Remains of the Romanovs?

[olde_fashioned]

I hardly ever post news articles on my blog, but this is something that I've always been interested in ever since I got into Russian history (because of The Russians book series) and so this story just completely fascinates me. If what this article suggests is true, then the whole conspiracy theory about Anastasia surviving the massacre has been debunked. Romantic, to be sure, but was it really probable?



Look at this picture. Why would anyone want to murder helpless innocents? I can't understand it. The Czar, maybe. But the women? The sickly boy? Humans are monsters.

Anastasia is the girl with her arm wrapped protectively around her brother, Alexei, keeping him close. Were they buried together in death, as well?

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Probe reopened into death of last Russian czar
Remains of heir to throne possibly found; Bolsheviks executed family in '18

MOSCOW - Prosecutors said Friday they have reopened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the last Russian czar and his family nearly 90 years ago after an archaeologist said the remains of Nicholas II’s son and heir to the throne may have finally been found.

The announcement of the reopened investigation, while a routine matter, signaled that the government may be taking seriously the claims that were announced Thursday by Yekaterinburg researcher Sergei Pogorelov.

In comments broadcast on NTV, Pogorelov said bones found in a burned area of ground near Yekaterinburg belong to a boy and a young woman roughly the ages of Nicholas’ 13-year-old hemophiliac son, Alexei, and a daughter whose remains also never have been found.



Yekaterinburg is the Urals Mountain city where Nicholas, his wife, Alexandra, and their five children were held prisoner and then shot in 1918.

Missing chapter
If confirmed, the find would fill in a missing chapter in the story of the doomed Romanovs, whose reign was ended by the violent 1917 Bolshevik Revolution that ushered in more than 70 years of Communist rule.

The find comes almost a decade after remains identified as those of Nicholas and Alexandra and three of their daughters were reburied in a ceremony in the imperial-era capital of St. Petersburg. The ceremony, however, was shadowed by statements of doubt — including from within the Russian Orthodox Church — about their authenticity.

On Friday, a church official voiced what appeared to skepticism about the latest find.

“I would like to hope that the examination will be more thorough and detailed than the examination of the so-called ‘Yekaterinburg remains,’ which the church did not acknowledge as the remains of members of czar’s family,” Bishop Mark of Yegoryevsk, deputy head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s External Church Relations department, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

The spot where the remains were found appears to correspond to a site in a written description by Yakov Yurovsky, the leader of the family’s killers, according to Pogorelov, an archaeologist at a regional center for the preservation of historical and cultural monuments in Yekaterinburg.

“An anthropologist has determined that the bones belong to two young individuals — a young male he found was aged roughly 10-13 and a young woman about 18-23,” he told NTV television by telephone.

Read the rest of the article here

Comments

[agguss.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this. I have a weird and special connection with the last Romanovs. For example, today I was returning from university by bus and I started crying thinking of them. Just like that. Sometimes it really weirds me out.

But anyway, I'm rambling here, thanks for the piece of news :)

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

My pleasure! I would agree with you about the weird connection. For some reason I just really find this interesting. Tragedy usually has that effect, though. I could sit and ponder and muse for hours on just the Romanovs -- that's not even including the rest of the history of the world, lol. So many sad stories...

Hey! I recognize that picture in your icon! ;-)

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

I'm Eastern Orthodox, so I definitely have a connection with the Romanovs. On the other hand, it may not actually be their bones. Here's a link to a post I wrote (http://maureenelizabeth.blogspot.com/2007/08/final-controversy.html) on the subject. There's a link within the post to an article explaining the controversy.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Are you really? I never knew that. :-D I've wondered if I've got some unknown Russian blood in me or something, lol. Thanks for the link!

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

Yep! My parents converted when I was 8 months old. :)

You're welcome!

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

:-D

If you don't mind my asking, what are the principal differences between your beliefs and that of a Catholic? Aren't they somewhat similar, or is that incorrect?

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

They are pretty similar, but we disagree on things like papal infalliability (sp?), the correct veneration of Mary (we do venerate her, but we don't believe that she was free from original sin), and the filioque.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Filioque? I'm afraid I'm horribly ignorant of these things...

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

Ummm...Do you know the Nicene creed? If you do, the Orthodox say that the Holy Spirit proceeds just from the Father, while the Catholics suddenly decided to say that the Holy Spirit proceeds both from the Father and the Son.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

I just looked it up, so I guess you could say that! ;-P Thanks. And that's the principal difference?

