Re: The Empress Alexandra Fights Back #2

Even the skeptical and disingenuous French Ambassador reported a conversation he had with Rasputin at one of the aristocratic salons Maurice frequented.  The Ambassador, though no friend of Rasputin, reports Rasputin’s Christian concerns the suffering of the common man and his unshaken loyalty to the throne and the victorious completion of the War.  Maurice tells us that he had called on a certain Madame O. on a Wednesday afternoon in early 1915 when a:

…tall man, dressed in top boots and the long black caftan which well-to-do moujiks wear on holidays, strode towards Madame O - - and gave her a resounding kiss on the hand. It was Rasputin.

With a swift glance at me he enquired:

"Who is it?"

Madame O - - introduced me. He continued:

"Oh, yes; the French Ambassador! I'm pleased to meet him. He's the very man I want to see."

He began to rattle along, so much so that Madame O - -, who acted as interpreter, had not even time to translate.
Thus I had a chance of taking stock of him. Dark, long, and ill-kempt hair; stiff black beard; high forehead; broad, acquiline nose. But the whole expression of the face was concentrated in the eyes - light-blue eyes with a curious sparkle, depth, and fascination. His gaze was at once penetrating and caressing, naive and cunning, direct and yet remote. When he was excited it seemed as if his pupils became magnetic.
In short, jerky phrases and with a wealth of gesticulation, he gave me a pathetic picture of the sufferings inflicted on the Russian people by the war:

"There are too many dead and wounded, too many widows and orphans, nothing but ruin and tears! Think of all the poor fellows who'll never come back, and remember that each of them has left behind him five, six, ten persons who can only weep! I know of villages where everybody's in mourning... . And what about those who do come back! What are they like! Legless, armless, blind! ... It's terrible! For more than twenty years we shall harvest nothing but sorrow on Russian soil!"

"Yes, indeed, it's terrible enough," I said; "but it would be far worse if all these sacrifices were to be in vain. A peace that was no peace, a peace which was the result of war-weariness would be not merely a crime against our dead: it would bring with it internal crises from which our countries might never recover."

"You're right. We must fight on to victory."

"I'm glad to hear you say so, as I know several people in high places who are relying on you to persuade the Emperor not to continue the war."

He gave me a suspicious glance and scratched his beard. Then he shot out:

"There are fools everywhere."

"Yes; but the bad thing is that these fools are believed in by Berlin. The Emperor William is convinced that your friends and you yourself are using all your influence for peace."

"The Emperor William ... Why, don't you know he's inspired by the Devil? All he says and does is what the Devil tells him to. I know what I'm saying; it is the Devil alone who helps him. But one fine day the Devil will suddenly leave him, because God has so decreed. And William will fall flat like an old shirt thrown on a dunghill."

"Then our victory is a certainty. It's obvious that the Devil cannot win."

"Yes, we shall be the victors. But I don't know when. ... God chooses the hour that seems good to Him for His miracles. We are not at the end of our trials; much more blood and many more tears must flow."

He returned to his first topic, the necessity of alleviating the sufferings of the masses:

"It will cost enormous sums, millions and millions of roubles. But there must be no consideration of expense... . When the people suffer too much they get bad, you see ... They may become dangerous; they may even sometimes go so far as to talk of a republic... . You must tell the Emperor all this."

"You can't expect me to talk evil of a republic to the Emperor!"

"Of course not, but you can tell him that you can't pay too much for the happiness of the people, and that France will give him all the money he needs. France is so rich!"

"France is rich because she works hard and saves hard. . . Quite recently she advanced large sums to Russia."

" Advanced large sums? What sums? I'm sure it was a case of more money for the tchinovniks. The peasants wouldn't get a kopeck of it! Take my word for it! No, speak to the Emperor as I told you."

"Speak to him yourself! You see him far more often than I."

He did not like my obstinacy. Raising his head and pressing his lips, he replied, in a tone that was all but insolent:

"That's not my business at all. I'm not the Emperor's Finance Minister: I'm the Minister of his soul!"

"All right, then! I'll speak to the Emperor as you suggest the next time I see him."

"Thank you! Thank you! just one word more. Is Russia going to have Constantinople?"

"Yes, if we win."

"Is it certain?"

"I firmly believe so."

"Then the Russian people won't regret having suffered so much and will be willing to suffer more."

