Who killed the king? Execution of the royal family: the last days of the last emperor

On the night of July 16-17, 1918 in the city of Yekaterinburg in the basement of a house mining engineer Nikolai Ipatiev Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, their children - Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, heir Tsarevich Alexei, as well as physician Evgeny Botkin, valet Alexei Trupp, room girl Anna Demidova and cook Ivan Kharitonov .

The last Russian emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov (Nicholas II) ascended the throne in 1894 after the death of the emperor's father Alexandra III and ruled until 1917, until the situation in the country became more complicated. On March 12 (February 27, old style), 1917, an armed uprising began in Petrograd, and on March 15 (March 2, old style), 1917, at the insistence of the Provisional Committee State Duma Nicholas II signed an abdication of the throne for himself and his son Alexei in favor of younger brother Mikhail Alexandrovich.

After his abdication, from March to August 1917, Nicholas and his family were under arrest in the Alexander Palace of Tsarskoye Selo. A special commission of the Provisional Government studied materials for the possible trial of Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna on charges of treason. Having not found evidence and documents that clearly convicted them of this, the Provisional Government was inclined to deport them abroad (to Great Britain).

In August 1917, the arrested were transported to Tobolsk. The main idea of ​​the Bolshevik leadership was an open trial of the former emperor. In April 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee decided to transfer the Romanovs to Moscow. For the trial former king Vladimir Lenin spoke out; Leon Trotsky was supposed to be the main accuser of Nicholas II. However, information appeared about the existence of “White Guard conspiracies” to kidnap the Tsar, the concentration of “conspiratorial officers” in Tyumen and Tobolsk for this purpose, and on April 6, 1918, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee decided to transfer the royal family to the Urals. The royal family was transported to Yekaterinburg and placed in the Ipatiev house.

The uprising of the White Czechs and the offensive of the White Guard troops on Yekaterinburg accelerated the decision to shoot the former tsar.

The commandant of the House was instructed to organize the execution of all members of the royal family, Doctor Botkin and the servants who were in the house. special purpose Yakov Yurovsky.

© Photo: Museum of the History of Yekaterinburg

The execution scene is known from investigative reports, from the words of participants and eyewitnesses, and from the stories of the direct perpetrators. Yurovsky spoke about the execution of the royal family in three documents: “Note” (1920); "Memoirs" (1922) and "Speech at a meeting of old Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg" (1934). All the details of this crime, conveyed by the main participant in different time and under completely different circumstances, they agree on how the royal family and its servants were shot.

Based on documentary sources, it is possible to establish the time when the murder of Nicholas II, members of his family and their servants began. The car that delivered the last order to exterminate the family arrived at half past two on the night of July 16-17, 1918. After which the commandant ordered the life physician Botkin to wake up royal family. It took the family about 40 minutes to get ready, then she and the servants were transferred to the semi-basement of this house, with a window overlooking Voznesensky Lane. Nicholas II carried Tsarevich Alexei in his arms because he could not walk due to illness. At Alexandra Fedorovna’s request, two chairs were brought into the room. She sat on one, and Tsarevich Alexei sat on the other. The rest were located along the wall. Yurovsky led the firing squad into the room and read the verdict.

This is how Yurovsky himself describes the execution scene: “I invited everyone to stand up. Everyone stood up, occupying the entire wall and one of the side walls. The room was very small. Nikolai stood with his back to me. I announced that the Executive Committee of the Councils of Workers, Peasants and Soldiers' Deputies The Urals decided to shoot them. Nikolai turned and asked. I repeated the order and commanded: “Shoot.” I shot first and killed Nikolai on the spot. The firing lasted for a very long time and, despite my hopes that wooden wall will not ricochet, the bullets bounced off it. For a long time I was unable to stop this shooting, which had become careless. But when I finally managed to stop, I saw that many were still alive. For example, Doctor Botkin was lying with his elbow right hand, as if in a resting pose, finished off him with a revolver shot. Alexey, Tatyana, Anastasia and Olga were also alive. Demidova was also alive. Comrade Ermakov wanted to finish the matter with a bayonet. But, however, this did not work. The reason became clear later (the daughters were wearing diamond armor like bras). I was forced to shoot each one in turn."

After death was confirmed, all the corpses began to be transferred to the truck. At the beginning of the fourth hour, at dawn, the corpses of the dead were taken out of Ipatiev’s house.

The remains of Nicholas II, Alexandra Feodorovna, Olga, Tatiana and Anastasia Romanov, as well as people from their entourage, shot in the House of Special Purpose (Ipatiev House), were discovered in July 1991 near Yekaterinburg.

On July 17, 1998, the burial of the remains of members of the royal family took place in the Peter and Paul Cathedral of St. Petersburg.

In October 2008, the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation decided to rehabilitate Russian Emperor Nicholas II and members of his family. The Prosecutor General's Office of Russia also decided to rehabilitate the members imperial family- Grand Dukes and Princes of Blood, executed by the Bolsheviks after the revolution. Servants and associates of the royal family who were executed by the Bolsheviks or subjected to repression were rehabilitated.

In January 2009, the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation stopped investigating the case into the circumstances of the death and burial of the last Russian emperor, members of his family and people from his entourage, shot in Yekaterinburg on July 17, 1918, "due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for bringing criminal charges responsibility and death of persons who committed premeditated murder" (subparagraphs 3 and 4 of part 1 of article 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR).

