July 2018 marks the centennial anniversary month of the execution of the Imperial Russian family, the Romanovs.
Brutally murdered along with several faithful retainers in a basement room in Ekaterinburg, Russia, on July 17, 1918, these individuals and their demise certainly did not pass unforgotten. In Russia, countless people remembered the anniversary: from pilgrimages to the former site of the execution, to gathering at the first burial place in Pig’s Meadow, to masses sung in the family’s honor, etc. As a true royal history buff, I’ve been well aware of the approach of this particular date. On Instagram alone, there is the hastag #Romanovs100, a project which “is a large-scale historical photo-puzzle, a cross-platform social media project which tells the story of Russia’s last royal family through thousands of their own photos,” as stated on the project’s website, www.romanovs100.com. Anticipating this day, it was no coincidence that I chose this month to read The Last Days of the Romanovs by British writer and Russian history specialist Helen Rappaport, and purposefully finish it on the exact anniversary of the murders.
Like many others, I first became fascinated with the Romanovs via Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra. No, it was not the 1998 animated film that sparked my interest, but reading the historical fiction children’s book The Royal Diaries: Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess by Carolyn Meyer.
Already a royal history nerd by age nine, I knew well enough that being royal often meant hardship , deceit, and often death (via my constant reading about the Tudors; just one prime example of dysfunctional royal families). So when I read the book’s epilogue about the Romanovs’ ultimate fate, I was horrified by their demise, but ultimately not surprised. Being a century and a continent removed from these people and these events, it seems all too easy to predict that such an event would have occurred: ineffectual monarchs + Rasputin + autocracy + changing society/ calls for reform + Russian Revolution = liquidation of the family.
The Book
Rappaport’s work is a day by day account of the last two weeks of the Romanovs’ lives, prisoners in the ominously named “The House of Special Purpose,” the former Ipatiev family residence. The book begins by analyzing the how and why Tsar Nicholas and his family are essentially booted from power, and exiled to Siberia by the Bolsheviks. In addition to using the chapters as daily accounts, she devotes these sections to examining Nicholas, Alexandra, Alexei, and the girls, respectively. Nicholas, readers learn, is an utterly devoted family man: a patient husband, a loving and kind father. Yet his calm and meek personality are completely ill suited to the role of Tsar: he has no backbone, and refuses to yield to any change, i.e., cede to a constitutional monarchy. In his personal life he is a good man, but his monarchical institution is utterly repressive: naysayers exiled to Siberia, freedom of speech repressed, pogroms, etc. His wife, German born Alexandra of Hesse, shuns the spotlight of court, failing to capture the hearts of her subjects. A firm believer in the divine right of kings, she urges her beloved Nicky to remain firm in his autocracy, despite Russian society’s calls for change. Desperate to protect her son and heir, the hemophiliac Alexei, and ensure the future of the Romanov dynasty, she brings the fraud monk Rasputin to court, who abuses his power by acting as a minister/ counselor. What can easily be argued as religious hysteria and overtly fanatical devotion to her son, Alexandra further alienates not just her subjects, but her own family and friends. Shocked and disgusted that a peasant and a con man wields such influence with the royal family, and essentially over the realm, the country’s support for the Romanovs falls into steep decline.
In her book, Rappaport also truly brings to life the Romanov children: the four daughters—Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and Anastasia— and the beloved son, Alexei. She examines each individual by sharing their distinct personalities and hopes; she goes beyond collective identity. For example, it is all too easy to become enthralled with the four young Grand Duchesses, looking so lovely and innocent in their white dresses. Yet Rappaport conscientiously rejects, in her own words, the “idealized hagiography” of the four sisters as one entity. Instead, she examines each daughter as an individual: the moody, intelligent Olga; the mature, confident beauty Tatiana; the loving “earth mother” Maria; and the outspoken, devilish Anastasia. Readers learn also about the utter anguish Alexei suffers from an incurable disease; all too often he is at death’s door. As a result, he is completely coddled, a spoiled child who lashes out at, and plays pranks, on others. Yet, as Rappaport highlights, Alexei truly understands what it is like to suffer; he is aware of his mortality from a young age and therefore lives his life to the full. Unlike his mother, Alexei is not morose; instead, he has true stoicism in dealing with his condition. When confronted with the suffering of others, he displays genuine sympathy.
Where Rappaport especially shines in her craft is her examination of the decisions made concerning the family’s ultimate fate: annihilation or salvation. The Bolsheviks ultimately want to do away with the Romanovs, while other European royal houses debate as to whether to help the family. She bluntly describes how Lenin ensures that his name is not in any way linked to the deaths; he has others to do his dirty work. She analyzes in depth the family’s jailers: first the boorish drunk Aydeyev, who is then replaced by the cunning, deceitful Yakov Yurovsky, a name that burns in infamy for Romanovphiles. Outwardly a gentleman in both looks and manner, Yurovsky invites the family’s trust by feigning concern and sympathy over Alexei…literally a day before the murders. Yet the prisoners are aware that something has changed in the house, and for the worse. Tragically their misgivings are made all too real.
Rappaport’s description of the early hours of July 17 is an extremely graphic account. Apart from the Tsar and Tsarina, there are no quick deaths, just agony and prolonged horror, the victims shot, beaten, and bayoneted multiple times. She details the cruel disfigurement and disposal of the bodies in the forest outside the town, of how one Bolshevik gleefully proclaims, “The world will never know what we did to them.” Speculation abounds for decades as to the family’s fate: a miraculous escape, exile to another location? Yet with the public announcement of the recovery of the family’s remains in 1991, and with further DNA proof, the truth is out: the family died on that July night. But what about the two individuals missing from the grave, Alexei and one of the grand duchesses? Rappaport immediately makes clear her belief that no one survived. What she terms the “Anastasia Camp,” those who firmly believe Anastasia survived and escaped, she entertains no such claims at all in this book. With the 2007 discovery of the remains of Alexei and Maria, all of the victims are accounted for.
This book is an absolute must read for anyone interested in the Romanovs, especially their last days, and the aftermath of the murders. Fast paced and highly detailed, the day by day approach provides readers a better perspective of the prisoners thoughts, living conditions, and ultimately, the family’s love for one another and faith during their tribulation. Despite the cramped conditions and insults and threats by their prison keepers, the Romanovs remained steadfast as a family, and in their hopes for rescue, to the very end. The strength and courage exhibited by the royals, in particular the Tsar’s children, is exemplar. From the palaces of St. Petersburg to a house used as their prison, the Romanov familial bond only strengthened. However you may view the Romanov family, one cannot deny they bore their ordeal with true bravery.
~LMC
The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg by Helen Rappaport, St. Martin’s Griffin, New York, 2008, 254 pages