Anastasia: The autobiography of H.I.H. the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaevna of RussiaSmith, Eugenia
History
Anastasia: The autobiography of H.I.H. the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaevna of Russia
Smith, Eugenia
Anastasiia Nikolaevna, Grand Duchess, daughter of Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia, 1901-1918
Every Russian knew the song “Stenka Razin” about the famous Volga River
robber, and that the many legends about him originated here. We saw
the monument dedicated to the Russian historian, Karamzin. At Nicholas
Garden, Alexander pointed out to me the Club of the Noblesse.
Seeing all this I felt a great pain in my chest. We passed the Convent
of the Redeemer. I begged Alexander to let me enter it, since no one
would know my identity. Alexander refused to listen to me, saying that
many priests and nuns had already been driven out of convents, and many
had been killed. It was no time to remain in Russia. It was dangerous;
it might betray our whereabouts. So I had to be content with a prayer
every time we passed a church. The sight of those holy sanctuaries
lifted my spirits and calmed my nerves.
Alexander seemed to know this city, for without hesitation we walked
some distance from the station to a wooden gate leading to a small
house. He knocked on the door and an attractive lady of some forty
years opened the door. Her name was Alexandra. They were happy to see
each other.
“You look tired,” were her words of greetings.
“I am,” he said, “my side is troubling me.”
“You need a rest, I will have tea ready in a minute.” She invited us to
sit down.
“Nikolai will be back any minute; he will bring some bread,” she said.
“Usually the bread line is quite long and one must start very early in
the morning.”
I was not prepared to find such a lovely lady in this house. I wondered
who she was and what her relationship to my host could be. She was
very aristocratic looking. Soon Nikolai, dressed shabbily in civilian
clothes, like Alexander, arrived with a loaf of bread tucked under his
arm. I could see he was a warm friend of Alexander. He was delighted to
see us and said he had rather expected us. He and Alexander chatted at
length while we drank our tea.
As we finished, he turned suddenly to Alexander and asked, “How did you
ever happen to go to E.K. (that is, Ekaterinburg)?”
Alexander answering at length: “I wanted to join Admiral Kolchak’s
army but was arrested and put in prison for a time. While there, I
had a fresh attack and they let me out of prison. Instead of going
to a hospital, I went to Ekaterinburg. There I met a priest by the
name of Father Storozhev whom I visited several times. He informed
me of the desperate condition at the Ipatiev House. It seemed he had
been summoned to conduct a service there and was alarmed about the
consequences. He suggested I contact a man by the name of Voykov, who
was in charge of hiring the guards and other workers. I applied as a
worker, but did not get the job.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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