Diaries of NAOTMAA

[Almedingen]

Does anyone know why Nicholas and Alexandra didn't burn the letters they exchanged with one another during the war?

It seems to me that they should have wanted to burn these first since they probably would have done them the most damage.  For example, the parts where Alexandra discusses Raspitin's advice would have been very damaging.

Also, why did the girls feel pressured to burn their diaries -- it doesn't seem like there would have been much that was politically interesting in them.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[LisaDavidson]

Does anyone know why Nicholas and Alexandra didn't burn the letters they exchanged with one another during the war?

It seems to me that they should have wanted to burn these first since they probably would have done them the most damage.  For example, the parts where Alexandra discusses Raspitin's advice would have been very damaging.

Also, why did the girls feel pressured to burn their diaries -- it doesn't seem like there would have been much that was politically interesting in them.
 
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

I don't know that the girls felt pressured to burn their diaries. It was Marie and Anastasia who did this and I think that they came to realize that their privacy was not going to be respected by the Reds who had infiltrated Tobolsk.

As the mother of teens, I can assure you that none of them - grand duchess or not - would want their diaries made public. We have a couple of teens and young adults who post here - would you want your diaries published? Without your permission?

Nicholas and Alexandra clearly understood that the charges about Alexandra being a German spy were the most serious they faced. Their letters clearly showed that this was not the case. I agree the references about Rasputin did not show them in a good light, but Alexandra would not be the first person not to be able to see herself clearly - and she certainly was not the last.

[Shvibzik]

I think the reason Maria and Anastasia burned their diaries is that they may have written some confidentional information that would be bad if intersepted by the Bolshevik soldiers.  Just a possibility.  It is a shame they did burn them though, for whatever reason.

[Baby_Tsarevich]

did Alexei burn his diary?

[Ortino]

I remember reading that they had written entries relating to the jewels they were hiding their clothes. I guess there was too much of a risk of a soldier stealing it or taking it and discovering this.

[lostfan]

did Alexei burn his diary?

I don't think Alexei burned his, at least not his first diary.

[hikaru]

I think that Alix  did write about jewels in her last diaries.

[ferngully]

under medecines?
selina          xxxxxxxx

[lostfan]

She wrote that she and the girls "tatted" or "arraigned the medicines"

[hikaru]

Tobolysk. 9th April
Nikolay II: " We have got the news that Yakovlev from Moscow have come with special purpose. He stays in the Kornilov house. Children imagined that he will come today for search. So they burned all letters. Maria and Anastasiys burned even their diaries also"


I think that  they burnt their diaries of the fear that somebody could  be hurt  and panished for the information from their diaries as well as for the fact that they wanted to keep their privacy.

[ashanti01]

I think the war time correspondance between Nicholas and Alexandra showed how worried they were about the state Russia found itself in. While the Rasputin refrences may have been damagining to them, I think the fact that they were spending thier personal fortunes on the war effort, and thier sincere concern for the country would have also have proven to be a positive for them, if they had been brought to trial.

As for why the girls burned their diaries,  I can assure everyone, as teenager I wanted no one to read nothing of mine, so I can see why they would burn their letters and diaries.

[etonexile]

How can anyone know just what to burn or save in the climate of war and revolution? One doesn't know which party,group,junta,etc. might prevail...To say from our perspective of middle-class safety nearly 90 years on is......no......I'll let those involved find a word for their own behaviour...

[ashanti01]

I do believe when the Imperial Family came under house arrest there was high chance of Nicholas and Alexandra being brought to some sort of trial. Alexandra burned only the personal correspondance she did not want any one else to read, but kept the correspondance that could help Nicholas if he was brought to trial.

I'm trying to find the source of this information, but I'm almost completly positive this was why only some of her letters/diaries were burned.

[Tsaritsa]

"The Last Tsar" discusses the guard or commissar reading Nicholas' diary while in Ekaterinburg.  Do we know how accurate this is?  Radzinsky treated it more or less as a game.  Forgive me if this isn't correct.  It has been a long time since I read the book.  I'm too lazy to go downstairs and get the book out.    

[James_Davidov]

We have a couple of teens and young adults who post here - would you want your diaries published? Without your permission?
 

I completely understand the actions of Marie and Anastasia.  Although it’s difficult to compare circumstances, I think I would do the same thing, if I was aware that my journal was to come under any scrutiny I would feel really on edge about the situation, not that mine, or possibly theirs, contained anything ‘juicy’, I’d never feel uncomfortable with strangers analyzing them, and possible take similar steps.
When I think of Anastasia and Marie sitting in front of those flames, burning their diaries, it really hits home what they were going through.  I think it’s likely there was no specific reason for them destroying their diaries, more that it was just a means of dealing with their situation.  As events spiraled out of control around them, they were able to take their own actions, whether it was required or not.  I almost appreciate that they did this, although the insight would have been fascinating, the girls privacy and own words to this day are shrouded, and thereby respected.  I know its been an issue of debate as to whether the IF would have appreciated their lives being ‘published’ in the present day, but that aside, its obvious that Marie and Anastasia didn’t, for whatever reason.

James