The Emperor and his family were murdered in the basement of the house where they were exiled in Yekaterinburg on the night of July 17, 1918. A year earlier, in March, Nicholas II had abdicated the throne and spent the summer at his residence in Tsarskoye Selo, near Saint Petersburg. It was the last time the Tsar and his family were able to enjoy the life their high status afforded them. Although under constant guard, they were able to walk, read, and enjoy the warm summer months.
“During the day, we cut down several large fig trees at the intersection of the three roads along the Arsenal. There was a gigantic fire, the sun turned red, and the air smelled of burning—probably peat burning somewhere. We went sailing for a short while. In the evening, we walked until eight o’clock. I began the volume of The Count of Monte Cristo,” Nicholas II wrote in his diary on June 5, 1917.
Photo: Nicholas II with his daughter Anastasia and their servants in the park of the Alexander Palace, Tsarskoye Selo.
Photo: Nicholas II with his daughter Anastasia and their servants in the park of the Alexander Palace, Tsarskoye Selo.
Nicholas II’s diary may seem somewhat naive. He recounts playing with the children, giving geography lessons to Prince Alexei (photo), reading, sailing, and spending time in the garden. However, at times, the Tsar expresses his concerns regarding the future of Russia and the ongoing revolutionary events. “Yesterday, we learned that General Kornilov had resigned from his post as Commander-in-Chief of the Petrograd Military District and, this evening, that Guchkov had resigned. Both cite the same reason: the irresponsible interference of the Soviet of Workers’ Deputies and certain other far more radical organizations with the military authorities. What else does Providence have in store for poor Russia? God’s will be done.”
Alexei was the last child of the Romanov family. That summer, he had celebrated his 13th birthday. He was gravely ill and suffered from hemophilia, a condition also shared by other descendants of the British Queen Victoria.
In the photo: Prince Alexei bathes in the lake of the Alexander Palace garden.
In the photo: Prince Alexei bathes in the lake of the Alexander Palace garden.
Grand Duchesses Tatiana and Anastasia rest in the garden of the Alexander Palace. Tatiana is holding Ortino, her favorite French bulldog. After the murder of the Romanov family, Ortino would be killed by Grigori Nikulin and Alexei Kabanov.
Grand Duchesses Anastasia, Tatiana, Olga, and Maria did not have their heads shaved by the revolutionaries—they did it themselves, because their hair was growing back unevenly after they recovered from measles.
“It rained during the night and the day was considerably cooler. During the day, we worked on a small path; we felled and sawed two small fir trees. Alix [as Nicholas called his wife Alexandra] sat with us in the forest. After dinner, the Benckendorff couple visited us,” the Tsar wrote on July 23, 1917.
The Tsar under surveillance in the Alexander Palace garden. “One day, four soldiers armed with rifles followed me; I took advantage of it and, without saying a single word, walked into the park. Since then, I have begun long walks in the park and was cutting dry trees in the afternoon,” Nicholas wrote in a letter sent to his sister Xenia.
According to various memoirs and his own diary, Tsar Nicholas was obsessed with physical exercise, and cutting trees was among his favorite activities. He also enjoyed gardening and growing vegetables.
In the photo: Nicholas II with one of the soldiers of the Guard Rifle Regiment.
In the photo: Nicholas II with one of the soldiers of the Guard Rifle Regiment.
In 1889, Nicholas wrote in his diary about his future wife: “I dream of marrying Alix of Hesse one day. I have loved her for a long time, but more deeply and more passionately since the year 1889, when she spent six weeks in Saint Petersburg”. Tsarina Alexandra suffered from diphtheria in childhood and contracted rheumatism, which worsened with the birth of her five children and her worries related to her son Alexei’s illness.
After spending the summer under guard, on August 1 the Tsar’s family was sent into exile in Tobolsk, where its members would spend the rest of their lives. According to the investigation into the murder of the Romanov family, “The Tsar stood in the middle of the room, with his son and his wife seated beside him. Their four daughters and the servants were lined up along the wall. Yurovsky told the Tsar that he was going to die. Nicholas replied, ‘What?’ and began to move toward Yurovsky. Yurovsky aimed his pistol at the Tsar and fired point-blank. He turned the weapon on Alexei and shot him as well. The other men in the room began shooting and, quickly, the room was bathed in blood and filled with the smell of gunpowder. The room filled with moans and screams. After the first volley of shots, three victims were still alive. The maid Anna Demidova was only slightly wounded and ran around the room, shielding herself with a pillow. She was beaten unconscious with rifle butts and bayonets. Anastasia screamed and tried to get back on her feet. A soldier pinned her foot to the floor and killed her with a blow from his rifle butt. Young Alexei moaned and Yurovsky fired two more bullets into his head. The men struck the other victims with bayonets to make sure they were dead” .
Source: Russia beyond the Headlines