The Last Days of the RomanovsSokolov, N. (Nikolai)
History
The Last Days of the Romanovs
Sokolov, N. (Nikolai)
Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia, 1868-1918; Romanov, House of
We returned at dusk, as we had to resume our duties at five o’clock.
Medvedeff noticed that we were drunk and put us under arrest in the
bathhouse, which was situated in the yard of Popoff’s house. We fell
asleep and slept till three a. m. At three o’clock in the night we were
awakened by Medvedeff who said: “Get up and follow me.” We asked him
where and he answered: “They call you, so you must go.” I am quite sure
that it was three o’clock because Stoloff had a watch with him, and when
I looked at this watch it was exactly three o’clock. We got up and
followed Medvedeff. He brought us to the lower room of the Ipatieff
house. All the workmen guards were there, except those on duty. There
was a cloud of powder smoke in the room and it smelt of powder. In the
rear room that had a barred window, which is situated close to the
store-room, the walls and floor were pierced by bullets. In one wall
there were an especially large number of bullet holes, but there were
also bullet marks in the others. There were no marks of bayonet strokes
on the walls. In the places where the walls and floor showed bullet
holes, there was blood around them; there were splashes and spots of
blood on the wall and small pools on the floor. There were drops and
spots of blood in other rooms that had to be passed on the way from the
room that had the bullet marks, to the court yard. There were also
traces of blood on the pavement of the court yard on the way to the
gate. It was obvious that quite recently before our arrival a large
number of people had been shot in the room with the barred window. After
I witnessed all that I began to question Medvedeff and Strekotin about
what happened. They told me that just a few moments before, the whole
imperial family and the people attached to them had been shot, except
the boy.
Medvedeff ordered us to clean up the rooms. We began to wash the floor;
several mops were brought in to remove the traces of the bloodstains. I
can not tell who brought them. Medvedeff ordered that some sawdust be
brought. We washed the floor with cold water and sawdust, removing the
bloodstains. The bloodstains on the wall we washed off with a wet rag.
All the workmen participated in the cleaning except those that were on
duty. A number of men did the cleaning in the room where the imperial
family was killed. Amongst others I saw there Medvedeff and two Letts. I
also helped to clean this room. In the same manner, using water, we
washed the blood from the pavement of the court yard. I did not find any
bullets. If any bullets were found by other people or not I don’t know.
When Stoloff and myself came down to the lower room we did not find
anybody there except a few Letts. Medvedeff and our workmen were absent.
Nikoulin at that time, as it was said by Medvedeff, was in the upper
room, the door of which leading to the lower rooms was locked from
inside.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account