Nicholas and Alexandra: The Classic Account of the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty

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Nicholas and Alexandra: The Classic Account of the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty Page 74

by Robert K. Massie

30 The last evening in Tobolsk: Gibbs, in Wilton, 250. “This splendid serenity”: Gilliard, 262.

  31 The tarantasses: Gilliard, 262; Gilliard’s deposition in Wilton, 234. The Empress sends Gilliard to Alexis: Gilliard, 263. Yakovlev’s courtesy: Kobylinsky, 209; Bulygin, 209.

  32 The girls sobbing: Gilliard, 263.

  33 The journey to Tyumen: ibid., 263; Bykov, 68–9; Pares, 490. Waving white handkerchiefs: Bykov, 69. The sign of the Cross: Kobylinsky, 209; Bulygin, 212.

  34 Red cavalry: Bulygin, 212. “Proceeding safely”: Kobylinsky, 210.

  35 Yakovlev leaves in the wrong direction: Pares, 490.

  36 “A traitor to the revolution,” “To all, to all, to all”: Bykov, 70.

  37 Kulomzino: Gibbs, in Wilton, 235; Pares, 490. Telephone conversation with Sverdlov: Bykov, 71; Bulygin, 225.

  38 “I have orders to take you to Ekaterinburg”: Kobylinsky, 210.

  39 “Judging from the local papers”: Bykov, 72.

  40 Yakovlev a monarchist agent: Bykov, 69. Pares believes that Yakovlev was trying to save the Imperial family from falling into the clutches of the Ekaterinburg Soviet and that he may possibly have been trying to rescue them completely: Pares, 491.

  41 German domination of Russia: Bulygin, 223.

  42 “Be calm”: ibid., 202, 219. The Kaiser’s personal responsibility: ibid., 220–1. Restoration of the Tsar: ibid., 223.

  43 Mirbach’s game: Wilton, 151. Sverdlov’s game: Gilliard, 282–3; Bulygin, 224–5.

  44 Yakovlev deserted to Kolchak: Bykov, 73; Pares, 491.

  45 Mirbach outwitted: Bulygin, 226.

  46 Yussoupov and the German envoy: Yussoupov, 268.

  47 “The fate of the Russian Emperor”: Bulygin, 227. “The dictatorship of Mirbach”: Bruce Lockhart, 296–7.

  CHAPTER 34 EKATERINBURG

  1 Ekaterinburg and the Ipatiev house: Wilton, 19; Bykov, 72.

  2 “Show us the Romanovs”: Bykov, 72.

  3 Nicholas steps out, carrying his own bags: Bulygin, 230–1; Benckendorff, 136.

  4 “Citizen Romanov, you may enter”: Bulygin, 231.

  5 “So far, we have had polite treatment”: Kobylinsky, 216.

  6 The swastika: Gilliard, 274; Kobylinsky, 239.

  7 Telegram to Kobylinsky: Gilliard, 264.

  8 “Dispose of the medicines”: Bulygin, 232; Wilton, 74.

  9 Tatiana supervised the children: Kobylinsky, 220.

  10 Rodionov: Bulygin, 228–30; Gilliard, 264. “Nobody is permitted to look at the windows”: Botkin, 208. “The child is ill”: Bulygin, 230; Gilliard, 265. Fourth-class carriage: Bulygin, 233.

  11 “Several carriages were drawn up”: Gilliard, 269.

  12 The suite divided: ibid., 270. Gilliard rescued: ibid., 273.

  13 Living arrangements in the Ipatiev house: Medvedev, in Wilton, 287; Gilliard, 283. The guards: Bulygin, 231–2; Gilliard, 282. Avadeyev: Yakimov, in Wilton, 261–2.

  14 Avadeyev’s drinking and pilfering: Bulygin, 232; Yakimov, in Wilton, 267.

  15 “Let them go to hell”: Yakimov, in Wilton, 273.

  16 The daily schedule: Bykov, 74; Benckendorff, 137; Yakimov, in Wilton, 271; Proskuriakov, in Wilton, 299; Gilliard, 284.

  17 “You’ve had enough, you idle rich”: Bulygin, 232.

  18 Nagorny’s defense of Alexis: Gibbs, in Wilton, 252–3; Gilliard, 272.

  19 “Nagorny was going to the carriage”: Gilliard, 272. In the cell with Prince Lvov: Gibbs, in Wilton, 252–3.

