Working in the lazaret

[Kassafrass]

Being someone that honestly doesn't have the highest of opinions of Alix, I find that very inspiring and I think it was a good move as an Empress.

That would also explain why she had Maria and Anastasia there even if they weren't nursing. They could help raise morale and such.

Thanks for your input

[blessOTMA]

Did Maria ever show interest in wanting to be a nurse?

lol did Olga? If Marie was thought old enough to nurse  by Alix, she would have been a nurse regardless . But I think the big pair had their AF duties and the little pair had their AF duties...as is Imp was called  "my legs" by Alix  etc.

Big Pair : lazaret

Little Pair :  Palace

that's how it seems to have worked out

[Kassafrass]

Makes me feel awfully bad about the girls when you put it that way...

[wakas]

Maria was very interested in soldiers, as we know, and she had a golden heart, so I'm sure she wanted to help them by all possible means.
I'm not saying that she absolutely wanted to become a nurse, but only that it would be interesting to check if she has ever thought about it. I don't believe she never did. She was probably aware that soon, it would be her turn. So what did she thought about it, what did she feel about it, while she saw Olga breaking down because of that ?
So it would be very interesting to know Maria's point of view on the question, leaving aside the fact that she would not have the choice anyway.

Ok, O and T had to be nurses. But remember that their mother let Olga doing the paperwork instead of the operations and also let her take a break because Olga was suffering from nervous breakdown. So the Empress wasn't that harsh.
And as Ally said: at the beginning, Tatiana wasn't forced to be a nurse.

[blessOTMA]

Ok, O and T had to be nurses. But remember that their mother let Olga doing the paperwork instead of the operations and also let her take a break because Olga was suffering from nervous breakdown. So the Empress wasn't that harsh.

lol...I remember Olga had to break down first before she was excused and by that time Alix wasn't nursing anymore herself .  I remember the girls were not allowed to see people but were whisked into an army  hospital right off...Anna A said even their  best of everything  lazaret was the hardest place she'd been to and said "... and I have been in a Bolshevik prison"

If Their Aunt Olga and grandmother had not had those Sunday teas , the girls would have no social  fun at all...just my opinion

The girls were there to serve Alix... and that and their piety  was why Siberia  was endurable for them...thy were use to sewing, asking Alix was her heart number was and  not seeing anyone . Alix was raised by her grandmother, Queen Victoria and that is how she treated her daughters...and granddaughters... they were they to serve her

Certainly TN enjoyed the work and even missed it while in captivity



 

[Olga Maria]

Quoted from blessOTMA (Annie):If Their Aunt Olga and grandmother had not had those Sunday teas , the girls would have no social  fun at all...just my opinion

May I add, the charity bazaars in Crimea. I agree with you. Their Mama Alix thought they would be quite happy with themselves, and they really had been that's why she fancied more she'd keep it that way (not let them meet too many people). She didn't give room to realize that her children could have been happier had she allowed them to go outside. But I read before that she really planned to do that in later 1914 - unfortunately the war happened. Horrible war : /

Certainly TN enjoyed the work and even missed it while in captivity

Very true. Her letters are filled with names of friends and acquaintances she met through her hospital working period.
I feel terribly sad for her.

lol did Olga? If Marie was thought old enough to nurse  by Alix, she would have been a nurse regardless . But I think the big pair had their AF duties and the little pair had their AF duties...as is Imp was called  "my legs" by Alix  etc.

Big Pair : lazaret

Little Pair :  Palace

that's how it seems to have worked out

It did. The things went on smoother since every pair got their own work... but was quite burdensome for the Big Pair because aside from hospital work, they attended meetings, received donations, etc. For Tatiana, though, it was all enjoyable except for that "Are you crazy to speak to me like that?" incident xD

Quoted from wakas :  I don't believe she never did. She was probably aware that soon, it would be her turn. So what did she thought about it, what did she feel about it, while she saw Olga breaking down because of that ? So it would be very interesting to know Maria's point of view on the question, leaving aside the fact that she would not have the choice anyway.

