Did Tatiana Walk Alix into the Basement?

[Lady Macduff]

All films and fictional accounts have Olga up front with her mother as the family descended into the murder room. Fate of the Romanovs and Tragedy at Ekaterinburg also assert that Olga was the one to do it. I find it hard to believe that it wasn't Tatiana, though. What is the firsthand source that names Olga as the daughter who walked with her mother into the basement? Does it name her specifically?

[rosieposie]

I am not sure,  on accounts it just says Nicholas carried Alexei,  the women were behind.    It is assumed Alexandra walked with a cane to get down stairs.

[Rodney_G.]

No source I'm aware of specifies the exact order of the IF descending to the basement, other than Nicholas going first carrying Alexei. The family  ordinarily processed (if that's the right word) in birth order, so it's likely Olga was nearest  her mother. I'd be very surprised if any source, of whatever reliability, was any more specific.

[Sanochka]

The stair and hall and doorways at the Ipatiev House were, judging from photos, quite narrow, and family members were dressed and carrying possessions (adding width), so I imagine they walked pretty much in single file, in the order Rodney describes.

[Sarushka]

I think one or more of the guards/executioners' accounts in Ispoved' Tsareubiits may specify an order.

[Rodney_G.]

Do you know whose account that was? If this person was paying that much attention to the IF walking down stairs before their execution, and wrote about it at some later date, he would likely have a lot to say in detail about the actual execution and/or its immediate chaotic aftermath. Is or was this the case? Is this person otherwise known to be reliable and truthful?

I'm aware of Ispoved' Tsareubits, but haven't read it. Has anyone here read it?

[Sarushka]

Do you know whose account that was?

I had a look and was lucky enough to find it in the first testimony I skimmed — Strekotin's. His account of the Ekaterinburg period as a whole includes more observations of the IF than many of the others.

[rosieposie]

Sarushka does the account specify who went down the stairs in what order?

[Olga Maria]

Many thanks to Sarushka for pointing that out.
I found an online translation of Strekotin's statement in King & Wilson's website a long, long time ago (so I already forgot what the link for that is). There it's stated:

"The Tsar carried his son in his arms. Anastasia carried a little dog. The ex-Empress leaned on the arm of her eldest daughter Olga...."

[nena]

Thank you, Grand Princess Shandroise!

I have always been a little skeptical about one thing -- did all the guards know Grand Duchesses' names right? For example, in Yurovsky's accounts, I am not so sure about which Grand Duchess he was speaking about. It is often mentioned, for example, ''...GD Maria or Anastasia, I am not sure...'', or ''...the older Grand Duchess, I think Olga...''. (Not a verbatim, but something like that).  

[Kassafrass]

I have always been a little skeptical about one thing -- did all the guards know Grand Duchesses' names right?

It seems that a lot of them were never quite sure - and sometimes their mistakes were large and almost strange! Kersensky talked about the time when the lights were seen from the window and when they went to discover it they saw that one of the girls was moving their head about, causing it to look as if they were throwing out light signals. "One of the grand duchesses, Tatiana or Olga..." Nicholas writes about the incident in his own diary and clearly states that it is Anastasia - "seeing the movement of Anastasia's head [who was] sitting by the window..." Of course A Ker. wasn't there at Ekaterinburg, but I doubt those guards were any better at identifying the girls.

[Sarushka]

One thing to keep in mind is that some of these recollections were written years — or even decades — after the events themselves. The guards may have been able to ID the GDss at the time, but over the years forgot exactly who did what.

[Kassafrass]

That's very true Sarushka, thanks for pointing that out.