Thereupon he embraced Madame O - -, clasped me in his arms, and strode out, banging the door behind him.  [Ref: Maurice Paléologue, “An Ambassador’s Memoirs, Vol. I, pp. 291-294]

Exit Holy Fool?  Exit German Spy?  Exit serial adulterer?  Exit two of the above?  Exit all of the above?  Exit none of the above?   
 
 

Yes. As for me, the crucial question about Ella, Rasputin and Alix is the following: was Ella in some acception a "victim" of her circle, and, believing the stories people she trusted for years tried to react OR did she consciencely made herself "ill-information". If she did, why on earth!? I am simply in a great trouble with this question. It can not be only a question of spirituality. Politics? What do you think? If only this discussion could help me to come to the truth in this question!
About Ella's own spiritual state, well we can not judge! The only things I can say is that she was in constant touch with real holy mens and monks, who were all canonised recently (startsy of Optina, of Zossima and others). From a strict orthodox point of vew, the way Ella acted and spoke was in total connection with orthodox tradition. Rasputin, once more from this point of vew, was not totally, even if we admit that he was not guilty of all the crimes and scandals people said he was. But it is of course the right of everyone to agree with this position or... have an other point of vew!
Janet, thanks for your interesting article about Alix. I found very interesting and useful your remark about Alix's visit to Maria Mikhailovna in Novgorod and her reactions. As for the end of her life, I remember I read that Alix took a lot of patristical monuments with her. That is interesting to notice.

I remember a passage of the famous, very laudative and beautiful article of bishop Anastasy (he worked with Elisabeth Feodorovna in Moscow). He claims that she did not allow any political conversations, as it was not convenient for her new position, that she never allowed any reference about Rasputin and the imperial family. And, which is more interesting, he quote a sentece of Mother Elisabeth, one time she came back from Tsarskoe (unfortunetly, he did not tell when it was): "this scelerate want to separate me from them. But, thanks God, he does not succeded in it".
Was Rasputin, knowing Ella's sentiments and play, triying to say something against her to ALexandra? Did Ella mean that Rasputin's presence, the fact he exist is building a wall beetwen her and N and A?

Let me start off by saying I am far less suspicious of Ella's motivations in her earnest desire to rid her younger sister of Rasputin's influence.  I have been wanting all day to get back here and respond to such carefully stated points.  Janet I have not gotten a chance to read you article on Alix but I look so forward to doing this as I know it will be very informative and well balanced.  

Matushka I am so grateful for your participation as it is such a blessing to have an genuine Russian Othodox mind reasoning with all of us.  You know when I research Ella's chose of designer and couture house for the creation and execution of her robes I learned something wonderful about Ella.  I could see her creativity at work, not worldliness.  I love to study the fashion sense of everyone as it tells me so much about the individual.  Sometimes we are told that studying fashion is superficial, but I have always felt that it is a wonderful key to the mental behavior of the individual.  Each day when we get dressed we are making decisions about how we wish to present ourselves in public and private.  

Having the courage to research what appears to be a superficial aspect of Ella, gave me the feeling that Ella was making choses that were based on creative motivation and not worldliness.  I guess that is what was at the bottom of my pondering why she did not use the House of Worth.  If her motivation had been worldly she would have used the most prestigious fashion house in Paris and one that she had patronized for decades.  Instead she chose a women designer who was a relative new comer to the haute couture world and she chose her because of the delicate sensibilities of Mme. Paquin who she must have felt was able to fulfill the vision that Michael Nesterov had created for Ella.

Matushka I have such empathy for you and your concerns about Ella's possible involvement in the removal of Rasputin.  Let us see what all of us collectively come up with.  

You know, everyone that I can't help but feel that all of us, through our various perspectives and research have already brought the Emrpess and her sister much more to life during the first year of the Great War than in any biography or history I have read.  One of my great concerns was that Ella seemed to dissappear as an individual once the War broke out, even in Warwick's outsanding biography.

Speaking of which, Helen it is such a relief to have you point out Ella's letter of concern over her husband's expulsion of 20,000 Jews upon his appointment as Governor-General of Moscow.  Ella's letter revealed her concerns in an unmistakable manner and it was a comfort to me that Ella did not try to protect Sergie as she had in all her other letters.  Clearly, for Ella to be constantly the victim of Sergie's verbal abuse must have been very demeaning to her sense of self-worth.  Now that there are so many studies available on wife abuse we realize that verbal abuse is one of the weapons of wife abusers and can be used with as fatal effects upon the psyche of it victim as the physical assault of wife beaters.