On January 15, 2009, the investigator issued a resolution to terminate the criminal case, but on August 26, 2010, the judge of the Basmanny District Court of Moscow decided, in accordance with Article 90 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, to recognize this decision as unfounded and ordered the violations to be eliminated. On November 25, 2010, the investigation decision to terminate this case was canceled by the Deputy Chairman of the Investigative Committee.

On January 14, 2011, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reported that the resolution was brought in accordance with court decision and the criminal case into the death of representatives of the Russian Imperial House and people from their entourage in 1918-1919 was discontinued. The identification of the remains of members of the family of the former Russian Emperor Nicholas II (Romanov) and persons from his retinue has been confirmed.

On October 27, 2011, a resolution was issued to terminate the investigation into the case of the execution of the royal family. The 800-page resolution outlines the main conclusions of the investigation and indicates the authenticity of the discovered remains of the royal family.

However, the question of authentication still remains open. Russian Orthodox Church In order to recognize the found remains as the relics of royal martyrs, the Russian Imperial House supports the position of the Russian Orthodox Church on this issue. The director of the chancellery of the Russian Imperial House emphasized that genetic examination not enough.

The Church canonized Nicholas II and his family and on July 17 celebrates the day of remembrance of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

The main condition for the presence of immortality is death itself.

Stanislav Jerzy Lec

The execution of the Romanov royal family on the night of July 17, 1918 is one of major events era of the civil war, the formation Soviet power, as well as Russia's exit from the First World War. The murder of Nicholas 2 and his family was largely predetermined by the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks. But in this story, not everything is as simple as it is usually said. In this article I will present all the facts that are known in this case in order to assess the events of those days.

Background of events

We should start with the fact that Nicholas 2 was not the last Russian emperor, as many believe today. He abdicated the throne (for himself and for his son Alexei) in favor of his brother, Mikhail Romanov. So he is the last emperor. This is important to remember; we will return to this fact later. Also, in most textbooks, the execution of the royal family is equated with the murder of the family of Nicholas 2. But these were not all Romanovs. To understand how much people are coming speech, I will give only data on the latest Russian emperors:

• Nicholas 1 – 4 sons and 4 daughters.
• Alexander 2 – 6 sons and 2 daughters.
• Alexander 3 – 4 sons and 2 daughters.
• Nikolai 2 – son and 4 daughters.

That is, the family is very large, and anyone from the list above is a direct descendant of the imperial branch, and therefore a direct contender for the throne. But most of them also had children of their own...

Arrest of members of the royal family

Nicholas 2, having abdicated the throne, put forward fairly simple demands, the implementation of which was guaranteed by the Provisional Government. The requirements were the following:

• The emperor's safe transfer to Tsarskoe Selo to his family, where at that time Tsarevich Alexei was no longer there.
• The safety of the entire family during their stay in Tsarskoe Selo until Tsarevich Alexei’s complete recovery.
• Safety of the road to the northern ports of Russia, from where Nicholas 2 and his family must cross to England.
• After graduation Civil War The royal family will return to Russia and live in Livadia (Crimea).

These points are important to understand in order to see the intentions of Nicholas 2 and subsequently the Bolsheviks. The emperor abdicated the throne so that the current government would ensure his safe exit to England.

What is the role of the British government?

The Provisional Government of Russia, after receiving the demands of Nicholas 2, turned to England with the question of the latter’s consent to host Russian monarch. A positive response was received. But here it is important to understand that the request itself was a formality. The fact is that at that time an investigation was underway against the royal family, during which time travel outside Russia was impossible. Therefore, England, by giving consent, did not risk anything at all. Something else is much more interesting. After the complete acquittal of Nicholas 2, the Provisional Government again makes a request to England, but this time more specific. This time the question was posed not abstractly, but concretely, because everything was ready for moving to the island. But then England refused.

So when today Western countries and people shouting on every corner about innocent people killed, talking about the execution of Nicholas 2, this only causes a reaction of disgust at their hypocrisy. One word from the English government that they agree to accept Nicholas 2 and his family, and in principle there would be no execution. But they refused...

In the photo on the left is Nicholas 2, on the right is George 4, King of England. They were distant relatives and had obvious similarities in appearance.

When was the Romanov royal family executed?

Murder of Mikhail

After October revolution Mikhail Romanov turned to the Bolsheviks with a request to remain in Russia as an ordinary citizen. This request was granted. But the last Russian emperor was not destined to live “in peace” for long. Already in March 1918 he was arrested. There is no reason for the arrest. Until now, not a single historian has been able to find a single historical document explaining the reason for the arrest of Mikhail Romanov.

After his arrest, on March 17 he was sent to Perm, where he lived for several months in a hotel. On the night of July 13, 1918, he was taken from the hotel and shot. This was the first victim of the Romanov family by the Bolsheviks. The official reaction of the USSR to this event was ambivalent:

• It was announced to its citizens that Mikhail had shamefully fled Russia abroad. Thus, the authorities got rid of unnecessary questions, and, most importantly, received a legitimate reason to tighten the maintenance of the remaining members of the royal family.
• It was announced to foreign countries through the media that Mikhail was missing. They say he went out for a walk on the night of July 13 and did not return.

