A perennial mystery that is now, at least partly solved thanks to forensic DNA testing is 80 years of mystery surrounding the fate of the Russian royal family.
In the summer of 1918, Russia was engaged in a civil war between the communist revolutionaries, called the Reds or Bolsheviks, and opponents argued that either the monarchy or some form of democratic government, the White Russians.
The foremost symbol of the old regime was the Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II and his family, who was forced to abdicate the throne after the revolution of February 1917. After the revolutionary Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin seized power, they were going to put on trial the Tsar, and moved the entire Russian royal family to the town of Ekaterinburg on the slopes of the Ural Mountains. With the Tsar were his wife, Czarina Alexandra, four young daughters, the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, the tsar and his son and heir, 13 years, Alexei.
The Romanovs were imprisoned in a building with two floors appropriation by an engineer named Ipatiev rich. The royal family was kept on the top floor with their physician, Dr. Botkin, and three servants. Armed guards prevented them from leaving, and were confined to their rooms except for meals and short periods of exercise.
In the countryside around the house, the battle raged for Russia on. When White Russian forces were closing around Ekaterinburg, Bolsheviks feared free Tsar, a powerful figure in the White collection. This led the Bolsheviks who killed the czar and his entire family in the early morning hours of July 17, 1918.
For political reasons, the Bolshevik government in Moscow has decided not to publicly reveal the fate of the royal family. They admitted that the Tsar had been executed for crimes against the Russian people, but argued that the rest of the family had been removed for safety. Many people, including relatives of the royal family, believed these reports and held out hope that the Tsarina and her five children had survived. This started spreading rumors that had to last for more than half a century.
On July 25, 1918, the army entered White Ekaterinburg and rushed home Ipatiev, but could not find any trace of the Tsar. The Whites opened an investigation immediately, and appointed investigator Nikolai Sholokhov to lead it. He was only five months to complete the investigation before Ekaterinburg fell back to the Bolsheviks, but has published his findings in 1924 and concluded that all of Russia, plus their doctor and three servants, were conducted in a room small cellar, shot, bayoneted, then sprayed with acid to hide their identity before being thrown into an old mine shaft. However, the bodies were not.
After the civil war in Russia, many people have come forward in Europe, claiming to be members of the family of Tsar Nicholas. Most of the claimants to the Romanov legacy were immediately exposed as frauds, but was extremely convincing.
In 1920, an anonymous woman tried to commit suicide by jumping from a bridge into a canal in Berlin, Germany. She was rescued and was recovering in a clinic in a state of dazed and confused. At first, he had a complete loss of memory, but slowly began to recover. He said his name was Anna Anderson. However, one day, he saw a photo of the family of the tsar and became very excited. Soon she claimed to be one of the grand duchesses.
Claiming that his memory had recovered, told an extraordinary story of how she, like Anastasia, had survived the massacre of the Romanovs. According to her account, Anastasia survived the massacre, because one of his sisters away from his bullet. Although seriously wounded, he awoke during the night and was discovered by a soldier called Tchaikovsky smuggling her in Romania. There gave him a son, but the soldier was killed immediately, whereupon he fled to Berlin to try to find his relatives. Depressed about the lack of success, became desperate and attempted suicide.
In a court case that dragged on for 30 years, Anderson has tried to obtain legal support for its claim to be the heir to the Romanov dynasty. Some remaining Romanov family supported her, but most regarded it simply and extraordinarily clever impostor. Without conclusive scientific evidence such as fingerprints or dental records, both sides relied on evidence less clear.
Anderson has provided many convincing details about the life of the Romanov family in pre-revolutionary Russia, and she had scars on his body consistent with gun and bayonet wounds. Photo of Anastasia and Anderson, claiming great similarity, and experts have argued that Anderson's script writing matched that of Anastacia.
Experts say opposites Anderson said it was a Polish woman named Franzisca Schanzkowska who disappeared from a boarding house in Berlin shortly before Anderson was rescued from the canal. Photo of woman looked like Anderson and his gun and bayonet wounds were attributed to the alleged injury Schanzkowska had sustained from an explosion in a munitions factory.
The case ended in 1970 with the conclusion by the German court that the application of Anderson could not be conclusively substantiated, and Anderson moved to the United States where he died in 1984.
In 1989, the advent of glasnost brought the surprising news from the Soviet Union that the bodies of the Romanovs had actually been discovered in 1979 by a team led by amateur historian Alexander Avdonin and Geli Ryabov. Fearing reprisals repressive Soviet government had previously hidden information for a decade. In 1991, a modern forensic team was sent to examine the site. The scientists have concluded without doubt that the remains are those of the Romanovs, however, two bodies, those of Alexei and Grand Duchess, were missing.
To confirm the results, the Soviets invited several American forensic scientists, including Dr. William Maples of the University of Florida, to conduct their study. Have reached similar conclusions, but considers that the missing bodies were those of Alexei and Anastasia, not Marie. It is speculated that it was simply buried elsewhere, but the two remaining bodies were not found.
Anderson's statement to be Anastacia has been revived. In 1992, the Soviets conducted DNA decided to conduct DNA tests on the remains of the Romanovs. A relative of a woman's life disappeared Polish Schanzkowska, also provided a blood sample. Anderson's body was cremated in 1984, but surprisingly, a sample of tissue was still alive.
The test results were a severe disappointment to those who believed in Anderson's story. Tests showed that it was not related to the Romanovs, but Schanskowskas.
While Anderson's statement was completely reduced, the mystery of two missing Romanov continues. Some believe that were burned and buried somewhere in the Forest Koptyaki and may one day be discovered, while others have high hopes that one or more children may have survived.
However, if any pretenders to the throne of the Romanovs ever emerge modern DNA testing quickly resolve the issue.
No comments:
Post a Comment