  20 “I have still an impression of them”: Yakimov, in Wilton, 274–5.

  21 “We spent long hours discussing ways and means”: Vorres, 243.

  22 “Half-crazy ladies, countesses and baronesses”: Bykov, 76.

  23 “The hour of liberation is approaching”: ibid., 78. An assessment of the rescue plots in Ekaterinburg: Pares, 493–4.

  24 “With God’s help and your prudence”: quoted by Bykov, 78.

  25 “The second window from the corner”: quoted by Bykov, 79.

  26 “We spent an anxious night”: Krasny Arkhiv, 1928, Vol XXVII, p. 136, quoted by Bykov.

  27 The “Letts”: Bulygin, 235; Wilton, 82–3; Yakimov, in Wilton, 268. Yurovsky: Wilton, 29, 81.

  28 “This specimen we like least of all”: Pares, 495.

  29 “Anxiety unnecessary”: Gilliard, 286; Bulygin, 235, 242.

  30 Goloshchekin and Sverdlov: Bulygin, 243; Wilton, 27–8, 75; Pares, 495. Public trial with Trotsky as prosecutor: Bykov, 75.

  31 The Czechs: Pares, 485.

  32 The decision to shoot the Romanovs: Wilton, 127, 139; Bykov, 80.

  33 The “Four Brothers”: Bulygin, 248. Gasoline and acid: ibid., 249, Wilton, 101.

  34 Yurovsky had no strong feelings: Yakimov, in Wilton, 277. His conversation with Alexis: Bulygin, 237; Gilliard, 286.

  35 Father Storozhov: Bulygin, 236. “At Rest with the Saints”: Pares, 496.

  36 Nicholas carried Alexis: Medvedev, in Wilton, 289. Anastasia and Jimmy: Wilton, 95. The basement room: Wilton, 88.

  37 The Tsar and his daughters went for a walk: Yakimov, in Wilton, 277. “Tonight, we will shoot the whole family”: Bulygin, 237; Medvedev, in Wilton, 288.

  38 The murder: Bulygin, 237–8; Gilliard, 287–8; Pares, 497. Demidova pierced thirty times: Yakimov, in Wilton, 281. Jimmy killed: Wilton, 95, Anastasia: Gilliard, 288.

  EPILOGUE

  1 Destruction of the bodies: Bulygin, 240–50; Wilton 101–2; Gilliard, 290. “The world will never know what we did with them”: Pares, 498. Voikov becomes Soviet ambassador: Pares, 496.

  2 Ekaterinburg falls to the Whites: Wilton, 104. “Joy” found in the courtyard: Buxhoeveden, Left Behind, 154. Appearance of the murder room: Gilliard, 274.

  3 “But the children—”: Gilliard, 277. Sokolov: Bulygin, 248; Wilton, 15.

  4 Evidence found in the mine: Gilliard, 293–4; Wilton, 116–17; Gibbs, in Wilton, 254; Bulygin, 252. Jimmy’s body: Wilton, 95.

  5 “Comrade Sverdlov wants to make a statement”: Bykov, 82.

  6 “Tell Sverdlov that the whole family met the same fate”: Bulygin, 244.

  7 Text of the death announcements: Gilliard, 292; Wilton, 14.

  8 Bolsheviks arrest 28 Social Revolutionaries: Wilton, 21, 103.

  9 “Oh, yes, and where is the Tsar?”: Trotsky’s Diary in Exile, 1935 (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1953), p. 81.

  10 Wilson at Lane’s dinner party: Walworth, II, 171. Death of Grand Duke Michael: Wilton, 121; Pares, 493. Death of Grand Duchess Elizabeth: Wilton, 124; Benckendorff, 140–2; Bulygin, 256; Pares, 498–9. Death of the four Grand Dukes: Wilton, 127. “The Revolution does not need historians”: Vyrubova, 294.

  11 Was Lenin murdered by Stalin? In two recent biographies of Lenin, both excellent, the two biographers disagree. Louis Fischer doubts that Stalin had a hand in Lenin’s death; Robert Payne is certain that Stalin had Lenin poisoned.

