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THE LAST DAYS OF THE ROMANOVS
THE LAST DAYS OF THE ROMANOVS
BY GEORGE GUSTAV TELBERG PROFESSOR OF LAW IN SARATOV UNIVERSITY AND FORMER MINISTER OF JUSTICE OF THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT AT OMSK AND ROBERT WILTON SPECIAL RUSSIAN CORRESPONDENT FOR THE TIMES , LONDON ILLUSTRATED NEW [Image unavailable.] YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA...
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PUBLISHER’S NOTE
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
During the night between the 16th and 17th of July, 1918, the former Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his family, as well as all the persons attached to it, were murdered by the order of the Yekaterinburg soviet of workmen’s deputies. The news of this crime broke through the closed ring that surrounded Bolshevist Russia and spread over the entire world. At the end of July, 1918, the town of Yekaterinburg was taken from the Bolsheviks by the forces of the Siberian Government. Shortly after their occu
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DEPOSITIONS OF EYE-WITNESSES I EXAMINATION OF M. GILLIARD
DEPOSITIONS OF EYE-WITNESSES I EXAMINATION OF M. GILLIARD
[ M. Gilliard was attached to the imperial household in the capacity of French tutor to the grand duchesses and the czarevitch. He was with the family at Czarskoe-Selo at the outbreak of the revolution, and like most of the other members of the household, he elected to remain under arrest. M. Gilliard especially mentions the emperor’s love for his country and his bitterness of heart after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, and he insists that the attitude of the emperor and the empress towards Germany
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II EXAMINATION OF MR. GIBBES
II EXAMINATION OF MR. GIBBES
[ The deposition of Mr. Gibbes should prove interesting to the public as being that of an Englishman who was wholly and unselfishly devoted to the imperial family. Sidney Gibbes acted as tutor to the czarevitch, and after the arrest of the emperor and his family, he followed them to Tobolsk without a thought for his own safety. Mr. Gibbes knew the emperor and the empress intimately during these days of sorrow, and his deposition shows that the czar was genuinely affected by the Treaty of Brest-L
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III EXAMINATION OF COLONEL KOBYLINSKY
III EXAMINATION OF COLONEL KOBYLINSKY
[ The deposition of Colonel Kobylinsky affords complete documentary evidence of the conditions of life experienced by the imperial family from March 1917 until May 1918, during which time they were under his charge. Colonel Kobylinsky appears to have been a brave soldier and a just man who did what he considered to be his duty, but who treated the unfortunate prisoners with humanity and courtesy. His statement will be of enormous value to historians of the future, inasmuch as it reveals a new as
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IV EXAMINATION OF PHILIP PROSKOURIAKOFF
IV EXAMINATION OF PHILIP PROSKOURIAKOFF
[ The deposition of Philip Proskouriakoff possesses a certain amount of psychological interest as the testimony of a lad of seventeen who was suddenly confronted with death in one of its most violent and terrible forms. Proskouriakoff appears to have been a clever, restless youth with a distaste for settled employment, and who probably enlisted in the Workmen’s Guards solely in the spirit of adventure. His story of the murder of the imperial family is more horrible than the accounts given by the
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V EXAMINATION OF ANATOLIE IAKIMOFF
V EXAMINATION OF ANATOLIE IAKIMOFF
[ Anatolie Yakimoff whose deposition is now given, was a workman, who became one of the senior guards of the imperial family during their last days in Yekaterinburg. His statement bears the impress of truth, and one gathers from it that he possessed some education and was more enlightened and tolerant in his views than were his fellows. Although Yakimoff never spoke to any of the members of the imperial family, we are able to see them vividly by his crude descriptions of their daily life. This w
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VI EXAMINATION OF PAVEL MEDVEDEFF
VI EXAMINATION OF PAVEL MEDVEDEFF