Execution of the family of Nicholas 2

The backstory here is very interesting. Immediately after the October Revolution, the Romanov royal family was arrested. The investigation did not reveal the guilt of Nikolai 2, so the charges were dropped. At the same time, it was impossible to let the family go to England (the British refused), and the Bolsheviks really didn’t want to send them to Crimea, because the “whites” were very close there. And throughout almost the entire Civil War, Crimea was under control white movement, and all the Romanovs located on the peninsula were saved by moving to Europe. Therefore, they decided to send them to Tobolsk. The fact of the secrecy of the shipment is also noted in his diaries by Nikolai 2, who writes that they would be taken to ONE of the cities in the interior of the country.

Until March, the royal family lived in Tobolsk relatively calmly, but on March 24 an investigator arrived here, and on March 26 a reinforced detachment of Red Army soldiers arrived. In fact, from that time on, enhanced security measures began. The basis is the imaginary flight of Mikhail.

IN further family transported to Yekaterinburg, where she settled in the Ipatiev house. On the night of July 17, 1918, the Romanov royal family was shot. Their servants were shot along with them. In total, the following died that day:

• Nikolay 2,
• His wife, Alexandra
• The emperor's children are Tsarevich Alexei, Maria, Tatiana and Anastasia.
• Family doctor – Botkin
• Maid – Demidova
• Personal chef – Kharitonov
• Lackey - Troupe.

In total, 10 people were shot. Corpses by official version was thrown into a mine and filled with acid.

Who killed the family of Nicholas 2?

I have already said above that starting in March, the security of the royal family was significantly increased. After moving to Yekaterinburg it was already a full-fledged arrest. The family was settled in Ipatiev’s house, and a guard was presented to them, the head of the garrison of which was Avdeev. On July 4, almost the entire guard was replaced, as was its commander. Subsequently, it was these people who were accused of murdering the royal family:

• Yakov Yurovsky. He directed the execution.
• Grigory Nikulin. Yurovsky's assistant.
• Peter Ermakov. Chief of the Emperor's guard.
• Mikhail Medvedev-Kudrin. Representative of the Cheka.

These are the main people, but there were also ordinary performers. It is noteworthy that they all significantly survived this event. Most subsequently took part in the Second World War and received a USSR pension.

Massacre of the rest of the family

Beginning in March 1918, other members of the royal family were gathered in Alapaevsk (Perm province). In particular, the following are imprisoned here: Princess Elizaveta Feodorovna, princes John, Konstantin and Igor, as well as Vladimir Paley. The latter was the grandson of Alexander 2, but had a different surname. Subsequently, they were all transported to Vologda, where on July 19, 1918 they were thrown alive into a mine.

The latest events in the destruction of the Romanov dynastic family date back to January 19, 1919, when Peter and Paul Fortress Princes Nikolai and Georgy Mikhailovich, Pavel Alexandrovich and Dmitry Konstantinovich were shot.

Reaction to the murder of the Romanov imperial family

The murder of the family of Nicholas 2 had the greatest resonance, which is why it needs to be studied. There are many sources indicating that when Lenin was informed about the murder of Nicholas 2, he did not even seem to react to it. It is impossible to verify such judgments, but you can turn to archival documents. In particular, we are interested in Minutes No. 159 of the Council meeting People's Commissars dated July 18, 1918. The protocol is very short. We heard the question of the murder of Nicholas 2. We decided to take it into account. That's it, just take note. There are no other documents regarding this case! This is completely absurd. It's the 20th century, but not a single document regarding such an important document has been preserved. historical event, except for one note “Take note”...

However, the main response to murder is investigation. They started

Investigation into the murder of the family of Nicholas 2

The Bolshevik leadership, as expected, began an investigation into the murder of the family. The official investigation began on July 21. She carried out the investigation quite quickly, since Kolchak’s troops were approaching Yekaterinburg. The main conclusion of this official investigation is that there was no murder. Only Nicholas 2 was shot by the verdict of the Yekaterinburg Council. But there are a number of very weak points that still cast doubt on the veracity of the investigation:

• The investigation began a week later. In Russia, the former emperor is killed, and the authorities react to this a week later! Why was there this week of pause?
• Why conduct an investigation if the execution happened on the orders of the Soviets? In this case, on July 17, the Bolsheviks were supposed to report that “the execution of the Romanov royal family took place on the orders of the Yekaterinburg Council. Nikolai 2 was shot, but his family was not touched.”
• There are no supporting documents. Even today, all references to the decision of the Yekaterinburg Council are oral. Even in Stalin times, when millions were shot, documents remained, saying “the decision of the troika and so on”...

On the 20th of July 1918, Kolchak’s army entered Yekaterinburg, and one of the first orders was to begin an investigation into the tragedy. Today everyone is talking about investigator Sokolov, but before him there were 2 more investigators with the names Nametkin and Sergeev. No one has officially seen their reports. And Sokolov’s report was published only in 1924. According to the investigator, the entire royal family was shot. By this time (back in 1921), the same data was announced by the Soviet leadership.

The order of destruction of the Romanov dynasty

In the story of the execution of the royal family, it is very important to follow the chronology, otherwise you can very easily get confused. And the chronology here is as follows - the dynasty was destroyed in the order of contenders for inheriting the throne.

