Sunday, August 26, 2007
History Time
I'm not sure if I've ever really talked about my fascination with the Romanov family on here before. If you know me well, you know that the whole story has captivated me since I was small and I have numerous books on the Romanovs and Rasputin. If you didn't know, well...now you do. :)
So! A little back story - in the early hours of July 17, 1918, the last Tsar, Nicholas, and his family were shot down by the Bolsheviks in a horrid way. In 1976, the remains of all but the heir Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria, the 3rd daughter, were recovered. It wasn't until 1991 that these remains were excavated and reburied in a St Petersburg cathedral.
But last month, Sergei Plotnikov, a 46-year-old builder who was part of a team from an amateur history group who spent free summer weekends looking for the lost Romanovs, stumbled across a small hollow covered with nettles in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Excavation revealed bones, a dress fragment, bullets of different calibers and pieces of Japanese ceramic bottles that were used to carry the sulphuric acid poured over the Romanov corpses*.
It was determined that the bones belong to a 10-13 year old boy and an 18-23 year old woman which fit the ages that Alexei & Maria were when they were murdered. So far the remains have not been buried with their family because the Russian Orthadox Church apparently wants to be "extra sure" these are the Romanov children.
This find pleases me and I have no doubt it's Alexei & Maria. Now the pretenders** can stop pretending at let these poor tortured souls have some peace.
* = the bones discovered (both the most recent and the others) showed evidence that after their corpses were thrown into the ground, the Bolsheviks poured acid on them and burned them. A most undignified ending for a diginified family.
** = Many women over the years have claimed to be both Grand Duchess Anastasia and Grand Duchess Maria, saying that they somehow survived the bloodshed of July 17th. Also Alexei Poutziato, Joseph Veres, Heino Temmet, Michael Goleniewski and Vassili Filatov have all claimed to be Tsarevich Alexei. Now these people have no leg to stand on.
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So! A little back story - in the early hours of July 17, 1918, the last Tsar, Nicholas, and his family were shot down by the Bolsheviks in a horrid way. In 1976, the remains of all but the heir Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria, the 3rd daughter, were recovered. It wasn't until 1991 that these remains were excavated and reburied in a St Petersburg cathedral.
But last month, Sergei Plotnikov, a 46-year-old builder who was part of a team from an amateur history group who spent free summer weekends looking for the lost Romanovs, stumbled across a small hollow covered with nettles in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Excavation revealed bones, a dress fragment, bullets of different calibers and pieces of Japanese ceramic bottles that were used to carry the sulphuric acid poured over the Romanov corpses*.
It was determined that the bones belong to a 10-13 year old boy and an 18-23 year old woman which fit the ages that Alexei & Maria were when they were murdered. So far the remains have not been buried with their family because the Russian Orthadox Church apparently wants to be "extra sure" these are the Romanov children.
This find pleases me and I have no doubt it's Alexei & Maria. Now the pretenders** can stop pretending at let these poor tortured souls have some peace.
* = the bones discovered (both the most recent and the others) showed evidence that after their corpses were thrown into the ground, the Bolsheviks poured acid on them and burned them. A most undignified ending for a diginified family.
** = Many women over the years have claimed to be both Grand Duchess Anastasia and Grand Duchess Maria, saying that they somehow survived the bloodshed of July 17th. Also Alexei Poutziato, Joseph Veres, Heino Temmet, Michael Goleniewski and Vassili Filatov have all claimed to be Tsarevich Alexei. Now these people have no leg to stand on.
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// posted by Heather @ 8:53 PM 
