpose House. On July 4, when there were only 12 days left before the execution, Yakov Yurovsky came to replace the always half-drunk Alexander Avdeev, whom Nicholas II, who never used swear words, dubbed “bastard” in his diary, says Stepan Novichikhin. - He wrote with indignation about his predecessor that he gladly accepted cigarettes from the hands of the emperor and smoked with him, respectfully addressing him: “Nikolai Alexandrovich.” The Bolsheviks needed a less tolerant commandant who did not know pity. The fanatic Yurovsky was ideal for the role of jailer and executioner. He replaced the internal guards of the Special Purpose House with Latvian riflemen, who poorly understood Russian and were famous for their cruelty. They all worked in the Cheka.

With the advent of Yurovsky, who brought strict order, the life of Nicholas II’s family even improved for some time. The stern commandant put an end to the theft of food and personal belongings of the imperial family, and sealed chests and jewelry. However, the Romanovs soon realized that Yurovsky’s fanatical integrity did not bode well. When a grille was installed on the only window that was periodically allowed to be kept open, Nicholas II wrote in his diary: “We like this guy less and less.” And on July 11, the new jailer forbade the novices of the monastery from delivering cheese, cream and eggs for the royal prisoners. Then he will again allow you to bring the parcel - but for the last time, on the day before the execution.

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

On the night of July 16-17, 1918 in the city of Yekaterinburg, in the basement of the house of mining engineer Nikolai Ipatiev, Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, their children - Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, heir Tsarevich Alexei, as well as -medic Evgeny Botkin, valet Alexey Trupp, room girl Anna Demidova and cook Ivan Kharitonov.

The last Russian Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov (Nicholas II) ascended the throne in 1894 after the death of his father, Emperor Alexander III, and ruled until 1917, until the situation in the country became more complicated. On March 12 (February 27, old style), 1917, an armed uprising began in Petrograd, and on March 15 (March 2, old style), 1917, at the insistence of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, Nicholas II signed an abdication of the throne for himself and his son Alexei in favor of the younger brother Mikhail Alexandrovich.

After his abdication, from March to August 1917, Nicholas and his family were under arrest in the Alexander Palace of Tsarskoe Selo. A special commission of the Provisional Government studied materials for the possible trial of Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna on charges of treason. Having not found evidence and documents that clearly convicted them of this, the Provisional Government was inclined to deport them abroad (to Great Britain).

Execution of the royal family: reconstruction of eventsOn the night of July 16-17, 1918, Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his family were shot in Yekaterinburg. RIA Novosti brings to your attention a reconstruction of the tragic events that took place 95 years ago in the basement of the Ipatiev House.

In August 1917, the arrested were transported to Tobolsk. The main idea of the Bolshevik leadership was an open trial of the former emperor. In April 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee decided to transfer the Romanovs to Moscow. Vladimir Lenin spoke out for the trial of the former tsar; Leon Trotsky was supposed to be the main accuser of Nicholas II. However, information appeared about the existence of “White Guard conspiracies” to kidnap the Tsar, the concentration of “conspiratorial officers” in Tyumen and Tobolsk for this purpose, and on April 6, 1918, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee decided to transfer the royal family to the Urals. The royal family was transported to Yekaterinburg and placed in the Ipatiev house.

The uprising of the White Czechs and the offensive of the White Guard troops on Yekaterinburg accelerated the decision to shoot the former tsar.

The commandant of the Special Purpose House, Yakov Yurovsky, was entrusted with organizing the execution of all members of the royal family, Doctor Botkin and the servants who were in the house.

The execution scene is known from investigative reports, from the words of participants and eyewitnesses, and from the stories of the direct perpetrators. Yurovsky spoke about the execution of the royal family in three documents: “Note” (1920); "Memoirs" (1922) and "Speech at a meeting of old Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg" (1934). All the details of this atrocity, conveyed by the main participant at different times and under completely different circumstances, agree on how the royal family and its servants were shot.