Is your icon of Kate Greenaway? Because it's darling!

[musesong.livejournal.com]

I guess the idea was to wipe out the royal family as they did in 18thC France.

If perhaps there had been more social progress it might never have come to revolution but it did and there are always casualties of war. Consider how many innocents who were not of royal blood died. All very sad.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

You mean to destroy the possibility of there ever being another heir or descendant? I can "understand" that motive, but it's still utterly inhuman to murder them like that. Why would they kill the attendants, then?

This is another of those "what-if" questions that will never be fully answered. If the Czar had been more sensitive to the needs of his people would his family have been spared? If the White Army had been a little faster, would the murders have been committed?

And yes, I feel pity for the others who were murdered by the Bolsheviks as well. Only the Romanovs have names...faces...which the unknown others never will, henceforth I guess I just am able to identify more with the family.

[musesong.livejournal.com]

I assumed they killed the attendants because they didn't want the murders reported. It wasn't a public execution.

But yes, very sad that they couldn't find another way. I am sure there must be someone who has written a 'what if' story about all this.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

They could have separtated them beforehand, but I suspect they just enjoyed slaughter and bloodshed.

Yes, that would make a great read if they did! Do let me know if you discover one, hmmm? ;-)

[prima-donna87.livejournal.com]

That is interesting that they might of found the remains of Alexei and one of the girls.Reading the accounts of just how cruel the Red Army was,they even killed Alexei's dog so it seemed incomprehensible that they would not kill all of the family.And yet one always hopes that Anastasia somehow made it,but alas it probably was not what happened.:(

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was wholesale slaughter. And while I've always been a skeptic about the whole "Anastasia survived" rumour, it's kind of sad now to think that she probably really did die that day. :-(

[charmed-hour.livejournal.com]

I always thought Anastasia was the prettiest.

[lisotchka.livejournal.com]

I already knew this, but it could be historical moment!
In my opinion, it could be Alexei and Maria, although it is necessary to make scientific tests to be sure...

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

I believe the article said DNA tests would be performed. It also said the anthropologist couldn't determine if it was Anastasia or Marie because of the closeness of their ages.

There are some schools of thought that insist two sisters survive, as opposed to Alexei and one of the girls.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Really? I think Olga and Tatiana are very pretty. Anastasia is certainly the cutest!

[oldfashioned84.livejournal.com]

I came across this news the other day too. :( I've loved this family for years.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Me too. I hope they don't keep us in suspense for the DNA results too long.

[robertinbc.livejournal.com]

Interesting article.I saw a headline on yahoo news but I didn't read it.

Killing the whole family was their way to get revenge and to prevent the royality from returning to power.It also showed how ruthless the Bolsheviks were.

I remember reading someone saying that revolutions end up having new rulers who are more brutal than the one's they replaced.It wasn't until after the Tsar was gone and the bolsheviks were in power that people realized that his rule and the earlier ones weren't as bad as they thought.

There was a movie called Anastasia(1956) with Ingrid Bergman that was based on the story of Anna Anderson, who claimed to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia.

Thanks for the link to N@S's last chapter.It seemed like the story should have went on for a proper ending.The movie ending was better and romantic-riding off on the train after expressing their love to each other.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

I do that sometimes! Not read a headline only to read it later on a blog, I mean.

I suppose you're right. Ruthless and bloodthirsty. Instead of fighting the Germans, what do they do? Declare peace with Germany and then come home and murder women and children. Greeeaaaaaaat...

That's an interesting observation about revolutions, and it certainly is true, except in America's case. ;-) But I've also heard that the American Revolution wasn't technically a proper "revolution" in the sense that it was more of a revolt, or fight for freedom, as upposed to social upheaval.

I've seen the Ingrid Bergman film, as well as the cartoon version. I believe after Anna Anderson's death they DNA tested her liver or something, and she wasn't a match.

My pleasure! Anything to encourage another N&S fan, lol!! While I enjoy the book's ending, it felt a little like some loose ends weren't tied up, such as Mrs. Thornton for example. I liked the psuedo-reconciliation between her and Margaret in the movie, because I really really like Mrs. Thornton, and her relationship with her son especially.

The train ending was also in keeping with a theme consistant throughout the whole film -- it begins with Margaret travelling north against her will, sad, miserable, and lonely. There multiple "train shots" scattered throughout, but the ending was a lovely contrast to the beginning, IMVHO!