Topics

1

The Imperial Family / Christmas for the Romanovs

« on: November 30, 2012, 06:45:47 PM »

There was a thread about the Romanov celebrating Christmas.  I'd like to establish a new thread which takes us into their holiday season. Added to their Christmas let us attach traditions, quotes from books as well as photographs.   Anything you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

AGRBear

2

The Hohenzollern / German Royals' Pets Links List

« on: January 12, 2011, 07:19:44 PM »

Here s the image in larger and without watermark

A dog [probably not Wilhelm II's, who favored dachshunds, probably Bismarck's Great Dane shortly before he died],  
Bismarck
and
Kaiser Wilhelm II, who upon hearing of the dog's death,  sent Bismarck a Great Dane pup.

3

Having Fun! / Holiday Seasons

« on: October 30, 2007, 09:45:51 AM »

Wanted to wish all my  US counterparts  a Happy Halloween!




Here in the US we have Halloween,  then Thanksgiving followed by  Christmas Eve and Day,  then New Years Eve and Day.

I'll be back with a few short stories, meanwhile,  tell us about your holiday seasons in  your past and what your plans are for this year.

AGRBear

4

The Myth and Legends of Survivors / Re: Franziska -An Interesting Story on Her own - A Timeline of Her Life #4

« on: July 14, 2007, 07:13:21 PM »

This thread isn't about AA or her claim to be GD Anastasia.

If FS was murdered by Grossmann then  AA couldn't have been  FS.

AGRBear

But don't you see, there is evidence that the police agreed with Ernie's ID of AA as FS, meaning not only was AA FS, but that FS wasn't murdered by Grossman. Case closed.

When did GD Ernst Ludwig of Hesse  ever meet  AA or FS?   Far as I know he never met  AA.

The Berlin Police,  before the Nazi period (1932),   who handled  AA's case  or Grossmann's case  did not  connect AA and FS as being the same person.   Even after  GD Ernst's  detectives claimed  AA was FS and saw whatever it was  found,  the police did not  make a statement that AA and FS were the same person.   

Yes,   around 1940,    Drescher, who was in the Gestopo  [Nazi police],  signed documents  making some kind of  acknowledgement that AA was FS.  I assume these documents  were entered  by   the lawyers who represented  the Romanovs  in AA's trial.  Evidently whatever  the documents were,   they  did not convince the judges  AA was FS. .

AGRBear

5

Tsarskoe Selo Palaces / Christmas at Tsarskoe Selo

« on: December 06, 2006, 09:28:33 AM »

Nicholas II entered in his diary on 24 December 1894 that it was the "age-old custom" to have Christmas in the blue drawing room. Are there any photographs of this room in it's Christimas splendor with or without the family?

AGRBear

6

The Myth and Legends of Survivors / British Spies Plot Save Tsar fr House of Special Purpose

« on: October 16, 2006, 10:13:25 AM »

In yesterdays British Sunday Times thre is an article on

>>"British spies in plot to save tsar"

"John Crossland
A NEWLY discovered diary has uncovered a plot by the British secret services to rescue the last tsar and his family from the house in Ekaterinburg where he was imprisoned by the communists and later executed."<<

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2404685,00.html

Take a look and let me know what you think.

AGRBear

7

The Final Chapter / Did IF leave their apartment willingly 16/17 July?

« on: July 06, 2006, 03:15:28 PM »

It was when  Phil Tomaselli  brought to my attention the evidence of 'THE DOOR" that I started to look for the possibility of other clues which may tell us that Nicholas II and the others didn't leave this world like lambs being lead to slaughter by the CHEKA on the eventful night of July 16/ 17 1918 in the basement of the Ipatiev House.

Let me quote from  Alekseyev / Alekseiev's book THE LAST ACT OF TRAGEDY pps. 234:

>>An examination of the Ipatyev house where the tsar's family had stayed revealed that the door to a room on the upper floor had been hacked with bayonets and torn off hinges by some tool. <<

Far as I know, none of the eleven ever mention the Bolseviks having a confrontation with one of their doors in the IF's apartment before that night.

When looking at all the photographs of the IF's apartments, all the doors seem intact and hanging at each door way....

Between the last entry of anyone diary of the IF on 16th of July   to the take over by the Whites on the 25th of July in 1918,  is there mention of Reds having a confrontation with one of the doors in the imperial apartment?  No?  Why not?  Or maybe a better question would be:  Why would the Reds hack and bayonet a door then tear it off it's hinges from the door frame of the imperial apartment that night, the 17, 18th, 19, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd or 24th?  

Probable answer:  To get to someone/ someones who had locked themself/themselves in a room in the IF's apartment.

Who could that have been if  all eleven had marched obediently down the stairs and to the basement room?