I also hope we would know these, Quite fascinating info they will be. I'll see if they are in her letters to her papa.

[blessOTMA]

Certainly TN enjoyed the work and even missed it while in captivity

Very true. Her letters are filled with names of friends and acquaintances she met through her hospital working period.
I feel terribly sad for her.[/quote]

Yes, she wrote to a  nurse friend from Siberia " Imagine being well and yet not boiling bandages in the morning". She found it very rewarding

 

[wakas]

For Tatiana, though, it was all enjoyable except for that "Are you crazy to speak to me like that?" incident xD

Yes. The only thing she didn't seem to enjoy was her committee's sittings. She found it pretty boring, possibly because everyone called her "Your Imperial Highness", and bowed ("On Wednesday I am going to have a Committee sitting which is so dull that it makes me sweat to think about it. I hate those sittings.")
I remember her mother said Tatiana had the knack for it (not about finding committees dull (lol !) but about her public duties.). It was in a letter to Nicholas.

[Olga Maria]

Quoted from blessOTMA:
Yes, she wrote to a  nurse friend from Siberia " Imagine being well and yet not boiling bandages in the morning". She found it very rewarding

:')  I haven't yet read in full that letter which includes that detail. May you give the date, or if possible, the whole letter here, dear Annie?

 

Quoted from wakas:
I remember her mother said Tatiana had the knack for it (not about finding committees dull (lol !) but about her public duties.). It was in a letter to Nicholas.

For this, too! :')  May you also please give the date, or post the letter in full, dear Wakas?

lol clearly Tatiana hadn't told her mama that she was bored of those sittings to avoid being reprimanded or insulted (in Alix's letters to Nicholas)... but was telling it to her papa! (I suppose that detail you gave here comes from a letter to him?) Thank God, the good papa Nicholas hasn't ever revealed it to his beloved Wify Sunny!

I also remember Alix saying she was disappointed of Olga when one day she brought her to a sitting. My memory is failing so I'll have to look for it from the 1914-January 1916 letters of Alix to Nicholas in the AP website.

As usual, I'm very demanding ~ I'm so sorry for it, and Thank you Very Much in advance!

[wakas]

For this, too! :')  May you also please give the date, or post the letter in full, dear Wakas?

Unfortunately my memory is failing too: I don't remember where I saw it. I'm trying to find it.

lol clearly Tatiana hadn't told her mama that she was bored of those sittings to avoid being reprimanded or insulted (in Alix's letters to Nicholas)... but was telling it to her papa! (I suppose that detail you gave here comes from a letter to him?)

Yes, it was in a letter to her papa (from Apr. 6, 1915).

Thank God, the good papa Nicholas hasn't ever revealed it to his beloved Wify Sunny!

lol!

As usual, I'm very demanding ~ I'm so sorry for it, and Thank you Very Much in advance!

Not at all. I'm sorry I couldn't find the info but I continue to search.

[Olga Maria]

Thank you very much for the date of Tatiana's letter, Wakas!
xD  I hate those sittings.  She's downright honest in telling her feeling for it!

Unfortunately my memory is failing too: I don't remember where I saw it. I'm trying to find it.

You don't need to look for it! Please don't make yourself tired ~  But I thank you very much for your effort in looking for that!

Btw, more info about Tatiana's Committee by JamesPratt : here.

[Olga Maria]

Forgive me for reposting these but I want to discuss about these, too...

I translated details regarding Olga and Tatiana from Valentina Ivanovna Chebotareva’s diary excerpts here: http://kfinkelshteyn.narod.ru/Tzarskoye_Selo/Vosp_Chebotarevoy1.htm
Chebotareva had been closer to Tatiana during their warwork, so she wrote more about her. I hope we can discuss about these things ^^

1915

July 21
Zalivsky’s surgery was successful. Tatiana Nikolaevna arranged the linen, Olga Nikolaevna handed out the tools… Olga Nikolaevna told me: “Mama bows to you, Valentina. If there is no war, we wouldn’t have met. It is strange, isn’t it?”

July 30
… The dear children worked until the 8th hour. Tatiana accidentally cut her finger with a scalpel. The blood flowed quite strongly. Although the scalpel is clean, dirty powder might get into the wound.

October 24
Today Tatiana Nikolaevna was the first one to arrive: “I come here for this is my second home”. Indeed this place is nice and cozy. She ran with me to the kitchen where we were preparing bandages. The Empress laughed and told me Tatiana used to be a good house doggie. Poor Olga is quite sick – developed a severe anemia, put to bed for a week, but allowed to come to the hospital for half an hour to have arsenic injection.

December 7
… Yesterday, the Grand Duchesses called Barbara Afanasevna at 6pm… By the way, Tatiana Nikolaevna told me, “When do you think Mama slept today? At 8 am! Apparently, she spent the whole night on Alexei’s bedside. Half an hour later, she got up and went to church.” […] Olga was sick.

1916

January 8
… Tatiana Nikolaevna is touchingly tender, even helped me in preparation, sat in a corner and cleaned the tools, and in the evening helped in treating linen, alone inhaled the vapour of carbolic acid, asked about my childhood: if I have brothers and sisters, where they are and what their names are. I difficultly persuaded her to have her fortunes told… Olga assures she will remain unmarried, but on one hand, Shah Bagov predicts she would have twelve children. Interesting hand at Tatiana Nikolaevna: the line of destiny suddenly stops and makes a sharp turn to the side. That surely means something extraordinary.

January 16
… Today Tatiana went with me after doing dressings to the upper floor to bandage Popov. The dear child became awfully ashamed when we needed to walk by other nurses, clutched my hand and said, “I am terribly embarrassed and frightened, I don’t know whom to greet and whom not to.”

January 27
It seems I missed a particular note “Dreams of Happiness” by Olga Nikolaevna: “To marry, to live in the village throughout winter and summer, to accept only good people - no formalities.”

March 12
…In the evening, Tatiana and Olga came to help clean the tools, were very amusing and tender… The day before, I called in the evening and learned that Tatiana did not know there was going to be an operation, so I thoroughly explained everything about dressings to her. She told me, “Please continue to explain, I am very pleased to listen to you”. From that I knew baby [Tatiana] is sincerely very glad to join the hospital life, and thinks of it as her vocation to help as a dear member of this family.

May 4
Today, they will go on a trip. A few days ago already, Tatiana Nikolaevna secretly told me about their upcoming departure: “On the 6th we will be at Papa’s…”
   

[wakas]

October 24
Today Tatiana Nikolaevna was the first one to arrive: “I come here for this is my second home”. Indeed this place is nice and cozy. She ran with me to the kitchen where we were preparing bandages. The Empress laughed and told me Tatiana used to be a good house doggie. Poor Olga is quite sick – developed a severe anemia, put to bed for a week, but allowed to come to the hospital for half an hour to have arsenic injection.

I don't understand what she meant by "Tatiana used to be a good house doggie". Is it because Tatiana prefered to stay in places she knew well, where she felt like home ? It's so cute and weird at the same time that she said the lazaret was like a "second home" for her.

January 16
… Today Tatiana went with me after doing dressings to the upper floor to bandage Popov. The dear child became awfully ashamed when we needed to walk by other nurses, clutched my hand and said, “I am terribly embarrassed and frightened, I don’t know whom to greet and whom not to.”
And Tatiana was described proud and self confident ? How completely different she was ! "She has been described as proud, but I never knew anyone less so. With her, as with her mother, shyness and reserve were accounted as pride, but, once you knew her and had gained her affection, this reserve disappeared, and the real Tatiana became apparent": "a lovely Rose maiden, fragile and pure as a flower." (Lili Dehn)

