Grand Duchess Elizabeth's death and burial

[Alexa]

I just finished re-reading Massie's The Final Chapter, and in it, he mentions that Sokolov reportedly had autopsies performed on the bodies found at the Alapayevsk mine shaft.  That got me wondering what happend to GD Ella's body, and those of the Romanovs who died with her after Sokolov found them.  Does anyone know where they are buried?

My appoligies if this has been asked before.

Thanks for the help!
Alexa

[Thomas_A.]

I don't know what happened to the bodies of the men of Alapajewsk, but the ones of the Grand Duchess and her companion, Sister Warwara, were taken out of the mine shaft by a monk named Father Serafim.

He put them into wooden coffins and brought them out of Russia - as far as I know with a stay at Peking - to Jerusalem where they're resting now since the early 1920ies in the Russian Chapel errected by the children of Emperor Alexander II in memory of their tragic mother, Empress Maria Alexandrowna (nee Hesse) in 1886.
GD Ella attended the inauguration and wished to be burried there.
The chapel is dedicated to the Saint Maria Magdalena and one can still see the bodies!.
(Ella's niece Alice of Battenberg, Princes Andrew of Greece - the present british Prince Consort's mother - is also resting there)


Elisabeth's coffin.


The St.Maria Magdalena Chapel at Gethsemane, Jerusalem


Please also see "Reburials" in this section here and "Ella's grave" in the "Hessian Darmstadts" section!

[Alexa]

Thanks for letting me know about GD Ella and her companion, and for the pics.  I'm glad to hear Princess Alice is also buried there.  It seems a fitting place for her.

Alexa

[Mander]

I've been searching around both here and online and have been unable to locate any specific information on Ella's death. Does anyone know of any webpages etc that may provide a bit more detail of the Romanov deaths that occured that day? Everything I've found has been a bit sketchy so far...

[Mander]

I tried using the search option here but everything I've found is pretty much who she died with and that she was thrown into the mine pit and is known as a martyr. I'm trying to find out the circumstances leading up to the execution, were they thrown in alive after being hit with a rifle butt or were they shot first? I've seen both...

[Eric_Lowe]

Did you read the books on Ella ? They state the situation in quite detail...

[Mander]

Not yet. I can't afford it at the moment because I went on a Czar shopping spree;)

[Eric_Lowe]

I think if you go on yahoo and type Grand Duchess Elisabeth or Ella, you will come up with a few options. Buy the books, they are a good source.  

[Mander]

I tried googling .I hadn't tried yahoo and tons come up! I can't believe I wasn't getting anything on google. I feel silly LOL. Thanks alot!

Yeah, I will but I've spent my quote for the paycheck and our local library isn't the best at all!

[Eric_Lowe]

Understood !  

[Decadence]

I have read about the death about Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, on serperate occasions from seperate sources.

I hate to talk of it, so I shall say about it in very little detail.
Can anyone say definatley it was one of these:

I read in one of my books of The Romanovs that Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, the Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, Prince Ioann Konstantinovich, Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich, Prince Igor Konstantinovich and Prince Vladamir Pavlovich Paley were pushed into a mineshaft and, the apparent options being:
they threw grenades in after them et cetera (i know more on this subject but do not wish to discuss)
or
they left them in there, where they starved.

Can anyone say definatley it was either?

[Eric_Lowe]

They died of stravation and injuries caused by the fall and grenates. Ella bandaged some of the victims's injuries by tearing part of her veil. She sang hymns praising God till the end.

[Decadence]

Oh, I understand now, thank you very much.

[Eric_Lowe]

You are welcome.  I also suspect suffocation is another reason for their deaths and air was limited in the mine shaft. 

[Kimberly]

One of the most moving accounts of the death of Ella can be found in Hessian Tapestry, by David Duff. Breaks my heart every time I read it.