Maybe, just maybe, all eleven had made an effort to delay their execution by going into a room, locking and barricading the door, in hopes the rescuers who had promised to be there that night would arrive in time to save them...

There are letters, now believed as being forged, to the IF promising a rescue earlier.....  Maybe, they had heard from real rescuers, also, only this time Nicholas II didn't write about it in his diary...

And remember, not just the IF but everyone in Ekaterinburg could hear the guns of the Whites had grown nearer and everyone was preparing for the entry of the Whites that week, AND, that night.

Done of us really know everything that happen that night of the 16th and early morning of the 17th....

AGRBear

8

Romanov and Imperial Russia Links / IFsSkullsBonesGravesUpdates

« on: March 30, 2006, 03:44:56 PM »

...[in part]...

... Imperial Skulls ... Russian web site that shows the photographs.  It is in Russian but you can naviagate to each set of skulls just by going through the numbers of 1 to 9.  

Since I last saw this site they have added photographs.

http://www.tzar.orthodoxy.ru/ost/exp/photos.htm

AGRBear

9

The Final Chapter / Sokolov Report

« on: March 20, 2006, 10:12:27 AM »

Sokolov's Report should be discussed since so many posters heavily depend upon what he wrote and collected about the execution of Nicholas II, Alexandra, the four Grand Duchesses, Alexis, and the others on the night of 16/17 July 1918.

Over on another thread I asked about something one of the red guards Strekotin told Sokolov.  There was some discussion but no real answers on that particular subject.

The following is what Phil T.  posted afterwards:

One day I'll get the hang of this.  In the meantime a quote:

"The Sokolov report got the essential facts correct, that on the night of July 16/17, 1918, those in charge of guarding the Imperial Family murdered them, probably on the orders of the Ural Regional Soviet. On many other points, the report has its facts wrong. Most of its errors are in the forensics area. For example, they characterized blood found in the murder room as "grand duchess' blood" when in fact no tests were done to even estabilish it was blood, let alone human, let alone belonging to a grand duchess. These factual errors do not take away from the essential truths found in the report."

I hate to be pedantic (in fact I LOVE to be pedantic) but if so many points of detail are incorrect, how can we be sure that the overall thrust of the argument in Sokolov's report is correct?  The "essential facts" are actually drived from the Sokolov Report so you are trying to check it against itself!!!  Try checking out the Rasputin thread to see how, for nearly 90 years, the standard story has dropped to bits with the aid of some rather expert forensic analysis.

Phil Tomaselli

Phil - why not start a thread on the Sokolov Report? It would be very interesting for all of us.

Of course I check out as much of the Forum as I can given that I'm a moderator.  

To answer your question in brief, we can be more certain about some of the facts in Sokolov (and Yurovsky for that matter) if they are corroborated in some way, either by forensic evidence or by other sources.

So,  I thought,  there is a thread about the investigators but Sokolov probably should have his own thread.

So, here it is.

Where would you like to start?

How about something that's no longer in dispute.  The finding of the dog Jemmy found on the bottom of the mine known as the Fourt Brothers on 25 June 1919.

Sokolov published a photograph of the dog's remains.  

Sokolov believed Jemmy died the night of the execution 16/17 July 1918.

Summers and Mangold in their boook THE FILE ON THE TSAR pps. 141 [photo] and 161-2 talk about the facts of a dog being in this particular mine shaft for 11 months.   Due to the changes of temperature between two summers and a winter,  their experts believed the remains of Jemmy would not have looked like the one in the photo but would have decomposed a great deal.

It is, now, believed that the dog Jemmy was killed had been placed in the mine just a few days and less than a week before 25 June of 1919.

General Domontovich, White governor of Ekateriinburg, was in charge of the mine operation.

It would be easy to assume the Whites planted the dog in the mine since I assume the Whites were still guarding this area.  But I don't have evidence they did or that Sokolov knew about this plantin of false evidence if the White had planted the dog's body.

Would there be a reason for the Reds to plant the dog's body at that time?  

Do any of you have added information since Summers and Mangold book was published some time ago, 1976

When I get a chance, I'll copy the photo of Jemmy for you.

 

AGRBear

10

The Hohenzollern / Royal Hohenzollern - German Used?

« on: January 05, 2006, 12:24:50 PM »

Someone just asked me about the dialect of German which the Royal Hohenzollern's spoke to one another.

My first impluse was to say they spoke the new High German, which was being used in universities,   around the turn of the 1900s.

There were many kinds of dialects spoken throughout Germany [Prussia] and the areas they ruled.  

What did they speak?

What did they speak in court?

Did they speak it among themselves?

What did Tsarina Alexandra speak with her family?

What German did Nicholas II speak?