Who was the first contender for the throne? That's right, Mikhail Romanov. I remind you once again - back in 1917, Nicholas 2 abdicated the throne for himself and for his son in favor of Mikhail. Therefore, he was the last emperor, and he was the first contender for the throne in the event of the restoration of the Empire. Mikhail Romanov was killed on July 13, 1918.

Who was next in line of succession? Nicholas 2 and his son, Tsarevich Alexei. The candidacy of Nicholas 2 is controversial; in the end, he abdicated power on his own. Although in his regard everyone could have played it the other way, because in those days almost all laws were violated. But Tsarevich Alexei was a clear contender. The father had no legal right to refuse the throne for his son. As a result, the entire family of Nicholas 2 was shot on July 17, 1918.

Next in line were all the other princes, of whom there were quite a few. Most of them were collected in Alapaevsk and killed on July 1, 9, 1918. As they say, estimate the speed: 13, 17, 19. If we were talking about random unrelated murders, then such similarity would simply not exist. In less than 1 week, almost all the contenders for the throne were killed, and in order of succession, but history today considers these events in isolation from each other, and absolutely not paying attention to controversial areas.

Alternative versions of the tragedy

A key alternative version of this historical event is outlined in the book “The Murder That Never Happened” by Tom Mangold and Anthony Summers. It states the hypothesis that there was no execution. IN general outline the situation is as follows...

• The reasons for the events of those days should be sought in the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty between Russia and Germany. The argument is that despite the fact that the secrecy stamp on the documents had long been removed (it was 60 years old, that is, there should have been publication in 1978), there is not a single full version this document. Indirect confirmation of this is that the “executions” began precisely after the signing of the peace treaty.
• It is a well-known fact that the wife of Nicholas 2, Alexandra, was a relative of the German Kaiser Wilhelm 2. It is assumed that Wilhelm 2 contributed to Treaty of Brest-Litovsk a clause according to which Russia undertakes to ensure the safe exit to Germany of Alexandra and her daughters.
• As a result, the Bolsheviks handed over the women to Germany, and left Nicholas 2 and his son Alexei as hostages. Subsequently, Tsarevich Alexei grew up into Alexei Kosygin.

Stalin gave a new twist to this version. It is a well-known fact that one of his favorites was Alexei Kosygin. Big reasons There is no way to believe this theory, but there is one detail. It is known that Stalin always called Kosygin nothing more than “prince.”

Canonization of the royal family

In 1981, the Russian Orthodox Church abroad canonized Nicholas 2 and his family as great martyrs. In 2000, this happened in Russia. Today, Nicholas 2 and his family are great martyrs and innocent victims, and therefore saints.

A few words about Ipatiev’s house

The Ipatiev House is the place where the family of Nicholas 2 was imprisoned. There is a very reasoned hypothesis that it was possible to escape from this house. Moreover, unlike the unfounded alternative version, there is one significant fact here. So, general version- from the basement of Ipatiev’s house there was an underground passage, which no one knew about, and which led to a factory located nearby. Evidence of this has already been provided in our days. Boris Yeltsin gave the order to demolish the house and build a church in its place. This was done, but one of the bulldozers fell into this very thing during work. underground passage. There is no other evidence of the possible escape of the royal family, but the fact itself is interesting. At the very least, it leaves room for thought.

Today, the house has been demolished, and the Temple on the Blood was erected in its place.

Summarizing

In 2008 Supreme Court Russian Federation recognized the family of Nicholas 2 as victims of repression. Case is closed.

Who needed the death of the royal family?

Who and why needed to shoot the tsar who had abdicated power and his relatives and servants? (Versions)

First version (New War)

A number of historians say that neither Lenin nor Sverdlov bear responsibility for the murder of the Romanovs. Allegedly, the Ural Council of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies in the winter, spring and summer of 1918 often adopted independent decisions, which fundamentally contradicted the instructions of the center. They say that the Urals, in whose Council there were many left Socialist Revolutionaries, were determined to continue the war with Germany.

We may recall in direct connection with this that on July 6, 1918, he was killed in Moscow German Ambassador Count Wilhelm von Mirbach. This murder is a provocation of the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party, which since October 1917 was part of the government coalition with the Bolsheviks and set itself the goal of violating the shameful Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty with the Germans. And the execution of the Romanovs, whose safety Kaiser Wilhelm demanded, finally buried the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

Having learned that the Romanovs were shot, Lenin and Sverdlov officially approved what happened, and none of the organizers or participants in the massacre were punished. A formal request about a possible execution, which was sent by the Urals to the Kremlin (such a telegram dated July 16, 1918 actually exists), supposedly did not even have time to reach Lenin before the planned action took place. Be that as it may, no response telegram arrived, they did not wait for it, and the massacre was carried out without the direct sanction of the government. Senior Investigator for Special Investigations important matters Following a long investigation, Vladimir Solovyov confirmed this version in his interview in 2009-2010. Furthermore, Solovyov argued that Lenin was generally against the execution of the Romanovs.

So, one option: the execution of the royal family was carried out in the interests of the left Socialist Revolutionaries for the sake of continuing the war with the Germans.

Second version (Tsar, as a victim to secret forces?)

According to the second version, the murder of the Romanovs was ritual, sanctioned by certain “secret societies.” This is confirmed by Kabbalistic signs found on the wall in the room in which the execution took place. Although to this day no one has been able to identify the ink inscriptions on the windowsill as something that has an unambiguously interpreted meaning, some experts are inclined to believe that the following message is encrypted in them: “Here, by order secret forces, the king was sacrificed to destroy the state. All nations are informed of this.”