  12 Yalta Conference in Livadia Palace: Winston Churchill, Triumph and Tragedy (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1953), 346, 349, and Robert E. Sherwood, Roosevelt and Hopkins (New York, Harper, 1948), 850–1.

  13 Sverdlov’s death: Wilton (p. 161) declares that although Sverdlov was said to have died naturally, he was in fact “knocked on the head” by a Moscow workman.

  14 American correspondents visit Sverdlovsk: Harrison Salisbury, New York Times, Aug. 1, 1959.

  15 The account of Empress Marie’s last years is taken from Vorres (the memoirs of her daughter Grand Duchess Olga). Marie leaves Russia: Vorres, 163. Refuses to believe Nicholas is dead: ibid., 171. Argues with King Christian over the light bill: ibid., 169. A pension from King George V: ibid., 170. Her death: ibid., 181.

  16 Grand Duchess Olga. Moves to Toronto: ibid., 192. Invited to lunch by Queen Elizabeth: ibid., 213. Dies in an apartment over a barbershop: ibid., 221.

  17 Grand Duke Cyril. Nicholas’s heir: Vyrubova, 207; Vorres, 236. “The day of glory is near”: Cyril’s obituary in New York Times, Oct. 13, 1938. Vladimir Cyrilovich: Kschessinsk
a, 252; Vorres, 236.

  18 Grand Duke Nicholas: Pares, 501.

  19 Grand Duke Dmitry: Time, March 16, 1941; Kschessinska, 150–60, 248.

  20 The fate of the suite: Pares, 499

  21 The ministers: Pares, 500. Prince Lvov: Kokovtsov, 545.

  22 Alexeiev and Kornilov: Pares, 500. Brusilov and Polivanov, ibid., 501.

  23 “The Poles are besieging Russian fortresses”: Vorres, 232.

  24 Sukhomlinov: Escaped in a sailboat: Kokovtsov, 526. Dedicated his memoirs to the Kaiser: Tuchman, 63. Wife married a Georgian officer and was killed: Vyrubova, 191.

  25 Buchanan: Buchanan, II, 93, 261.

  26 Benckendorff: Benckendorff, vii, 166. Fredericks: Botkin, 40

  27 Vyrubova, Polar Star: Vyrubova, 276–7. Gorky: ibid., 292–4.

  28 Gilliard: from his obituary, Gazette de Lausanne, June 8, 1962.

  29 Iliodor: New York Herald Tribune, July 5, 1933. Time, Feb. 11, 1952.

  30 Maria Rasputin: Time, Dec. 4, 1939. In November, 1966, a circus poster advertising Mlle. Rasputin was on display in a collection of circus posters at the Lincoln Center Museum in New York City.

  31 Kschessinska instructed Margot Fonteyn: Kschessinska, 237. Danced at Covent Garden, 238.

  32 Yussoupov: The author attended the 1965 trial in its entirety.

  33 Hemophilia. Alfonso and Gonzalo; McKusick, 94. The possibility that hemophilia will recur in this family is remote: Armand J. Quick, M.D. “International Forum on Hemophilia,” Spectrum, Vol. 10, No. 2, (March-April, 1962).

  34 The legend of the Romanov gold. All Imperial properties taken: Benckendorff, 125–6. Nicholas’s capital on abdication: Benckendorff, 89. The relics buried near Paris: Vorres, 171. Marie’s jewels valued at $2 million: ibid., 183. Many appeared in Queen Mary’s possession: ibid., 184. Funds in Berlin: ibid., 179. Valued at $1,500: New York Herald Tribune, Nov. 18, 1965.

  35 English deposits brought back to Russia: Vorres, 179.

  36 “I see Buchanan tomorrow”: AF to N, 123, 125.

  37 Sir Edward Peacock. Instructed by King George V: Vorres, 183. “I am pretty sure there never was any money”: ibid., 246.

  38 The Tsar in London: Benckendorff, 146. In Rome: ibid., 147. Family on a ship in the White Sea: Bulygin, 272. Dozens of claimants: ibid., 271, 276–7.

  39 Numerous Anastasias: Vorres, 201, 202. Mrs. Anderson and Grand Duchess Olga: ibid., 175–6. “Dear Aunt Olga”: ibid., 200. “My telling the truth does not help”: from a letter published in Life, Dec 30, 1963, written by Ian Vorres.

  Bibliography

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