Did Queen Victoria speak German with her husband?

Anyone know where I should look for some or all of these answers?

Thanks.

AGRBear

11

Russian Imperial Medals, Orders, Uniforms & Militaria / Weapons, Uniforms: Whites, Reds, Greens, Others

« on: December 09, 2005, 12:56:14 PM »

From time to time the topic of weapons and uniforms of the various fighting groups after the abdication of Nicholas II to the end of the Russian Civil War is discussed.

There are times, then, we need those in the know to answer some of the quetions that most of us have no answer.

At the moment,  over on another thread we are discussing weapons used by the CHEKA who executed Nicholas II and the others.

There was a question about Russian rifles and bayonets.  

I'll take this one step at a time:  (1) Is there a large list or a very small list of Russian rifles which did have bayonets?

AGRBear

12

The Myth and Legends of Survivors / Re: Anastasia Claimant - Anna Anderson a.k.a Franziska Schanzkowska Part 3

« on: October 21, 2005, 04:16:14 PM »

No, she said he was Polish. Not only that, but the family were "scions of the old Polish nobility" (just like the Schankowsky family)

THe mother of the Tschaikowsky family is called "Marie/Maria " just like the mother of FS "Marianna/Marie" ....

The question I've always wondered is what language did she claim to speak with to this family? Does anyone know if she claimed they spoke German? (Though I wouldn't be surprised if it will be "asumed" they did  ) Because if she wouldn't speak lengthy in-depth Russian because it was "the last language she heard in that house "....and her conversations with them would've taken place after the executions of course...what language did she speak to them? Polish?  

Rumania had a huge cluster of different nationalities living in and near Bucherest in 1918.

Somewhere I posted data on the name Tschaikowsky.   I'll have go go find it because I don't recall what was said.

Just because the Tschaikowsky family, if we're talking about AA's story as being accurate in anyway,  headed toward Rumania,  doesn't mean they were from Rumania.  There were thousands and thousands of people fleeing Russia into and through Rumania in 1918-1918-1919.  I think there were 50,000 Russians who ended up in Germany by 1920 and many of them passed through Rumania.  I'm not sure of the numbers who ended up in France, England and even Ireland...  US, Canada, S. America...    [There were many who escaped eastward but that isn't part of this discussion.]

I have no idea what languages the Tschaikowsky's would have spoken, however, it appears the two brothers, if they were guards at the house in Ekaterinburg, probably spoke Russian.  And,  if they were Polish, probably spoke Polish at home  to their family and parents.

There were a number of Poles who migr. into Russia.  But we do not know enough about this family.

Does anyone have a source which refers to the fact that AA said they were Polish and old nobility like the Schankowskys?

AGRBear

13

Nicholas II / Nic II's Plans to go abroad April 1917

« on: September 19, 2005, 04:44:43 PM »

How many of you are aware that Nicholas II was planning on leaving Russia in APRIL of 1917 and going abroad  There are letters from Nicholas II and Bennckendorff telling us this is so.  There is even the talk about a new uniform so he could wear his court ribbons" on this trip.

p. 261 THE LOST FORTUNE OF THE TSARS by William Clarke.

The simple task of ordering this uniform meant he had no intentions of abdicating in March or part of April.

Does this mean his  abdication was forced uppon him and therefore invalid?

And, this  does raise the question as to where was Nicholas II going in April?  

Was he going alone or with his family?

He was, afterall, in the middle of a war and was the Commander-in-Chief so was he going to hand that back over to his cousin or someone else?

I've never heard of Nicholas II thinking about going to Germany to arrange a "truce" or any kind of "treaty for peace"....

Anyone have any answers?

AGRBear

14

The Final Chapter / Investigators: Who Were They & Their Findings

« on: August 26, 2005, 11:55:14 AM »

We often times read about the Whites and their investigation into the execution of Nicholas II, his family, and the others.  But what do we know about them?  Who were they?  Where did they come from?  Did they have any experience in investigations?  Who were the first investigators?  Can you name all of those involved from the first to the most recent? What did they report?  Where can we find their informaton?  All these questions are important to known when dealing with the subject of the invesigation into the bodies found in the mass grave in Pig's Meadow.

AGRBear

15

The Myth and Legends of Survivors / Discussion-101 Reasons AA was GD Anastasia

« on: August 18, 2005, 10:35:43 AM »

Since we're only suppose to list the 101 Reasons to AA was GD Anastasia on the other thread and not have a disscussion,  HERE is where you discuss these reasons and if you think  these reasons should or should not be placed on a permanent list.  

Sources should be with each post.

We can start with #1 which was from Penny.

...[in part]....

....I'll start....)

1.Princess Xenia of Russian recognized her.

AGRBear