In addition, on the southern wall of the room where the execution took place, a couplet written in German and distorted from a poem by Heinrich Heine about the murdered Babylonian king Belshazzar was found. However, who exactly and when could have made these inscriptions remains unknown today, and the “decipherment” of the supposedly Kabbalistic symbols is refuted by many historians. It is impossible to draw an unambiguous conclusion about them, although great efforts were made to this end, in particular because the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) was particularly interested in the version of the ritual nature of the murder. However, the investigative authorities gave a negative response to the request of the Moscow Patriarchate: “Wasn’t the murder of the Romanovs ritual?” Although serious work They certainly weren’t carried out to establish the truth. IN Tsarist Russia there were a lot of secret societies": from occultists to masons.

Third version (American trace)

Another interesting idea is that this massacre was carried out on the direct orders of the United States. Not American government, of course, but the American billionaire Jacob Schiff, with whom, according to some information, Yakov Yurovsky, a member of the board of the Ural Regional Cheka, who headed the security of the royal family in Yekaterinburg, was connected. Yurovsky lived in America for a long time and returned to Russia just before the revolution.

Jacob, or Jacob Schiff, was one of the richest people At that time, the head of the giant banking house Kuhn, Loeb and Company, hated the tsarist government and Nikolai Romanov personally. The American was not allowed to expand his business in Russia and was very sensitive about depriving part of the Jewish population of civil rights.

Schiff used his authority and influence in the American banking and financial sector, tried to block Russia’s access to foreign loans in America, and took part in financing the Japanese government during Russo-Japanese War, and also generously financed supporters of the Bolshevik revolution (the amount is said to be 20-24 billion dollars translated into modern course). It was thanks to Jacob Schiff's subsidies that the Bolsheviks were able to carry out the revolution and achieve victory. He who pays calls the tune. Therefore, Jacob Schiff had the opportunity to “order” the murder of the royal family from the Bolsheviks. In addition, the chief executioner Yurovsky, by a strange coincidence, considered America his second homeland.

But the Bolsheviks who came to power after the execution of the Romanovs unexpectedly refused to cooperate with Schiff. Maybe because he arranged the execution of the royal family over their heads?

Fourth version (New Herostratus)

It cannot be ruled out that the execution, carried out on the direct orders of Yakov Yurovsky, was primarily necessary for him personally. The morbidly ambitious Yurovsky would not have been able to find the best way“inherit” in history, rather than personally shoot in the heart of the last Russian Tsar. And it is no coincidence that he subsequently emphasized many times his special role in the execution: “I shot first and killed Nikolai on the spot... I shot at him, he fell down, shooting immediately began... I killed Nikolai on the spot with the Colt, the rest of the cartridges were the same loaded Colt clips, as well as a loaded Mauser, were used to finish off Nikolai’s daughters... Alexey remained sitting as if petrified, and I shot him...” The executioner Yurovsky so clearly and openly enjoyed remembering the execution that it becomes clear: for him the regicide became the most ambitious achievement in life .

Shot along with the Romanovs: Top: life physician E. Botkin, life cook I. Kharitonov: Bottom: room girl A. Demidov, valet Colonel A. Trupp

Fifth version (Point of no return)

Rating historical significance execution of the Romanovs, wrote: “The execution of the Romanovs was needed not just to frighten, horrify, and deprive the enemy of hope, but also to shake up our own ranks, to show what was ahead complete victory or complete destruction. This goal has been achieved... Senseless, monstrous cruelty has been committed, and the point of no return has been passed.”

Sixth version

American journalists A. Summers and T. Mangold in the 1970s studied a previously unknown part of the archives of the 1918-1919 investigation, found in the 1930s in America, and published the result of their investigation in 1976. According to them, N. Sokolov’s conclusions about the death of the entire Romanov family were made under pressure, which for some reasons was beneficial to declare all family members dead. They consider the investigations and conclusions of other White Army investigators to be more objective. According to their opinion, it is more likely that only the heir and the heir were shot in Yekaterinburg, and Alexandra Fedorovna and her daughters were transported to Perm. ABOUT future fate Nothing is known about Alexandra Fedorovna or her daughters. A. Summers and T. Mangold are inclined to believe that in reality it was Grand Duchess Anastasia.

Exactly 100 years ago, on July 17, 1918, security officers shot the royal family in Yekaterinburg. The remains were found more than 50 years later. There are many rumors and myths surrounding the execution. At the request of colleagues from Meduza, journalist and associate professor at RANEPA Ksenia Luchenko, the author of many publications on this topic, responded to key issues about the murder and burial of the Romanovs

How many people were shot?

The royal family and their entourage were shot in Yekaterinburg on the night of July 17, 1918. In total, 11 people were killed - Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Empress Alexandra Fedorovna, their four daughters - Anastasia, Olga, Maria and Tatiana, son Alexei, the family doctor Yevgeny Botkin, cook Ivan Kharitonov and two servants - valet Aloysius Troupe and maid Anna Demidova.

The execution order has not yet been found. Historians have found a telegram from Yekaterinburg, in which it is written that the tsar was shot because the enemy was approaching the city and the discovery of a White Guard conspiracy. The decision to execute was made local authority authorities Uralsovet. However, historians believe that the order was given by the party leadership, and not the Urals Council. The commandant of the Ipatiev House, Yakov Yurovsky, was appointed the main person in charge of the execution.