Janet I am right with you about Nicky's motivation for the banishment of the Jewish Pale in Autumn of 1915.  Clearly it's  primary purpose was to restore order and take an insufferable burden off of the railways and the refugee relief, not to mention the British and French Ambassador's growing concerns that the Grand Duke Nikolai's anti-semetic policies would make it extremely difficult in the future to float War loans from France, England and even America.  We know that know that the real motivator behind these repressive measures was the Grand Duke Nikolail's assistant Ianushkevich.

When, in the Summer of 1915 Nicky expelled the extreme right element in his government in an attempt to form a group of Ministers who could work in closer cooperation with the Duma, the newly appointed Minister of the Interior, Prince N. B. Shcherbatov:

...saw Ianushkevich's campaign against the Jews as being driven more by policy than bigotry.  At the August 4, 1915, meeting of the Council of Ministers he expressed his mounting frustration at the government's impotence; the "all-powerful Ianushkevich refused to ease up in his persecution of the Jews, despite the fact that it was creating unprecedented human suffering, destablilizing the empire domestically, and complicating relations with Russia's allies, to boot.  Shcherbatov declared that it was Ianushkevich's plan "to maintain the army's prejudice against the Jews, and to represent them as responsible for the defeats at the front."  It was Shcherbatov's strong suspicion that Ianushkevich was employing the Jews as "an alibi" for military catastorphe.  [Ref: Willian C. Fuller Jr., "The Foe Within," p. 177]

Gosh Janet I am posting this without even spell check or Microsoft Word....it is a first.  Clearly your observations are spot-on about Nicky's motivation that was not to strike against the bigotry but was a question of stabilizing the empire's domestic and international interest.  Nicky had a knack of understanding what was truly important, verses what seemed important.  

Matushka, I know that there are so many more issues that we need to address, such as Ella'a involvement with the Assistant Minister of the Interior, General Vladimir Dzhunkovsky.  Helen I know, from Warwick's footnotes about Dzhunkovsky, that Warwick had a very hard time justifying Dzhunkovsky's involvement with the Okhrana and his close relationship with Ella.  After all he was on of the Grand Dule Sergie's coffin bearers.  I could quote Warwick's conflicted footnote, but I know that you are already familiar with it Helen. 

We have already seen the power vested in the Assistant Minister of the Interior and how that assistant Minister was used in the 1912 Guchkov plot to remove Sukhomlinov and we cannot but assume that Dzhunkovsky may have used his office to furhter atttack Rasputin.   

Speaking of which, I don't want to forget to respond to Helen's perceptive question about Mager's research.  After thinking about it, I certainly feel that it is possible that Huge Mager was simply quoting Ania when he stated that Ella refused to listen to Alix's explanations about Rasputin in the Dec. 1914 Moscow visit.  For that very purpose I checked all of Mager's footnotes and Ania was not mentioned as a source, but Mager does include Ania's book in his bibliography.  So I am suspicious.  There is nothing worse than repeating the same source as if it was based on other sources. 

I think that is one of the most refreshing aspect's of Warwick's book as so much of his research was completely original. 

Helen thank you so much for your chronology of events that cover the timeline of Alix and Nicky's arrival in Moscow.  Helen did you mention where Nicky's diary is available on-line?  I know that there are several important issues that I am not addressing, such as Ella's circle in Moscow and the attacks on Rasputin from within that circle.  We also need to examine the duplicity of Ella's friend and long time compatriot, Dzhunkovsky and his participation in the bogus attempt to incriminate Rasputin in the Yar restaurant scandal in March 1915.  I don't mean to suggest that Dzhunkovsky was in anyway part of this attempt to incriminate Rasputin as he took three months to report to the Emperor about the affair and must have sensed that there was a great deal of trickery invovled in the investigation.  However it that bogus report caused the downfall fo Dzhunkovsky and not the hostility of either the Empress or Rasputin as I will be able to prove.
 
Again I can't help but thank all of us as we work together to gain a clearer view of the complex issues that lay before us.  Thanks again for all these carefully thought out views that are so helpful, collectively, for us all to understand in greater detail the complexity of this period during the Great War. 
I think that is one of the most refreshing aspect's of Warwick's book as so much of his research was completely original. 