[ The deposition of Pavel Medvedeff, the former workman at the Sissert Factory, reveals a more hardened character than that of Yakimoff. He regards events in the cold light of reason, and offers no comment either of pity or of dislike. As he informed the member of the District Court, the fate of the czar and his family did not “interest” him. But it is worthy of notice that this unemotional workman insists that he took no part whatever in the actual murder, which implies that the tragedy was rep
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VII RECEIPT OF BELOBORODOFF FOR THE ARRESTED RUSSIAN IMPERIAL FAMILY
VII RECEIPT OF BELOBORODOFF FOR THE ARRESTED RUSSIAN IMPERIAL FAMILY
THE WORKMEN’S AND PEASANTS’ GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATIVE REPUBLIC OF SOVIETS URAL DISTRICT SOVIET OF THE WORKMEN’S, PEASANTS’ AND SOLDIERS’ DEPUTIES Presidio Yekaterinburg, April 30, 1918. “On the 30th of April, 1918, I, the undersigned, Chairman of the Ural District Soviet of Workmen’s, Peasants’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, Alexander Georgievitch Beloborodoff, received from the Commissar of the All Russian Central Executive Committee, Vasily Vaselievitch Iakovleff, the following persons tra
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THE NARRATIVE OF MR. ROBERT WILTON CHAPTER I PROLOGUE
THE NARRATIVE OF MR. ROBERT WILTON CHAPTER I PROLOGUE
The true story of the martyrdom of Nicholas II., ex-Tsar of Russia, and of his wife and family is told below. It is based upon evidence obtained by a properly constituted legal investigation. The signed depositions of eye-witnesses are in the writer’s possession, but he does not disclose their identity because many of the deponents are still in the power of the Soviets. The day will come when the guilty will be called to account, but a long time may elapse before the day of retribution dawns. Th
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CHAPTER II THE STAGE AND THE ACTORS
CHAPTER II THE STAGE AND THE ACTORS
Some idea of the crime of Ekaterinburg is now in the reader’s possession; but, in dealing with the evidence in all its aspects, it is necessary to give an account of conditions that prevailed in the country then, and of the chief actors in the drama. The murder of the Tsar and his family, even after his abdication, may not be regarded as a simple act of vengeance or casual precaution. In 1917, the Germans had sent Lenin with a horde of Jewish revolutionaries to take possession of Russia. A Red G
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CHAPTER III NO ESCAPE: ALEXANDRA MISJUDGED
CHAPTER III NO ESCAPE: ALEXANDRA MISJUDGED
Apart from the bald assertions of parties interested in spreading false reports, there is no evidence of any attempt on the part of the Romanovs to escape from any of their prisons. All the compromising “documents” produced by Soviet apologists on this subject are transparent fabrications. Loyal Russians wished to save the Tsar from the Soviets, knowing full well the danger of treachery that he incurred, and there were several organisations, working independently, but none ever began putting a p
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CHAPTER IV RAZPUTIN THE PEASANT
CHAPTER IV RAZPUTIN THE PEASANT
The walls of Ipatiev’s house epitomised the Revolution. One name and one effigy predominated: the name of Grishka, the silhouette of Razputin, loathsomely caricatured. One met, here and there, allusions to the “tsar-bloodsucker” and other catchphrases of the Revolution, but one felt that they were perfunctory. The one and only unpardonable crime in the eyes of the Red guards had been the preference shown by the Empress for a peasant—a common man like one of themselves. What a commentary on the b
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CHAPTER V CAPTIVES IN A PALACE
CHAPTER V CAPTIVES IN A PALACE
Before the Revolution, propagandists of all descriptions aimed their poisoned shafts at the Empress. Her fatal belief in Razputin rendered her an easy prey. The revolutionary section watched over Grishka, just as their German accomplices “protected” Alexandra. Nicholas was left alone, comparatively speaking. After the Revolution all the energies of the dark forces involved were concentrated upon him. It was not enough that he had voluntarily abdicated; he had to be shorn of all prestige, so that
