Pavel Medvedev, a member of the squad of soldiers guarding the royal family was one of the eyewitnesses of the execution. His testimony was recorded by multiple authors who wrote books on the final hours of the Russian Czar and his family.
At 7 p.m. on July 16, 1918, Commandant Yurovsky ordered Pavel to bring all the Nagant M1895 revolvers belonging to the guards to him. Commandant Yurovsky was the head of the execution squad.
While looking at the guns, Yurovsky said, “'We must shoot them all tonight; so notify the guards they should not be alarmed if they hear shots.”
At 10 pm, Pavel went around the two-storied Ipatiev House and informed the guards that they should not be alarmed if they heard any firing.
At midnight, Yurovsky woke up the Tsar's family. “The White Army is approaching and might launch an artillery attack on the house. We will need to move all of you to the cellar for safety,” he told them.
Nicholas got up immediately, the women put on their camisoles sewn full of jewels and pearls, as they had hoped for a rescue attempt or sudden flight.
In an hour, they got ready -- all neat and tidy.
At 2.15 am, on July 17, they were led down to the basement. Nicholas carried his only son Alexie, the next heir in his arms, dressed in a soldier’s shirt. The Empress, her daughters and the others followed him. Yurovsky, his assistant and the two members of the Extraordinary Commission, from the local division accompanied them.
Pavel followed them.
Nicholas looked at his terrified daughters and said, 'Well, we're going to get out of this place'.
They descended the stairs and ushered into a storeroom, lit by a single bulb. Yurovsky ordered chairs to be brought, and his assistant brought three chairs. One chair was given to the Emperor, one to the Empress, and the third to the heir. The family and their servants were lined up for a last, sinister official photograph.
The Empress sat by the wall near a black pillar. Behind her stood three of her daughters. The heir and the Emperor sat side by side almost in the middle of the room. The maid, a very tall woman, stood at the left of the door leading to the storeroom; by her side stood Olga, one of the Tsar's daughters.
At 7 p.m. on July 16, 1918, Commandant Yurovsky ordered Pavel to bring all the Nagant M1895 revolvers belonging to the guards to him. Commandant Yurovsky was the head of the execution squad.
While looking at the guns, Yurovsky said, “'We must shoot them all tonight; so notify the guards they should not be alarmed if they hear shots.”
At 10 pm, Pavel went around the two-storied Ipatiev House and informed the guards that they should not be alarmed if they heard any firing.
At midnight, Yurovsky woke up the Tsar's family. “The White Army is approaching and might launch an artillery attack on the house. We will need to move all of you to the cellar for safety,” he told them.
Nicholas got up immediately, the women put on their camisoles sewn full of jewels and pearls, as they had hoped for a rescue attempt or sudden flight.
In an hour, they got ready -- all neat and tidy.
At 2.15 am, on July 17, they were led down to the basement. Nicholas carried his only son Alexie, the next heir in his arms, dressed in a soldier’s shirt. The Empress, her daughters and the others followed him. Yurovsky, his assistant and the two members of the Extraordinary Commission, from the local division accompanied them.
Pavel followed them.
Nicholas looked at his terrified daughters and said, 'Well, we're going to get out of this place'.
They descended the stairs and ushered into a storeroom, lit by a single bulb. Yurovsky ordered chairs to be brought, and his assistant brought three chairs. One chair was given to the Emperor, one to the Empress, and the third to the heir. The family and their servants were lined up for a last, sinister official photograph.
The Empress sat by the wall near a black pillar. Behind her stood three of her daughters. The heir and the Emperor sat side by side almost in the middle of the room. The maid, a very tall woman, stood at the left of the door leading to the storeroom; by her side stood Olga, one of the Tsar's daughters.
The maid carried a pillow. The Tsar's daughters also brought small pillows with them. One pillow was put on the Empress's chair; another on the heir's chair.
They were left alone in the room for more than half an hour. Soon, eleven men, intoxicated by vodka, entered the room: Yurovsky, his assistant, two members of the Extraordinary Commission, and operatives of the infamous Cheka.
Yurovsky ordered Pavel to leave, saying, “Go on to the street, see if there is anybody there, and wait to see whether the shots have been heard.”
Meanwhile, in the closed room, a guard read out a statement sentencing the family to death. The family crossed themselves, sat close to each other.
A man walked towards the Tsar and shot him at point-blank range in the chest.
The book, ‘Ekaterinburg: The Last Days Of The Romanovs’, by Helen Rappaport, details the horrifying execution. The half-drunk guards shot clumsily, hitting the Tsaritsa in the left side of her skull. 13-year old Alexei stood frozen in terror. His father’s blood splattered all over his body. None, including the children, died a painless death.
His daughter Maria was shot and pierced with the bayonet on her thighs. While bleeding, she was repeatedly stabbed. Olga was shot in the jaw. Seeing the butchery, Tatiana tried to escape and she was shot at the back of the head. Anastasia’s chest was pierced with a bayonet. The last one to survive the ordeal was Alexie. Yurovsky took out his Colt pistol and aimed at the boy's head. He was killed instantly.
After the firing stopped, Pavel returned to the house and saw that all the members of the Czar's family were lying on the floor with many wounds in their bodies. The blood was flowing all over. He saw that the doctor, the maid and two waiters had also been shot.
They were left alone in the room for more than half an hour. Soon, eleven men, intoxicated by vodka, entered the room: Yurovsky, his assistant, two members of the Extraordinary Commission, and operatives of the infamous Cheka.