Helen thank you so much for your chronology of events that cover the timeline of Alix and Nicky's arrival in Moscow.  Helen did you mention where Nicky's diary is available on-line?  I know that there are several important issues that I am not addressing, such as Ella's circle in Moscow and the attacks on Rasputin from within that circle.  We also need to examine the duplicity of Ella's friend and long time compatriot, Dzhunkovsky and his participation in the bogus attempt to incriminate Rasputin in the Yar restaurant scandal in March 1915.  I don't mean to suggest that Dzhunkovsky was in anyway part of this attempt to incriminate Rasputin as he took three months to report to the Emperor about the affair and must have sensed that there was a great deal of trickery involved in the investigation.  However it that bogus report caused the downfall fo Dzhunkovsky and not the hostility of either the Empress or Rasputin as I will be able to prove.
 
Again I can't help but thank all of us as we work together to gain a clearer view of the complex issues that lay before us.  Thanks again for all these carefully thought out views that are so helpful, collectively, for us all to understand in greater detail the complexity of this period during the Great War. 

Helen did you mention where Nicky's diary is available on-line?

I've no time to write much right now, but this is where I found Nicholas' diary for 1894:  http://www.rus-sky.com/history/library/diaris/1894.htm.  The links at the top take you to diaries for several other years. 

Helen did you mention where Nicky's diary is available on-line?

I've no time to write much right now, but this is where I found Nicholas' diary for 1894:  http://www.rus-sky.com/history/library/diaris/1894.htm.  The links at the top take you to diaries for several other years. 

I was just going over some of the diary entrees and it's great to have them online, but some of the footnotes are not always correct... For example, one of the footnotes says that 'Nicki' is the name of a dog when it's clear that Nicholas is talking about another "Nicki", who is a person.
Also, it says that "secretaire" is English and means a "secret" but it's obvious that it's French and a name of a card game - perhaps... Stuff like that.

Helen did you mention where Nicky's diary is available on-line?

I've no time to write much right now, but this is where I found Nicholas' diary for 1894:  http://www.rus-sky.com/history/library/diaris/1894.htm.  The links at the top take you to diaries for several other years. 

I was just going over some of the diary entrees and it's great to have them online, but some of the footnotes are not always correct... For example, one of the footnotes says that 'Nicki' is the name of a dog when it's clear that Nicholas is talking about another "Nicki", who is a person.
Also, it says that "secretaire" is English and means a "secret" but it's obvious that it's French and a name of a card game - perhaps... Stuff like that.

Hey thanks Helen for the source and Helen A. for the “heads up” about the footnotes. 

I must have had one too many glasses of my Pinot Noir last night as whilst re-reading my last post I realized that I not only was constantly repeating my self, but that I actually repeated a whole paragraph twice and totally left out my thanks to Janet Arnold for her point about Nicky’s motivation in dissolving the Jewish Pale.

Great point Janet and I agree one hundred per cent with you that Nicky’s motivation was not a strike against bigotry, but was made out of necessity.  The Grand Duke Nikolai’s displacement of 600,000 Russian Jews from the Gulf of Finland in March 1915 almost brought all forms of transport to a halt as the Jewish refugees headed East to the Jewish Pale.  If that was not enough, the Grand Duke then exiled the Russian Jews from Kovno and Kurland in April 1915 because he was convinced that they had assisted the Germans in burning down the city of Kushi.  The Grand Duke made no apologies when he was later informed that no Jews lived in Kushi to assist the Germans. 

The Grand Duke, as we know was able to enact these atrocities against the Jews because of the nature of the extraordinary power that Nicholas had vested in him as Commander and Chief of the Armies.  Nikolai Nikolaevitch had dictatorial power over all administration both civil and military in the front zone and he was not responsible in anyway to the central government in St. Petersburg.  This is why the Jewish deportations went ahead in spite of the crisis they caused in terms of public health, transportation and housing and regardless of the protests of the Council of Ministers. 

We know that many of the military Generals that both the Grand Duke and Guchkov had been secretly in communication with, dating back to 1910-1912, were in the grip of an anti-Semitic frenzy duting the War.  We also know that Nikolai’s wife and sister-in-law were equally passionate in their anti-Semitic sympathies.  But more importantly we know that the Grand Duke’s Chief of Staff, Ianushkevich was so pathologically affected by his hatred of the Jews that Count Ignat’ev, who worked in the counterintelligence bureau of the Southwest front, was inundated by Ianushkevich’s denunciations of the Jews to the point that Ignat’ev admitted that at least 90% of Ianushkevich’s warnings were “absurd and totally without merit.”  Clearly Ianushkevich fed the Grand Duke’s anti-Semitic passions.