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CHAPTER VI EXILE IN SIBERIA
CHAPTER VI EXILE IN SIBERIA
The period between autumn, 1917, and the following spring furnishes much material for this tragic history. It was during their exile in Siberia that the fate of the Romanovs was decided—not in the Urals. It was at Tobolsk, in the close intimacy that misfortune naturally brings, that the true character of each captive, high and low, asserted itself. Thus, invaluable data has been obtained for the historian. At first the captives enjoyed the respite of remoteness from the storm centre of Petrograd
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CHAPTER VII THE LAST PRISON
CHAPTER VII THE LAST PRISON
The intimate connection between Berlin and Moscow yielded many living examples among the visitors to Tobolsk. Many, if not all, of the spies, emissaries, and other agents appearing there had been at one time or another in the German capital. Yakovlev, the special commissary sent to remove the prisoners from Tobolsk, was no exception to the rule. His appearance was preceded by certain events which must be related here. The soldiers forming the guard at Tobolsk grew tired of Pankratov and his ever
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CHAPTER VIII PLANNING THE CRIME
CHAPTER VIII PLANNING THE CRIME
Nothing had been done at Ekaterinburg to prepare for the arrival of such prisoners as the ex-Tsar and his family till April 27th ( i.e. , two days after the spy Zaslavsky had denounced Yakovlev). The arrangements then taken consisted in requisitioning Ipatiev’s house and putting a rough hoarding around it. Zaslavsky reached Ekaterinburg in company with a Russian workman named Alexander Avdeiev, who had been with him at Tobolsk and become imbued with the Jew’s tale of Yakovlev’s alleged treachery
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CHAPTER IX CALVARY
CHAPTER IX CALVARY
Yankel Yurovsky left the prison-house on several occasions. Each absence lasted many hours. He was surveying the environs of the city for a convenient place to dispose of the bodies of his victims. His escort consisted of one or two of the “Letts” mounted on horseback. Several witnesses deposed to meeting him and his bodyguard in the woods during the week that preceded the murder. They were seen near the very spot where the remains were afterwards destroyed. Whenever he had to absent himself, Yu
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CHAPTER X “WITHOUT TRACE”
CHAPTER X “WITHOUT TRACE”
There has probably not been another instance in the whole history of crime of precautions to escape detection half so elaborate as in the Romanov murder case. All sorts of subterfuges have been tried by lesser criminals with more or less success. Here every ruse was combined. The murderers carried out the following comprehensive programme:—(1) They gave out a false announcement of the “execution”; (2) they destroyed the bodies; (3) they invented a mock funeral; and (4) they staged a mock trial.
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CHAPTER XI DAMNING EVIDENCE
CHAPTER XI DAMNING EVIDENCE
Having established, with the evidence of accomplices and of the death-house, the fact that a murder had been committed, the investigating magistrate had to find the bodies or to show conclusively what had become of them; otherwise the whole case remained in doubt. This proved to be a task of immense difficulty. Suspicions of the truth were rife from the outset. It was known that five motor-lorries had been requisitioned; that all had been absent several days; that two had carried petrol, and tha
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CHAPTER XII ALL THE ROMANOVS
CHAPTER XII ALL THE ROMANOVS
“The death of Nicholas II. and his family did not suffice for the Soviet plan of “government” with, or without, Germany. Nothing short of extermination of all the Romanovs could satisfy the enemies of “Belsatzar.” Whenever the Tsik (Central Executive Committee) and the Chrezvychaika (inquisition) laid hands on any of the ex-Tsar’s relatives their fate was sealed. It did not matter where the unfortunate princes might be, or what local authority happened to be ostensibly involved—the Tsik and Yank
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CHAPTER XIII THE JACKALS
CHAPTER XIII THE JACKALS