Is it true that some members of the royal family did not die immediately?

Yes, according to the testimony of witnesses to the execution, Tsarevich Alexei survived the machine gun fire. He was shot by Yakov Yurovsky with a revolver. Security guard Pavel Medvedev spoke about this. He wrote that Yurovsky sent him outside to check if shots were heard. When he returned, the whole room was covered in blood, and Tsarevich Alexei was still moaning.

Yurovsky himself wrote that it was not only Alexei who had to be “finished”, but also his three sisters, the “maid of honor” (maid Demidova) and Doctor Botkin. There is also evidence from another eyewitness, Alexander Strekotin.

“The arrested were all already lying on the floor, bleeding, and the heir was still sitting on the chair. For some reason he did not fall from the chair for a long time and remained alive.”

They say that bullets bounced off the diamonds on the princesses' belts. This is true?

Yurovsky wrote in his note that the bullets ricocheted off something and jumped around the room like hailstones. Immediately after the execution, the security officers tried to appropriate the property of the royal family, but Yurovsky threatened them with death so that they would return the stolen property. Jewelry was also found in Ganina Yama, where Yurovsky’s team burned the personal belongings of the murdered (the inventory includes diamonds, platinum earrings, thirteen large pearls and so on).

Is it true that their animals were killed along with the royal family?

The royal children had three dogs. After the night execution, only one survived - Tsarevich Alexei's spaniel named Joy. He was taken to England, where he died of old age in the palace of King George, cousin of Nicholas II. A year after the execution, the body of a dog was found at the bottom of a mine in Ganina Yama, which was well preserved in the cold. She was broken right paw and his head was pierced. Teacher in English royal children Charles Gibbs, who helped Nikolai Sokolov in the investigation, identified her as Jemmy, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel of Grand Duchess Anastasia. The third dog, Tatiana's French bulldog, was also found dead.

How were the remains of the royal family found?

After the execution, Yekaterinburg was occupied by the army of Alexander Kolchak. He ordered an investigation into the murder to be launched and the remains of the royal family to be found. Investigator Nikolai Sokolov studied the area, found fragments of burnt clothing of members of the royal family and even described a “bridge of sleepers”, under which a burial was found several decades later, but came to the conclusion that the remains were completely destroyed in Ganina Yama.

The remains of the royal family were found only in the late 1970s. Film writer Geliy Ryabov was obsessed with the idea of ​​finding the remains, and Vladimir Mayakovsky’s poem “Emperor” helped him in this. Thanks to the poet’s lines, Ryabov got an idea of ​​the Tsar’s burial place, which the Bolsheviks showed to Mayakovsky. Ryabov often wrote about his exploits Soviet police, therefore had access to classified documents of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In 1976, Ryabov came to Sverdlovsk, where he met local historian and geologist Alexander Avdonin. It is clear that even the scriptwriters favored by the ministers in those years were not allowed to openly search for the remains of the royal family. Therefore, Ryabov, Avdonin and their assistants secretly searched for the burial place for several years.

The son of Yakov Yurovsky gave Ryabov a “note” from his father, where he described not only the murder of the royal family, but also the subsequent scrambles of the security officers in attempts to hide the bodies. The description of the final burial site under a flooring of sleepers near a truck stuck on the road coincided with Mayakovsky’s “instructions” about the road. It was the old Koptyakovskaya road, and the place itself was called Porosenkov Log. Ryabov and Avdonin explored the space with probes, which they delineated by comparing maps and various documents.

In the summer of 1979, they found a burial and opened it for the first time, taking out three skulls. They realized that it would be impossible to conduct any examinations in Moscow, and keeping the skulls in their possession was dangerous, so the researchers put them in a box and returned them to the grave a year later. They kept the secret until 1989. And in 1991, the remains of nine people were officially found. Two more badly burnt bodies (by that time it was already clear that these were the remains of Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria) were found in 2007 a little further away.

Is it true that the murder of the royal family was ritual?

There is a typical anti-Semitic myth that Jews allegedly kill people for ritual purposes. And the execution of the royal family also has its own “ritual” version.

Finding themselves in exile in the 1920s, three participants in the first investigation into the murder of the royal family - investigator Nikolai Sokolov, journalist Robert Wilton and General Mikhail Diterichs - wrote books about it.

Sokolov cites an inscription he saw on the wall in the basement of the Ipatiev house where the murder took place: “Belsazar ward in selbiger Nacht Von seinen Knechten umgebracht.” This is a quote from Heinrich Heine and translates as “On this very night Belshazzar was killed by his slaves.” He also mentions that he saw there a certain “designation of four signs.” Wilton in his book concludes from this that the signs were “kabbalistic”, adding that among the members firing squad there were Jews (of those directly involved in the execution, only one Jew was Yakov Yurovsky, and he was baptized into Lutheranism) and comes to the version about ritual murder royal family. Dieterichs also adheres to the anti-Semitic version.

Wilton also writes that during the investigation, Dieterichs assumed that the heads of the dead were severed and taken to Moscow as trophies. Most likely, this assumption was born in attempts to prove that the bodies were burned in Ganina Yama: teeth that should have remained after the burning were not found in the fire pit, therefore, there were no heads in it.