Janet, as you so clearly pointed out, when all of this anti-Semitic non-sense ceased as Nicholas took command of the army in the early Fall of 1915, it had nothing to do with the Tsar’s fight against bigotry, but rather, his desire to halt the crisis that had occurred in transportation, public health, and housing.  When the Grand Duke Nikolai disappeared, the unlimited power of a “second Tsar” disappeared with him and the Council of Ministers were once again empowered and not ignored.  Nicholas had worked so closely with this body of men in the first year of the War.  It was Nicholas and his Council of Ministers that had made all of the decisions that enabled the Minister of War to mobilize the Russian troops with such speed and efficiency that Germany was caught off guard.  The Duma did its part by pledging allegiance to the Tsar and his government and not to interfere with political issues. 

We know that the Duma’s promise was broken by the shock occurring from the Miasoedov spy affair.  I will never be able to overcome my sorrow that the Duma broke with Nicholas and his government over a lie!!!!!! 

It is very hard for me to accept the fact that the President of the Duma, Rodzianko, because of his long-time association with Guchkov, was not fully aware that the arrest, conviction and execution of Miasoedov was nothing more that a complete and total fantasy which Guchkov had invented in 1912 in his failed attempt to  bring down the Minister of War, Sukhomlinov and replace him with Polivanov; but was finally brought into fruition in 1915 when Guchkov’s 1912 candidate, Polivanov, finally succeeded the fallen Sukhomlinov as Minister of War.   

Having digressed a bit, lets return to the topic at hand which is Janet’s perceptive remarks about Nicky’s motivation in dissolving the Jewish Pale.  I find it very interesting that when Nicky rid his Council of Ministers of it’s most aggressive right-wing opponents of the Duma, in the Summer of 1915, in order to form a government that would work in closer unity with the Duma, one of the Tsar’s new appointee’s, the Minister of the Interior Prince N. B. Shcherbatov, felt that there was an explanation of Ianushkevich’s psychosis that could account for his:

…refusal to ease up in his persecution of the Jews, despite the fact that it was creating unprecedented human suffering, destabilizing the empire domestically, and complicating relations with Russia’s allies, to boot.  Shcherbatov declared that it was Ianushkevich’s plan “to maintain the army’s prejudice against the Jews, and to represent them as responsible for the defeats at the front.”  It was Shcherbatov’s strong suspicion that Ianushkevich was employing the Jews as “an alibi” for military catastrophe.   [Ref: William C. Fuller Jr., “The Foe Within,” p. 177]

But let us return to Janet’s outstanding observation that Nicky did not dissolve the Russian Pale in Sept. 1915 because any conviction that he must fight religious bigotry, but for the more practical considerations that he would have not been able to float War Loans in England, France or even America if such outrages against the Russian Jewish population continued. 

We also know that Nicky dissolved the Jewish Pale because it no longer hold number of exiled Jews that the Grand Duke Nikolai’s mass expulsions created.  The Pale had become an enormous public health menace.  As a historic footnote, it is so tragic to remember that it was Stalin who reinstated the Jewish Pale. 

Given all of this information, I cannot help but believe that the Empress’ constant concerns about the Jews which continue to pop up in her War Correspondence must have created a gentle influence on Nicky. 

Well as I said earlier, now we must try to unlock Ella’s role in the destruction of Rasputin.  We really only have Warwick and Mager’s biographies to use as our source of information. 

Having said that, and remembering Janet’s inspired observation about justifying our friends by trying to incriminate their enemies, I can’t help but observe that Warwick allowed himself the same impulse.  He attacks the Empress as a woman, wife and Empress in his attempt to justify Ella’s active intervention against Rasputin.  Warwick, quoting the British author Richard Hough, states that by 1912 the Empress had become:

…‘an increasing burden on the family.  The strains and stresses of her life, had proved too much for Alicky.  Her deeply introspective and mystically religious nature was incapable of dealing with her family worries, Russia’s worries, and the worries about her own spiritual and physical well-being.  She had become a neurotic and difficult woman, a bad wife and a disastrous Empress.  Her dependence on Rasputin was a widely known and firmly established.’    [Ref: Christopher Warwick, ‘Ella, Princess, Saint & Martyr”, p. 265]

Well anyway now we must examine the evidence that goes back to 1910-1912 and the first overt efforts to expel Rasputin and we must explore Ella’s involvement.  We will also renew our acquaintance with the Rodzianko’s formation of this body of conspirators in that same period who are determined to get rid of Rasputin.

