The Mystery of the Romanov’s

The Royal Russian Family Nicholas II was the last tsar of Russia He and has wife Tsarina Alexandra had five children Olga Tatiana Maria Anastasia Alexei

Nicholas II Alexei Olga Maria Tatiana Alexandra Anastasia

Nicholas & Alexandra On April 20, 1894, Czarevitch Nicholas II proposed to Princess Alexandra of Hesse. Although seen by the Russian people as a cold, unhappy German princess numerous letters document a lifelong love that existed between "Niki" and "Alix."

The Romanov Children The Czar and Czarina Alexandra produced five children. The first two daughters, known as the "Big Pair," were named Olga and Tatiana. The next two daughters – the "Little Pair" – were Maria and Anastasia. Then finally an heir to the throne, Prince Alexei, was born.

The Royal Family Alexei, the only son, destined to be the next tsar, had hemophilia Virtually untreatable and usually led to untimely death In desperation, Alexandria began to rely on Rasputin, a mystic, who seemed to be able to help Alexei during bleeding episodes

Rasputin healer for the young Alexei Called upon when doctors couldn’t help him with his hemophilia Alexandra believed that Rasputin was the only one who could cure Alexei He warned that the destiny of both the Tsarevich and the Romanov dynasty were "irrevocably linked to him"

Problems for the Tsar The mounting pressure of World War I and economic hardship led to massive discontent with the Tsar In addition Alexandra began to consult Rasputin on domestic policy while the Tsar was absent leading troops in WW I, further alienating the Russian people The Tsar was forced to abdicate in March, 1917

Rasputin’s Death Russian officials decided that Rasputin should die they fed Rasputin poisoned wine and tea cakes but they did not affect him Dismayed, they shot him twice but he lived it was only when they bound his body and threw it into the Neva River that he died.

Final Days Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks took full control of the revolution and sought to govern the land.

Final Days Family put under house arrest by the Bolsheviks Became a problem for Lenin Many still saw Nicholas as the legitimate ruler of Russia

Execution On the night of July 17th, the family was awoken and told that there was trouble and that they would be safer in the basement The whole family, the family doctor,and three servants went to the basement. A group of twelve Red Army soldiers appeared in the basement and shot those there. The legend has it that the princesses had to be finished off with bayonets as they had stuffed jewels in their blouses which had deflected the bullets. According to the Yurovsky (the man who carried out the execution) the bodies were soaked in acid, burned, and thrown down a mineshaft

Execution Room

Missing Bodies The next morning, fearing the discovery of the bodies, Yurovsky ordered the bodies retrieved to be buried elsewhere However, the vehicle carrying the bodies broke down and they were buried in a pit along a cart track

Locating the Remains In 1979 a grave was discovered and believed to contain the bodies of the Tsar, his family and servants Authenticity of the remains was questioned Only nine bodies were found. (Yurovsky explained that two of the bodies were incinerated and not removed from the mineshaft) Popular rumor that Anastasia had miraculously been survived In 1995 and the fall of the Soviet Union that permission was given for the bodies to be exhumed and examined

Authentication of the Remains Fingerprints Dental records Physical Inspection Evidence of crushing blows, bayonet thrusts and bullet wounds were apparent and consistent with reports of the execution

Authentication of the Remains Reconstruction of the remains Nine skeletons were painstakingly reconstructed from 700 bone fragments which were consistent with ages and genders of those known to be executed

Authentication of the Remains Nuclear DNA Fingerprinting Proved that three young women were the daughters of one of the adult males Insufficient DNA for complete analysis

Authentication of the Remains Mitochondrial DNA Analysis Mitochondrial DNA from living and dead (but known relatives) of the Tsar & his family established that the remains were indeed theirs

Anna Anderson Emerges

Final Mystery Anna Anderson continued to claim until her death in 1984 that she was the missing princess, Anastasia A small sample of tissue from Anna Anderson which had been removed during an earlier surgery was tested in 1994 Proved that she was not a member of the royal Romanov family and was born to a middle class family in Poland