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Diaz 1
Briana Diaz
Ms. Marenco
English 7H
13 Febuary 2009
“Her Imperial Highness the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaievna.”
In folklore Anastasia Romanov is only famous for the possibility that she survived the massacre of her family on July 17, 1918. Many people believed the imposters that rose up after the massacre. But this was her real life and the legend of Anastasia .The last official Grand Duchess.
On June 18, 1901, a healthy baby girl was delivered to Russia. Anastasia Romanov the fourth Grand Duchess. Her father was greatly disappointed it was a girl and had to go on a walk to compose himself. When he went back in to see his wife and new baby girl, a smile was plastered on his face. Two weeks later Anastasia was christened into the Orthodox Church. Her official title was “Her Imperial Highness the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaievna.” Nicholaievna meaning that she was a daughter born to Nicholas. ‘Grand Duchess’ showed that her sisters and she were even grander than all of the other European princesses.
On July 25, 1904, her brother Alexei was born. Finally having a son the Tsar and Tsarina felt their family completed. The family now had seven members. The oldest daughters’ names were Olga and Tatiana. They were known as the “Big Pair”. Marie and Anastasia were known as the “Little Pair”,they shared a room. All together they were referred to as OTMA in letters and diary entries. Alexei was a little ray of sunshine in the girl’s lives. A close family friend was Rasputin. He was a poor man that told fortunes for the Tsarina.
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He also ‘cured’ Alexei’s injuries that were made worse with the hemophilia he had inherited. Scientists hypothesized that these ‘cures’ were just the result of hypnosis to calm Alexei. Many of the servants looked down upon Rasputin, but that did not change the trust between the Romanov family and him.
The Romanov children were raised strictly. They had to bathe in cold water, eat meals that did not suggest they were even high class, and sleep on cots. Despite not having the luxuries they normally would have had, their mother expected a lot from them. Unlike other aristocratic girls who just had to learn things to keep them busy once they were married. The girls were expected to learn to play the piano, sketch flowers, and do needlework among other things. The children were expected to be fluent in German, Russian, English, and French. Despite what was expected of her,Anastasia did not focus on her studies constantly ‘failing’ her classes and instead getting in trouble for playing pranks on her teachers and servants As a result Anastasia was nicknamed “shvibzik," the Russian word for "imp." Anastasia preferred hands-on things and enjoyed being outside photographing her siblings’ antics.
On August 1, 1914 Russia went to war against Germany and Austria. The country was thrown into chaos because the Tsar was unable to lead his country in battle well. The Tsarina was in charge of the country now, since her husband was away at the front. She tried very hard and wanted to help her country as much as she could. The Tsarina, Olga, and Tatiana trained to become nurses and went to work in military hospitals. Maria and Anastasia were too young to be nurses and instead went to visit wounded soldiers staying in the hospitals.


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The people of Russia were very unhappy with the Tsar, Tsarina, and the government. Millions of soldiers died and their families at home were starving. The people began
rioting. Asked by the government, Tsar Nicholas abdicated the throne and Alexei’s right also. They were imprisoned immediately. Soldiers kept watch protecting the family in any way they could. August 14 the family was moved to Siberia. Conditions weren’t bad. When they were moved to the Inactive house conditions worsened. The Bolsheviks were not kind soldiers. Their hatred for the Romanovs fueled their eagerness to hurt and embarrass them. The Romanovs were fed the leftovers of the soldiers, often cold bread and tea. Disrespect was common in the household. The soldiers took down all the doors in the house and found other ways to embarrass the family.
Ipatiev house was otherwise known as the “House of Special Purpose.” This was where the massacre took place. On July 16, 1918, the family was ordered to dress and head to the basement for their safety. Once down there Alexandra asked for chairs and two were brought in so she and Alexei could sit. Sokolav was the commander in this mission. Soldiers entered the small basement; he read from a small piece of paper that the family was to be executed. Alexander had only enough time to turn around and say, what? He was shot in the head. Alexandra and Olga were shot next in the midst of making the Sign of the Cross. The rest of the family, three servants, and the family doctor were shot. After the smoke had cleared the soldiers began to drag the bodies out. Anastasia was specifically cited in the Sokolav report as having survived the gunfire and then being put to death with bayonets and blows to the head. An aide to Inspector Sokolav wrote,
“When the smoke of the firing had cleared a little and the murders began to inspect the bodies, they found that Grand Duchess Anastasia was alive and unhurt. She had fallen in a dead faint when the firing began and so escaped the bullets. When the assassins moved her body, the Grand Duchess regained consciousness, saw her self surrounded by pools of blood and the bodies of her family, and screamed. She was killed”
Did they really die? Some reports cited that Nicholas had been shot but the rest of the family was somewhere else. A maid that worked in a hotel in Perm claimed that she saw Alexandra and three cots in a room. Where were Anastasia and Alexei? Anastasia might have been caught when trying to escape the soldiers and was walking along train tracks. But when brought in an officer denied that it was she, saying that it was another girl also named Anastasia. Where was she?
In 1920 a woman was caught trying to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge. She was escorted quickly to a mental institution. The woman was released, claiming that she was Anastasia. Newspaper headlines were all about this woman called Anna Anderson Anderson had some supporters, Anastasia’s maids and other people that used to work in the palace. The immediate family members denied that she was Anastasia still having hopes that they could get the crown. Anderson knew secrets that only personnel that had lived in the palace could know. She also showed an interest in photography an interest the real Anastasia had also had. Regular people even chose a side. Was Anastasia Romanov really alive? No, in fact she was not. After DNA testing was discovered, scientists compared Anderson’s tissue with a distant cousin of the Romanov family and found no match. Anderson was actually a polish factory worker named Franziska Schanzkowska.
In August 2007, two bodies were found and underwent DNA testing. One was the body of Alexei and the other could have been Marie’s or Anastasia’s. Scientists announced in July 2008 that the results had been identified in many different laboratories across the globe and came to the same conclusion. The two bodies found were in fact of the Romanov family. They had truly all died on that fateful night. After ninety years the mystery was finally solved.



http://www.sfds.net/Academics/Student_Projects/2002-2003/7th_Grade_Flowers/calla_lily.html

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