Yurovsky ordered Pavel to leave, saying, “Go on to the street, see if there is anybody there, and wait to see whether the shots have been heard.”
Meanwhile, in the closed room, a guard read out a statement sentencing the family to death. The family crossed themselves, sat close to each other.
A man walked towards the Tsar and shot him at point-blank range in the chest.
The book, ‘Ekaterinburg: The Last Days Of The Romanovs’, by Helen Rappaport, details the horrifying execution. The half-drunk guards shot clumsily, hitting the Tsaritsa in the left side of her skull. 13-year old Alexei stood frozen in terror. His father’s blood splattered all over his body. None, including the children, died a painless death.
His daughter Maria was shot and pierced with the bayonet on her thighs. While bleeding, she was repeatedly stabbed. Olga was shot in the jaw. Seeing the butchery, Tatiana tried to escape and she was shot at the back of the head. Anastasia’s chest was pierced with a bayonet. The last one to survive the ordeal was Alexie. Yurovsky took out his Colt pistol and aimed at the boy's head. He was killed instantly.
After the firing stopped, Pavel returned to the house and saw that all the members of the Czar's family were lying on the floor with many wounds in their bodies. The blood was flowing all over. He saw that the doctor, the maid and two waiters had also been shot.
Later, their bodies were taken and dumped near an iron mine and burnt with sulphuric acid. The Bolsheviks smashed their faces with rifle butts and applied quicklime. In the early morning of July 19, the truck carrying the bodies got stuck in mud near Porosenkov Log (Pig's Meadow). Later, they were all buried.
The Russian Orthodox Church gave sainthood status to Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Tsarina Alexandra, and their five children Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei. A huge church was raised at the very spot where they were martyred.
BACKGROUND
The Russian Orthodox Church gave sainthood status to Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Tsarina Alexandra, and their five children Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei. A huge church was raised at the very spot where they were martyred.
BACKGROUND
The first world war destabilised Russia. The country was subjected to extreme poverty and inflation. The economy crashed. The public’s ire slowly turned into a revolution. They blamed Nicholas II for his inefficiency in running the country. The public also suspected that the Czars were controlled by the German spies who were the key advisory members. The State Assembly Duma became increasingly dissatisfied with the government’s incompetence and negligence, especially in supplying to the army.
By the spring of 1915, the Duma began a staunch opposition to the imperial regime. As the Czar used excess force to silence civilians, Russia soon witnessed the March Revolution in 1917. The soldiers of the Czars who were sent to quell the revolution mutinied. On March 12, 1917, soldiers put down their gun marking the end of the rule of the Czars.
A Provisional Committee of the Duma was formed. Nicholas II had no other choice but to step down from the monarchy. He did so on March 15, 1917.
That November, the radical socialist Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, seized power in Russia from the provisional government and began establishing the world’s first communist state.
On March 21,1918 the ex-Czar Nicholas II, ex-Czarina Alexandra, their five children, and their four remaining servants, including the loyal family doctor, Eugene Botkin were taken into custody. They were moved from one place to other. On April 30, 1918 the Romanovs were transferred to their final destination: the town of Yekaterinburg, where they were imprisoned in the two-storey Ipatiev House, the home of the military engineer Nikolay Nikolayevich Ipatiev, which ominously became referred to as the "house of special purpose." They were kept in house arrest for 78 days.
A civil war broke out in Russia in June 1918, and in July the anti-Bolshevik “White” Russian forces advanced on Yekaterinburg, where Nicholas and his family were located, during a campaign against the Bolshevik forces. Local authorities were ordered to prevent a rescue of the Romanovs, and after a secret meeting of the Yekaterinburg Soviet, a death sentence was passed on the imperial family.
(Published in The Martyrs' Supplement, The New Indian Express, South India & New Delhi along with The Morning Standard, January 30, 2019
link: http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/2002986/The-New-Indian-Express-Kochi/30012019#page/32/1
By the spring of 1915, the Duma began a staunch opposition to the imperial regime. As the Czar used excess force to silence civilians, Russia soon witnessed the March Revolution in 1917. The soldiers of the Czars who were sent to quell the revolution mutinied. On March 12, 1917, soldiers put down their gun marking the end of the rule of the Czars.
A Provisional Committee of the Duma was formed. Nicholas II had no other choice but to step down from the monarchy. He did so on March 15, 1917.
That November, the radical socialist Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, seized power in Russia from the provisional government and began establishing the world’s first communist state.
On March 21,1918 the ex-Czar Nicholas II, ex-Czarina Alexandra, their five children, and their four remaining servants, including the loyal family doctor, Eugene Botkin were taken into custody. They were moved from one place to other. On April 30, 1918 the Romanovs were transferred to their final destination: the town of Yekaterinburg, where they were imprisoned in the two-storey Ipatiev House, the home of the military engineer Nikolay Nikolayevich Ipatiev, which ominously became referred to as the "house of special purpose." They were kept in house arrest for 78 days.
A civil war broke out in Russia in June 1918, and in July the anti-Bolshevik “White” Russian forces advanced on Yekaterinburg, where Nicholas and his family were located, during a campaign against the Bolshevik forces. Local authorities were ordered to prevent a rescue of the Romanovs, and after a secret meeting of the Yekaterinburg Soviet, a death sentence was passed on the imperial family.
(Published in The Martyrs' Supplement, The New Indian Express, South India & New Delhi along with The Morning Standard, January 30, 2019
link: http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/2002986/The-New-Indian-Express-Kochi/30012019#page/32/1
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