Based on documentary sources, it is possible to establish the time when the murder of Nicholas II, members of his family and their servants began. The car that delivered the last order to exterminate the family arrived at half past two on the night of July 16-17, 1918. After which the commandant ordered physician Botkin to wake up the royal family. It took the family about 40 minutes to get ready, then she and the servants were transferred to the semi-basement of this house, with a window overlooking Voznesensky Lane. Nicholas II carried Tsarevich Alexei in his arms because he could not walk due to illness. At Alexandra Feodorovna’s request, two chairs were brought into the room. She sat on one, and Tsarevich Alexei sat on the other. The rest were located along the wall. Yurovsky led the firing squad into the room and read the verdict.

This is how Yurovsky himself describes the execution scene: “I invited everyone to stand up. Everyone stood up, occupying the entire wall and one of the side walls. The room was very small. Nikolai stood with his back to me. I announced that the Executive Committee of the Councils of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies The Urals decided to shoot them. Nikolai turned and asked. I repeated the order and commanded: “Shoot.” I shot first and killed Nikolai on the spot. The shooting lasted a very long time and, despite my hopes that the wooden wall would not ricochet, the bullets bounced off it ". For a long time I was not able to stop this shooting, which had become careless. But when, finally, I managed to stop, I saw that many were still alive. For example, Doctor Botkin was lying, leaning on the elbow of his right hand, as if in a resting position, with a revolver shot ended him. Alexey, Tatyana, Anastasia and Olga were also alive. Demidova was also alive. Comrade Ermakov wanted to finish the matter with a bayonet. But, however, this did not succeed. The reason became clear later (the daughters were wearing diamond armor like bras). I was forced to shoot each one in turn."

After death was confirmed, all the corpses began to be transferred to the truck. At the beginning of the fourth hour, at dawn, the corpses of the dead were taken out of Ipatiev’s house.

The remains of Nicholas II, Alexandra Feodorovna, Olga, Tatiana and Anastasia Romanov, as well as people from their entourage, shot in the House of Special Purpose (Ipatiev House), were discovered in July 1991 near Yekaterinburg.

On July 17, 1998, the burial of the remains of members of the royal family took place in the Peter and Paul Cathedral of St. Petersburg.

In October 2008, the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation decided to rehabilitate Russian Emperor Nicholas II and members of his family. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office also decided to rehabilitate members of the imperial family - the Grand Dukes and Princes of the Blood, executed by the Bolsheviks after the revolution. Servants and associates of the royal family who were executed by the Bolsheviks or subjected to repression were rehabilitated.

In January 2009, the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation stopped investigating the case into the circumstances of the death and burial of the last Russian emperor, members of his family and people from his entourage, shot in Yekaterinburg on July 17, 1918, "due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution responsibility and death of persons who committed premeditated murder" (subparagraphs 3 and 4 of part 1 of article 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR).

The tragic history of the royal family: from execution to reposeIn 1918, on the night of July 17 in Yekaterinburg, in the basement of the house of mining engineer Nikolai Ipatiev, Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, and their children - Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and heir Tsarevich Alexei were shot.

On January 15, 2009, the investigator issued a resolution to terminate the criminal case, but on August 26, 2010, the judge of the Basmanny District Court of Moscow decided, in accordance with Article 90 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, to recognize this decision as unfounded and ordered the violations to be eliminated. On November 25, 2010, the investigation decision to terminate this case was canceled by the Deputy Chairman of the Investigative Committee.

On January 14, 2011, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reported that the resolution was brought in accordance with the court decision and the criminal case regarding the death of representatives of the Russian Imperial House and people from their entourage in 1918-1919 was discontinued. The identification of the remains of members of the family of the former Russian Emperor Nicholas II (Romanov) and persons from his retinue has been confirmed.

On October 27, 2011, a resolution was issued to terminate the investigation into the case of the execution of the royal family. The 800-page resolution outlines the main conclusions of the investigation and indicates the authenticity of the discovered remains of the royal family.

However, the question of authentication still remains open. The Russian Orthodox Church, in order to recognize the found remains as the relics of royal martyrs, the Russian Imperial House supports the position of the Russian Orthodox Church on this issue. The director of the chancellery of the Russian Imperial House emphasized that genetic testing is not enough.

The Church canonized Nicholas II and his family and on July 17 celebrates the day of remembrance of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources