Question: What would Alexandra have thought of Adolf Hitler?

[edubs31]

Getting this thread back a bit on topic...

I would have to agree that, although Nicky and Alix were not fans of the Jews, I think the Holocaust would be going too far even for them.  Nowhere in the writings of any of the Romanovs, is there mention of wiping the Jews off the face of the Earth.

They would never support the Nazis and their Final Solution, IMHO.

I agree Tim. I just wonder if their would be a certain level of indifference towards Hitler's treatment of the Jews. Something along the lines of, "well it's bad what he does to the Jews, but the main reason I despise him is because _______ ". If an American President such as FDR could act largely indifferent to the plight of the Jews (among other minority groups) certainly the Romanovs could.

[TimM]

Of course, much of the world didn't know what was going on with the Jews.  They were disappearing, but I don't think the full knowledge of the Holocaust became known until after the war.

[edubs31]

Of course, much of the world didn't know what was going on with the Jews.  They were disappearing, but I don't think the full knowledge of the Holocaust became known until after the war.

Yes, and to be fair to FDR who was certainly a very good war President, it wasn't so much that has wasn't appalled by the Holocaust as he didn't consider it the primary objective of his armed forces to liberate them from the concentration camps. American military lives weren't worth sacrificing in his view. Still I can't help but think a certain level of antisemitism (probably typical for the time period and the people he grew up around) played a part on his decision making.

[TimM]

Still I can't help but think a certain level of antisemitism (probably typical for the time period and the people he grew up around) played a part on his decision making.

That was certainly the case with N&A.  Still, when the truth was revealed when the camps were liberated, I think would horrify them.  The Allies certainly were in that they made sure the top Nazis were tried for this crime (those that they could catch, that is).  It might have even made N&A reflect on how Jews were treated in Russia.

[edubs31]

Still I can't help but think a certain level of antisemitism (probably typical for the time period and the people he grew up around) played a part on his decision making.

That was certainly the case with N&A.  Still, when the truth was revealed when the camps were liberated, I think would horrify them.  The Allies certainly were in that they made sure the top Nazis were tried for this crime (those that they could catch, that is).  It might have even made N&A reflect on how Jews were treated in Russia.

Probably right. Sad to think it takes a Holocaust before people start having sympathies for the Jews. But such was the world we lived in and, to a lesser extent but still problematic, continue to live in today.

[TimM]

Mind you, no one had ever seen anything like the Holocaust before, it took the world by surprise.  N&A would have been just as shocked as Roosevelt and Churchill were.

[JamesAPrattIII]

I have some comments on this subject. According to the book "Royals and the Reich" there were more than a few members of German royalty who supported Hitler at least at first. In part because they thought he might bring back the monarchy.It should also be pointed out there were more than a few people in Europe and elsewhere who thought in the 1930s that both Hitler and Mussolini were great leaders, believe it or not. If Alexandra had got out of Russia alive and was living in exile in England when Hitler came to power I don't think she would have liked him at all. Being a very proper Victorian English genttlewoman by upbring she would have been shocked by the brutality of the Nazi regime even in its early days as was the ex-Kaiser.
 It should also be pointed out the "Our Friend" Rasputin was friendly to Jews and often spoke out against their persecution ect.There is a book on this "Rasputin and the Jews". This is one of the reasons why he was so hated. Also note according to Ron Moe's book on him one of his jewish friends Dmitri Rubinstein was Alexandra's banker. He also was the Fiscal manager of GD Kiril's 12 million ruble estate and help several other GDs pay their debts and other fiscal matters. He was also the fiscal advisor to Anna Vyrobova. Rubinstein also held the rank of actual state councilor in the goverment equal to the rank of Major general. He also arranged for Alexandera to send money to her Hessian relatives after WW I started. Since if she got alive he would have probably still been her banker. So I think Hitler's anti-semitism would have been turn off to her and the holocaust would have shocked her.
  Alexandra still reguarded herself until she was murdered as the Empress of Russia and she was loyal to the Allied cause in WW I. As was Nicholas and OTMAA. If Alexandra and/or any of them were still alive during WW II they would have been pro-Allied. While they all would have hated what Lenin and Stalin did to their country. Alexandra and Nicholas if he was still alive would have read "Mein Kampf" in the orginal German and would have not liked Hitlers plans for "Living space" in the East at the expense of Russia and his reguarding Russian as "sub human at all.

