Romanov

-------------------------------------------------
M Shooting of the Romanov family

The shooting of the Romanov family, of the Russian Imperial House of Romanov, and those who chose to accompany them into exile, Dr. Eugene Botkin, Anna Demidova, Alexei Trupp, and Ivan Kharitonov,[1] took place in Yekaterinburg on July 17, 1918 on the orders of Vladimir Lenin.[2][3]
On August 15, 2000the Russian Orthodox Church announced the canonization of the family for their "humbleness, patience and meekness".[4]However, reflecting the intense debate preceding the issue, the bishops did not proclaim the Romanovs as martyrs, but passion bearers instead (see Romanov sainthood).[4] On October 1, 2008, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled that Nicholas II and his family were victimsofpolitical repression and were rehabilitated.[5][6]
-------------------------------------------------
Background
On 22 March 1917, Nicholas, no longer a monarch and addressed with contempt by the sentries as "Nicholas Romanov", was reunited with his family at the Alexander Palace inTsarskoe Selo.[7] He was placed under house arrest with his family by the Provisional Government. Surrounded by hisguards, confined to their quarters, the Imperial family was rudely inspected on Nicholas's first night back at home.[7] The same night a band of soldiers broke into Grigory Rasputin's tomb and, lifting the putrefying corpse with sticks, flung it onto a pyre of logs and drenched it with gasoline. The body burned for six hours as Rasputin's ashes were scattered by the icy winds.[7] The ex-Tsarremained calm and dignified and even insisted on the children resuming their lesson with himself as tutor in history and geography. Through the newspapers he took a keen interest in the progress of the war, but he could not help reading also how the press now printed lurid stories about Rasputin and the Empress, the 'confessions' of former servants and the private lives of the self-styled 'lovers' ofthe Tsar's four daughters.[8]
In August 1917, Alexander Kerensky's Provisional Government evacuated the Romanovs to Tobolsk, allegedly to protect them from the rising tide of revolution. There they lived in the former Governor's mansion in considerable comfort. After the Bolsheviks came to power in October 1917, the conditions of their imprisonment grew stricter and talk of putting Nicholas ontrial grew more frequent. Nicholas was forbidden to wear epaulettes, and the sentries scrawled lewd drawings on the fence to offend his daughters. On 1 March 1918, the family was placed on soldier's rations, which meant parting with 10 devoted servants and giving up butter and coffee as luxuries.[9]
As the Bolsheviks gathered strength, leading to full-scale resistance by the summer, Nicholas,Alexandra and their daughter Maria were moved in April to Yekaterinburg. Alexei was too ill to accompany his parents and remained with his sisters Olga, Tatiana and Anastasia, not leaving Tobolsk until May 1918. The family was imprisoned with a few remaining retainers in Yekaterinburg's Ipatiev House, which was called The House of Special Purpose (Russian: Дом Особого Назначения).-------------------------------------------------
Execution
The telegram giving the order to liquidate the prisoners on behalf of the Supreme Soviet in Moscow was signed by Yakov Sverdlov. Around midnight Yakov Yurovsky, the superintendent of The House of Special Purpose, ordered the Romanovs' physician, Dr. Eugene Botkin, to awaken the sleeping family and ask them to put on their clothes.[1] The Romanovs werethen ordered into a 6x5 meter semi-basement room.[1] Nicholas asked if he could bring two chairs for himself and his wife. A firing squad appeared next and Yurovsky announced:
“ | Nikolai Aleksandrovich, your relatives have tried to save you, but they had not to. And we are forced to shoot you by ourselves...[1] | ” |
Yurovsky then began to read the decision of the Ural Executive Committee...