Around the tigers of the Soviet and their feasts of blood hovered the jackals, singly, in twos and threes, and in packs, waiting to snatch some morsel. It would be impossible to mention all the sorry scavengers that thronged around the Romanovs before and after their martyrdom. I refer only to such of them that affected, one way or another, the course of the tragedy and its investigation. Chronologically I record the name of Soloviev first, because he figures in the dossier as an actor while the
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CHAPTER XIV BY ORDER OF THE “TSIK”
CHAPTER XIV BY ORDER OF THE “TSIK”
The murderers of the Romanovs have been unmasked in the preceding chapters, but not all of them. The parts played by Yurovsky and Goloshchekin are apparent. They were confidential agents of Yankel Sverdlov, the Red Tsar. Other very important personages remained in the background; they were the Komisars Safarov, Voikov and Syromolotov. I give here a complete list of the names or cognomens of the so-called “judges”: (1) Beloborodov, (2) Goloshchekin, (3) Sakovich, (4) Voikov, (5) Bykov, (6) Syromo
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CHAPTER XV THE RED KAISER
CHAPTER XV THE RED KAISER
When Yakovlev failed to remove the Tsarevich from Tobolsk and to “convert” the Tsar, he disappointed Mirbach more than he disappointed Sverdlov. The Jews feared the Russians, but the Germans wanted to use them. The Red Tsar planned to exterminate the Romanovs, but the Red Kaiser proposed to reinstate Nicholas. For a time their respective schemes assumed divergent courses; in the end, Wilhelm’s agents realised that they could not dissociate themselves from the Red Tsar, and it was the latter’s pl
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CHAPTER XVI EPILOGUE
CHAPTER XVI EPILOGUE
Many hundreds of relics were collected in and around Ekaterinburg by the law, and more particularly by the military, officers of the White government. The larger number had no value as clues. They were personal belongings—jewelry, clothing, linen—that had been stolen before and after the murder. By Admiral Kolchak’s orders, this property was taken to Vladivostok by General Diterichs in February, 1919, and sent to the Tsar’s sister the Grand Duchess Xenia as next-of-kin. Those of the Romanovs who
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I THE MEMBERS OF THE IMPERIAL FAMILY AT THE OUTBREAK OF THE REVOLUTION
I THE MEMBERS OF THE IMPERIAL FAMILY AT THE OUTBREAK OF THE REVOLUTION
1. Nicholas II, Alexandrovich , Emperor of Russia, oldest son of the Emperor Alexander III, born in Gachino (near Petersburg) on May 6, 1867. Ascended to the throne on October 20, 1894. Married Princess Alice of Hesse on November 14, 1894. At the outbreak of the Revolution was forty-nine years of age. 2. Empress Alexandra (Princess Alice) Feodorovna , wife of the Emperor Nicholas II, born Princess of Hesse, on May 25, 1872. At the outbreak of the Revolution was forty-four years of age. 3. Grand
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II CHRONOLOGY OF THE DOCUMENTS
II CHRONOLOGY OF THE DOCUMENTS
1917 1. March 2/15—Emperor Nicholas II signed in Pskov the act of his abdication, assigning the throne to the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich. 2. March 3/16—Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich refused to ascend the throne before the decision of the Constituent Assembly was made. 3. March 4/17—Arrival of the deposed Emperor at the general headquarters at the front. 4. March 7/20—General Kornilov, fulfilling the order of the Council of Ministers, arrested the Empress in the palace of Tsarskoe-Selo.
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III EXPLANATION OF RUSSIAN NAMES MENTIONED IN THE DOCUMENTS
III EXPLANATION OF RUSSIAN NAMES MENTIONED IN THE DOCUMENTS
C. E. C.—Central Executive Committee of the All Russian Congress of Workmen, Soldiers and Peasants’ Deputies, the most important institution in the Soviet Republic. Chrezvychaika —Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry—an institution of secret political police, of the Soviet Republic, which exists in every district town. Through this institution, according to the scheme of the Bolsheviki, the reign of terror is carried out. Kresty —A jail in Petrograd where political prisoners were confined. Motovi
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