[TimM]

Alexandra still reguarded herself until she was murdered as the Empress of Russia and she was loyal to the Allied cause in WW I. As was Nicholas and OTMAA. If Alexandra and/or any of them were still alive during WW II they would have been pro-Allied. While they all would have hated what Lenin and Stalin did to their country. Alexandra and Nicholas if he was still alive would have read "Mein Kampf" in the orginal German and would have not liked Hitlers plans for "Living space" in the East at the expense of Russia and his reguarding Russian as "sub human at all.

Yeah, they would back our side all the way.  They loved Russia and would hate to see what Hitler did to it, or would have done, had he won World War II.

[edubs31]

I have some comments on this subject. According to the book "Royals and the Reich" there were more than a few members of German royalty who supported Hitler at least at first. In part because they thought he might bring back the monarchy.

Yes, interesting. I guess they believed Hitler could continue to rule as a military dictator or powerful Bismarck-style chancellor while they returned a new Kaiser to the throne. I'm amazed they could have believed that the same person (Hitler) who set his sights on regional, then world, domination would have ever accepted answering to anyone...and certainly not a monarch!

If Alexandra had got out of Russia alive and was living in exile in England when Hitler came to power I don't think she would have liked him at all. Being a very proper Victorian English genttlewoman by upbring she would have been shocked by the brutality of the Nazi regime even in its early days as was the ex-Kaiser.

Good point. As I mentioned earlier as well she seemed to abhor violence, not matter what the justification may be.

Alexandra still reguarded herself until she was murdered as the Empress of Russia and she was loyal to the Allied cause in WW I. As was Nicholas and OTMAA. If Alexandra and/or any of them were still alive during WW II they would have been pro-Allied. While they all would have hated what Lenin and Stalin did to their country. Alexandra and Nicholas if he was still alive would have read "Mein Kampf" in the orginal German and would have not liked Hitlers plans for "Living space" in the East at the expense of Russia and his reguarding Russian as "sub human at all.

This is also very interesting. I didn't really consider the allied cause angle, but yes, I'm sure she would have had continued positive feelings towards the English-French-USA-etc, stemming from their alliance with Russian in World War I.

[TimM]

N&A would have been horrified at how many people died due to the atrocities of Hitler and Stalin.  Those two racked up  more deaths than 300 years of Romanov rule combined.

[historyfan]

The only way N&A would have escaped Stalin's purges themselves is if they'd been in England or elsewhere.

I would love to be a fly on the wall in a room during a conversation between Churchill and Nicholas and/or Alexandra about the world situation.

[Jen_94]

The only way N&A would have escaped Stalin's purges themselves is if they'd been in England or elsewhere.

I would love to be a fly on the wall in a room during a conversation between Churchill and Nicholas and/or Alexandra about the world situation.

That would be interesting indeed.

[TimM]

Me too.  Churchill was born of the era of Empires.  I wonder what he would say.

[Sanochka]

Just to clarify one point made early on, the swastika Alexandra used is a traditional eastern symbol for good luck.  In that swastika, the extremities are bent 90 degrees LEFT, as illustrated by the swastika she scratched into a window pane at the Ipatiev house on Apr 17/30 1918. 

The swastika the Nazis used was perverted not only in its symbolism, but by how the extremities were bent 90 degrees RIGHT.

[Jen_94]

That's interesting, Sanochka, thanks for that information.

Tim, he certainly was.