January 8
… Tatiana Nikolaevna is touchingly tender, even helped me in preparation, sat in a corner and cleaned the tools, and in the evening helped in treating linen, alone inhaled the vapour of carbolic acid.
I did a search about carbolic acid (also called phenol). According to Wikipedia, "Phenol and its vapors are corrosive to the eyes, the skin, and the respiratory tract.Repeated or prolonged skin contact with phenol may cause dermatitis, or even second and third-degree burns.Inhalation of phenol vapor may cause lung edema." So, it was very toxic for the nurses. If I remember well,one day, Valentina Ivanovna planned to do the treating linen without Tatiana, because she knew it was toxic, but Tatiana insisted and said "Why can you breathe carbolic acid and I can't?" And I suppose Valentina gave up:)
   

[Olga Maria]

I don't understand what she meant by "Tatiana used to be a good house doggie". Is it because Tatiana

prefered to stay in places she knew well, where she felt like home ? It's so cute and weird at the same time that she

said the lazaret was like a "second home" for her.

What I'm afraid of is that I translated it wrongly :S  But before translating it, I looked for the most recommended

online translators first and the results are Promt and Google translators (approved by some Russians who commented) and those are what I used. I hope the translations are right or close to the real meaning...

I think the meaning you gave for house doggie is right! Closest to the meaning of homebody (the first word I thought

to use as a substitute to that word... but the literal translation of what Alix said was 'house doggie').
Surely that place where she used to be a house doggie is Alexander Palace, hahaha! And Tatiana saying the lazaret was her second home proved how she loved being there, also the busy-ness and socialization which were in it ; ) 

And Tatiana was described proud and self confident ? How completely different she was ! "She has been

described as proud, but I never knew anyone less so. With her, as with her mother, shyness and reserve were

accounted as pride, but, once you knew her and had gained her affection, this reserve disappeared, and the real

Tatiana became apparent": "a lovely Rose maiden, fragile and pure as a flower." (Lili Dehn)

Agreeing with you absolutely! Many thanks for posting that description by Lili Dehn - it's one of the loveliest descriptions of her <3 lol, I find her being like me minus the beauty that Tatiana is!
Those people who said she was proud and self-confident surely just judged Tatiana from what they had seen of her, and never had the chance to talk to her. She's unmistakably a princess on how she carried herself, but deep inside, she was like her sisters - very shy and need some time to show their true selves to new acquaintances.

Soo unfortunately she wasn't given the chance to make more friends of ordinary people. If she were, she would never be known as proud or self-confident : ) Oh, she actually made many friends but sadly the ones who had negative opinions of her were the ones who were interviewed! Only a few proved the real Tatiana!

I did a search about carbolic acid (also called phenol). According to Wikipedia, "Phenol and its vapors are

corrosive to the eyes, the skin, and the respiratory tract.Repeated or prolonged skin contact with phenol may cause

dermatitis, or even second and third-degree burns.Inhalation of phenol vapor may cause lung edema." So, it was very

toxic for the nurses. If I remember well,one day, Valentina Ivanovna planned to do the treating linen without Tatiana,

because she knew it was toxic, but Tatiana insisted and said "Why can you breathe carbolic acid and I can't?" And I

suppose Valentina gave up:)

xD  You're right, Valentina gave up! Of course if you hear someone repeat the same requests to you everyday, you would just end up giving in xD  (only for good things!)

What? I'm so shocked carbolic acid is like that! Many thanks for the info ~ It's like the arsenic injections Olga received for her nervous breakdown and anemia. Maybe before it wasn't known that those are poisonous. Thank God nothing happened to them. Or...maybe the carbolic acid had been diluted or used in small quantities for medical purposes that time.

It's cute that Tatiana poured all herself to her lazaret work. She was willing to do the risks, and saw herself as equal to the other nurses. I think if they were allowed to live, she would have learned more about nursing, and proceeded to being a doctor (just saying^^)  Had that happened, who knows Tatiana would have been the Russian Grand Duchess who became a doctor and managed hospitals during WWII? ; )

By the way, Olga continued working in the hospital later in 1916 but didn't participate in surgery work. She arranged beds, etc. Those who are reading Ms. Helen Azar's wonderful book certainly have read about it. (The diary entries were translated by Georgiy in Olga's diaries thread - just read them there ; )

[blessOTMA]

They loved meeting people and would not get such a  chance other wise.  Even when their shifts were over, they would return to see people.