Matushka please hold tightly to your faith and your deep conviction that Ella is somehow or other innocent.  You know that, as I stated earlier, I can’t help but feel a connection with Ella once I explored her choice of Michael Nesterov and Mme. Jeanne Paquin to design and execute her vision of her spiritual authority.  I can’t help but feel that Ella had an innate refinement and an equally innate sense of theater and staging.  I don’t mean that in a negative way.  What I am trying to say is that when Ella made her transition from Grand Duchess to Abbess of the first “practical Russian nursing order,” she bequeathed and sold her Imperial jewels but not her refinement or nobility.  At least that is what I felt when I explored the choices that she made in the design and construction of her religious robes.  I must add that I find the same consistency of taste and refinement in the architecture of her Covent. 

Having said that, without drawing comparisons, I cannot help but contrast Ella’s exquisite sense of creative expression with her younger sisters’ sense of common sense.   One of the most precious contributions to this thread came from an individual who actually held in her hands one of the Empress’ nursing uniforms.  From their description, Alix’s nursing costume could not have been more simply or functional in a very homely way.  I think this individual even spoke of a printed floral design on the apron. 

The two sisters had so much, and yet, so little in common.  It is our job to ascertain if the similarities between these two women were strong enough to endure their differences.  I think the real question here is whether or not it was their differences that finally divided their loyalty to each other, or whether it was in fact their similarities.   Having said that, I am grateful to be reminded that Ella’s gift of hot chocolate to Alix and other treats to the IF during their exile were acknowledged by the Empress’ daughter Maria in a “Thank You” note to Ella.  While Alix did not write directly to Ella, still there is an acknowledgement of gratitude for Ella’s thoughtfulness through Maria.   

Oh gosh, when I feel fall into this mood of compassionate and charity to everyone involved in the last reign, I become overwhelmed by the tragedy that encompassed Russia and reduced it to blood bath for generations.   I hope against hope that the eve of Russia’s reemergence as a great cultural and creative power will soon emerge and bless all of us with it’s richness and creativity.     

[not]

I found another mistake of mine:

It is too bad that the author of "The Encyclopedia of Fashion," did include the fact that Mme. Paquin also accepted Michael Nesterov’s designs for the Grand Duchess Ella’s day and ceremonial robes.  It would have added depth and variety to Mme. Paquin's Russian patrons. 

 

That sentence should have read:  It is too bad that the author of "The Encyclopedia of Fashion," did not include the fact that Mme. Paquin also accepted Michael Nesterov’s designs for the Grand Duchess Ella’s day and ceremonial robes.  It would have added depth and variety to Mme. Paquin's Russian patrons.

I was wondering if anyone had a reliable translation site that I could use to translate the Nicholas diaires that Helen so kindly made available? Thanks in advance.

Louise

P.S. This is a truly fascinating thread.

Sorry, halen, I cannot help you with that.

I think I have found something, but thank you!

Louise

Griff, thank you for your posts. Mme Paquin's evening wrap looked gorgeous!

You may be right that Mager's source for his statement that Ella refused to believe Alix was Anna Vyroubova's book "Memories of the Russian Court". I don't think, though, he pretended his lines to be based on a specific other source; he just didn't state his source. :-/

You wrote that we only have Warwick's and Mager's biographies. Lubov Millar wrote "Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia - New Martyr of the Communist Yoke". My copy was published by the Nikodemos Orthodox Publication Society in Redding, California, 1991, but there's also a more recent edition with more photos. In my opinion, it is a rather uncritical hagiography, but it is interesting anyway as it includes excerpts from letters that I have not seen published elsewhere. It's not available on line in its entirety, but a short excerpt can be found at http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/princess_elizabeth.htm . And "Zolotoi svatnyi svet…" (Memories of Matushka Nadezdha, a nun of the Marfo-Marinskyi Obitel' who came to the convent in 1909) might offer interesting information, too, for those who can read Russian. I picked up a copy when I was at the convent in 2005, but haven't put my mind to reading/deciphering it yet. Matushka, do you know this book and can you tell us more about it?