The version of ritual murder circulated in emigrant monarchist circles. The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad canonized the royal family in 1981 - almost 20 years earlier than the Russian Orthodox Church, so many of the myths that the cult of the martyr king had acquired in Europe were exported to Russia.

In 1998, the Patriarchate asked the investigation ten questions, which were fully answered by the senior prosecutor-criminologist of the Main Investigation Department of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Solovyov, who led the investigation. Question No. 9 was about the ritual nature of the murder, question No. 10 was about the cutting off of heads. Solovyov replied that in Russian legal practice there are no criteria for “ritual murder,” but “the circumstances of the death of the family indicate that the actions of those involved in the direct execution of the sentence (choice of the place of execution, team, murder weapon, burial place, manipulation of corpses) , were determined by random circumstances. IN specified actions People of various nationalities took part (Russians, Jews, Magyars, Latvians and others). The so-called “Kabbalistic writings have no analogues in the world, and their writing is interpreted arbitrarily, with essential details being discarded.” All the skulls of those killed were intact and relatively intact; additional anthropological studies confirmed the presence of all cervical vertebrae and their correspondence to each of the skulls and bones of the skeleton.

The commandant of the Special Purpose House, Yakov Yurovsky, was entrusted with commanding the execution of members of the former emperor’s family. It was from his manuscripts that it was subsequently possible to reconstruct the terrible picture that unfolded that night in Ipatiev House.

According to the documents, the execution order was delivered to the execution site at half past one in the morning. Just forty minutes later, the entire Romanov family and their servants were brought into the basement. “The room was very small. Nikolai stood with his back to me, he recalled. —

I announced that the Executive Committee of the Councils of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies of the Urals had decided to shoot them. Nikolai turned and asked. I repeated the order and commanded: “Shoot.” I shot first and killed Nikolai on the spot.”

The emperor was killed the first time - unlike his daughters. The commander of the execution of the royal family later wrote that the girls were literally “booked into bras from solid mass large diamonds,” so the bullets bounced off them without causing harm. Even with the help of a bayonet it was not possible to pierce the “precious” bodice of the girls.

Photo report: 100 years since the execution of the royal family

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“For a long time I was unable to stop this shooting, which had become careless. But when I finally managed to stop, I saw that many were still alive. ... I was forced to shoot everyone in turn,” Yurovsky wrote.

Even the royal dogs could not survive that night - together with the Romanovs, two of the three pets belonging to the emperor’s children were killed in the Ipatiev House. The corpse of Grand Duchess Anastasia's spaniel, preserved in the cold, was found a year later at the bottom of a mine in Ganina Yama - the dog's paw was broken and its head was pierced.

belonged to Grand Duchess Tatiana's French bulldog Ortino was also brutally killed - presumably hanged.

Miraculously, only the spaniel of Tsarevich Alexei named Joy was saved, who was then sent to England to recover from his experience. cousin Nicholas II to King George.

The place “where the people put an end to the monarchy”

After the execution, all the bodies were loaded into one truck and sent to the abandoned mines of Ganina Yama in Sverdlovsk region. There they first tried to burn them, but the fire would have been huge for everyone, so the decision was made to simply throw the bodies into the mine shaft and throw them with branches.

However, it was not possible to hide what happened - the very next day rumors spread throughout the region about what had happened at night. As one of the members of the firing squad, forced to return to the site of the failed burial, later admitted, ice water washed away all the blood and froze the bodies of the dead so that they looked as if they were alive.

The Bolsheviks tried to approach the organization of the second burial attempt with great attention: the area was first cordoned off, the bodies were again loaded onto a truck, which was supposed to transport them to a more safe place. However, failure awaited them here too: after just a few meters of travel, the truck got stuck firmly in the swamps of Porosenkova Log.

Plans had to be changed on the fly. Some of the bodies were buried directly under the road, the rest were doused with sulfuric acid and buried a little further away, covered with sleepers on top. These cover-up measures proved to be more effective. After Yekaterinburg was occupied by Kolchak’s army, he immediately gave the order to find the bodies of the dead.

However, forensic investigator Nikolai U, who arrived at Porosenkov Log, managed to find only fragments of burnt clothing and a severed woman’s finger. “This is all that remains of the August Family,” Sokolov wrote in his report.

There is a version that the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky was one of the first to learn about the place where, in his words, “the people put an end to the monarchy.” It is known that in 1928 he visited Sverdlovsk, having previously met with Pyotr Voikov, one of the organizers of the execution of the royal family, who could tell him secret information.

After this trip, Mayakovsky wrote the poem “The Emperor,” which contains lines with a fairly accurate description of the “Romanov grave”: “Here the cedar has been touched with an ax, there are notches under the root of the bark, at the root there is a road under the cedar, and in it the emperor is buried.”

Confession of execution

New for the first time Russian authorities tried with all her might to assure the West of her humanity in relation to the royal family: they say that they are all alive and are in secret place in order to prevent the implementation of the White Guard conspiracy. Many high-ranking politicians young state they tried to avoid answering or answered very vaguely.

Thus, the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs at the Genoa Conference in 1922 told correspondents: “The fate of the Tsar’s daughters is not known to me. I read in the newspapers that they are in America.”

Pyotr Voikov, who answered this question in more informal setting, cut off all further questions with the phrase: “The world will never know what we did to the royal family.”

Only after the publication of Nikolai Sokolov’s investigation materials, which gave a vague idea of ​​the massacre imperial family, the Bolsheviks had to admit at least the fact of the execution. However, the details and information about the burial still remained a mystery, shrouded in darkness in the basement of the Ipatiev House.

Occult version

It is not surprising that a lot of falsifications and myths have appeared regarding the execution of the Romanovs. The most popular of them was the rumor about a ritual murder and the severed head of Nicholas II, which was allegedly taken for safekeeping by the NKVD. This is evidenced, in particular, by the testimony of General Maurice Janin, who oversaw the investigation into the execution by the Entente.

Among supporters of the ritual nature of murder imperial family There are several reasons. First of all, attention is drawn to the symbolic name of the house in which everything happened: in March 1613, who laid the foundation for the dynasty, ascended to the kingdom in the Ipatiev Monastery near Kostroma. And 305 years later, in 1918, the last Russian Tsar Nikolai Romanov was shot in the Ipatiev House in the Urals, requisitioned by the Bolsheviks specifically for this purpose.

Later, engineer Ipatiev explained that he purchased the house six months before the events that unfolded there. There is an opinion that this purchase was made specifically to add symbolism to the grim murder, since Ipatiev communicated quite closely with one of the organizers of the execution, Pyotr Voikov.

Lieutenant General Mikhail Diterichs, who investigated the murder of the royal family on behalf of Kolchak, concluded in his conclusion: “This was a systematic, premeditated and prepared extermination of Members of the House of Romanov and persons exclusively close to them in spirit and belief.

The direct line of the Romanov Dynasty is over: it began in the Ipatiev Monastery in the Kostroma province and ended in the Ipatiev House in the city of Yekaterinburg.”

Conspiracy theorists also drew attention to the connection between the murder of Nicholas II and the Chaldean ruler of Babylon, King Belshazzar. Thus, some time after the execution, lines from Heine’s ballad dedicated to Belshazzar were discovered in the Ipatiev House: “Belzazzar was killed that same night by his servants.” Now a piece of wallpaper with this inscription is stored in State Archives RF.

According to the Bible, Belshazzar, like the last king in his family. During one of the celebrations in his castle, mysterious words, predicting his imminent death. That same night the biblical king was killed.

Prosecutor's and church investigation

The remains of the royal family were officially found only in 1991 - then nine bodies were discovered buried in Piglet Meadow. Another nine years later, two missing bodies were discovered - severely burnt and mutilated remains, presumably belonging to Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria.

Together with specialized centers in the UK and the USA, she conducted many examinations, including molecular genetics. With its help, DNA extracted from the found remains and samples of Nicholas II’s brother Georgy Alexandrovich, as well as his nephew, the son of Olga’s sister Tikhon Nikolaevich Kulikovsky-Romanov, were deciphered and compared.

The examination also compared the results with the blood on the king's shirt, stored in the. All researchers agreed that the found remains indeed belonged to the Romanov family, as well as their servants.

However, the Russian Orthodox Church still refuses to recognize the remains found near Yekaterinburg as authentic. This was because the church was not initially involved in the investigation, officials said. In this regard, the patriarch did not even come to the official burial of the remains of the royal family, which took place in 1998 at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

After 2015, the study of the remains (which had to be exhumed for this purpose) continues with the participation of a commission formed by the Patriarchate. According to the latest expert findings, released on July 16, 2018, comprehensive molecular genetic examinations “confirmed the identity of the discovered remains former emperor Nicholas II, members of his family and people from their entourage.”

The lawyer of the imperial house, German Lukyanov, said that the church commission would take into account the results of the examination, but final decision will be announced at the Council of Bishops.

Canonization of the Passion-Bearers

Despite the ongoing controversy over the remains, back in 1981 the Romanovs were canonized as martyrs of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad. In Russia, this happened only eight years later, since from 1918 to 1989 the tradition of canonization was interrupted. In 2000, the murdered members of the royal family were given a special church rank - passion-bearers.

As the scientific secretary of the St. Philaret Orthodox Christian Institute, church historian Yulia Balakshina told Gazeta.Ru, passion-bearers are a special order of holiness, which some call the discovery of the Russian Orthodox Church.

“The first Russian saints were also canonized precisely as passion-bearers, that is, people who humbly, imitating Christ, accepted their death. Boris and Gleb - at the hands of their brother, and Nicholas II and his family - at the hands of the revolutionaries,” Balakshina explained.

According to the church historian, it was very difficult to canonize the Romanovs based on the fact of their lives - the family of rulers was not distinguished for pious and virtuous actions.

It took six years to complete all the documents. “In fact, in the Russian Orthodox Church there are no deadlines for canonization. However, debates about the timeliness and necessity of the canonization of Nicholas II and his family continue to this day. The main argument of opponents is that by transferring the innocently murdered Romanovs to the level of celestials, the Russian Orthodox Church deprived them of basic human compassion", said the church historian.

There were also attempts to canonize rulers in the West, Balakshina added: “At one time, the brother and direct heir of the Scottish Queen Mary Stuart made such a request, citing the fact that at the hour of death she demonstrated great generosity and commitment to the faith. But I’m still not ready to make a positive decision this question, referring to facts from the life of the ruler, according to which she was involved in the murder and accused of adultery.”