The Diary of Olga Romanov: Royal Witness to the Russian Revolution

[helenazar]

I'm confused about Olga's letter to Rita Khitrovo on page 139 (from January 14th 1918).

In the book "Pis'ma Tsarskoi Sem'i iz Zatocheniia", this letter is signed Maria .  Also, at the end of it, there is a short note to Rita signed "Olga".


So I'm really confused right now. Who actually wrote the letter? Olga or Maria?

If I am understanding your question correctly, the letter to Rita Khitrovo that's in the Olga book was indeed written by Olga, not Marie. I actually have a copy of the original letter and it's definitely Olga's handwriting

[wakas]

Yes, that was my question. Thank you very much for your answer 

[Inok Nikolai]

I'm confused about Olga's letter to Rita Khitrovo on page 139 (from January 14th 1918).

In the book "Pis'ma Tsarskoi Sem'i iz Zatocheniia", this letter is signed Maria .  Also, at the end of it, there is a short note to Rita signed "Olga".


So I'm really confused right now. Who actually wrote the letter? Olga or Maria?

If I am understanding your question correctly, the letter to Rita Khitrovo that's in the Olga book was indeed written by Olga, not Marie. I actually have a copy of the original letter and it's definitely Olga's handwriting

Well, yes, there are, of course, authentic letters from Grand Duchess Olga Nicholaevna in the book.

But the letter dated January 14, 1918 to M. S. Khitrovo, on page 139 -- in which the author speaks of how they spent their holidays, and of the fact that she had bumped her head while sledding on the ice hill -- was indeed written by Grand Duchess Maria Nicholaevna, not G. D. Olga.

A facsimile of the letter appears on pages 232-233 of the original edition of "Pisma iz zatocheniya". Mr. Alferieff had access to the originals.

The handwriting is definitely G. D. Maria's.

And the body of the letter to Rita is signed: "M." for Maria; below that is the initial "A." for Anastasia, followed by a postscript from Tsarevich Alexis: "Thank you very much for the postcard. I kiss you. A."; then, finally, is the postscript from G. D. Olga: "I also firmly kiss you, dear Ritka.
Olga".

GARF also attributes the letter to G. D. Maria Nicholaevna.

[helenazar]

Ok I see, I didn't have the book in front of me before and the letter I was thinking of from Olga to Rita is actually on page 141, which is the one I have a copy of, and which is most definitely in Olga's handwriting. I don't have a copy of the letter on p. 139, and have to double check the source of it, I cannot remember what the source was and how I ended up attributing it to Olga vs Marie. But thanks for pointing it out, I will ask the publisher to correct this for the next edition.

[helenazar]

The Olga letter I thought you had asked about is dated February 19, 1918. The Marie letter in question is dated 14 January, 1918. 

[Inok Nikolai]

The Olga letter I thought you had asked about is dated February 19, 1918. The Marie letter in question is dated 14 January, 1918. 

There also exist a letter from G. D. Olga to Rita dated January 21, 1918.

So maybe some sources have mixed up January 12 with January 21 by inverting the numbers?

[Ally Kumari]

I am not sure if it has been said before, but I too have noticed what may be a little mistake. On the page 4, diary entry from 7th January 1914, Olga mentions she breakfested with "Papa, Mama, Un. Boris and Un. Georgiy". The footnote at the same page says "Georgiy" was Georgiy Konstantinovich, son of Grand Duke Konstantin, but I think it was actually Grand Duke Georgiy Mikhailovich, who was quoite close to the Emperor at the time. Georgiy Konstantinovich in 1914 was still just a boy, so it would not make much sense in him being all alone, without his parents, at such a breakfast, plus Olga would hardly refer to him as "uncle".

Could that be?

[helenazar]

it was actually Grand Duke Georgiy Mikhailovich

You are right - you probably have the first edition of the book. The errors in the first edition were already corrected in the 2nd, as well as the paperback. Thanks for your feedback!

[helenazar]

The Olga letter I thought you had asked about is dated February 19, 1918. The Marie letter in question is dated 14 January, 1918.  

There also exist a letter from G. D. Olga to Rita dated January 21, 1918.

So maybe some sources have mixed up January 12 with January 21 by inverting the numbers?

Yes, it is possible. I am surprised the copy editor did not catch it either. She was the same editor who worked on Alexandra's diary book, but it's amazing that no matter how many people read and reread the manuscript, things still slip through the cracks. Which is why it is so great to have such knowledgeable readers who point out errors, so that they can be corrected for subsequent editions. Thanks guys!

[JamesAPrattIII]

I got this book by ILL and have some errata for it:

Olga n was the honorary Colonel of the 3rd Elizavtgrad Hussars not the 9th the regiment was the 9th Dragoons from 1882-1907 before Olga was made honorary Colonel. See marksrussianmilitaryhistory.info for this units pre WW I history. They spill it Yelisavetgrad. It also has the 1914 Russian army order of battle so you can find which division and corps a regiment belonged to at the start of WW I. Also which army a corps was attached two during WW I. Also note: Austria_Hungary's last war 1914-1918, The WW I Austrian Official history is online and they do give order of battle updates every few months or so. Which if you want to can follow a unit around.

Pages 27-28 Olga mentions Okhta and mentions talking to Serge M on the telephone about it 82 critically wounded, 7 of them died, they found 97 corpses and 57  men are missing.

There was a Okhta plant in Petrograd which did make munitions

There was a Okatensk Powder works where 200 were killed in a 1915 explosion. This most likely is Okhta and is probably what Olga is writing about. GD Sere m was Inspector General of the Artillery so this is something he would really be concerned about.

 Page 12 Admiral N.P. Sablin was not the former commander of the Russian Army he was the commander of the Imperial Yacht Standart

Page 12 Madame Sukhmlinvova was the wife of War Minister Vladimir Sukhmlinov she was involved in war relief work

Page 27 Chemodurlov was not killed with the Imperial Family

Page 30 mentions the 3rd Shooter regiment  should be 3rd (Guards) Rifle Regiment. There are other mentions of Shooter and marksmen should be Rifle  or Riflemen.

On Olga's missing diary she may not have destroyed it. It may have been lost or stolen over the years. ditto the diaries of TMA.  In 1940 the Germans captured the Belgium army records from 1918 to 1940. The rest were evacuated to England. In 1945 the records the Germans captured were captured by the Soviets who kept them until the late 1990s when they returned them. In looking through them it was found a number of volumes were missing. Ther have also been people who have stolen records from the PRO in England and the US National archives.  Granted TMA it appears have burned some of theirs but some could have been lost or stolen over the years.

I hope this of some interest.

[helenazar]

Yes all these errors were corrected in 2nd edition thanks.

[JamesAPrattIII]

That's good!

I have some more errata which you probably already know:

Page 64 mentions nurses going to German and Austria and page 66 mentions German and Austrian nurses. In 1916 the Russians, Germans and Austrians sent teams of red cross personal to visit each others POW camps. I know this sounds a little strange but it was done.

Page 74 Kalinin I believe is Minister of the Interior Protopopov

[Nictionary]

In regards to the Okhta explosion James mentioned, was it ever determined whether it was sabotage or an accident?  Paleologue's diary on this site mentions rumors about German sabotage, and contemporary news accounts describe the same suspicions, but there had been an explosion there in 1912, so it could well have been an accident, too.  None of the sources I have found say anything about a cause being determined, so I was just wondering if it ever was.

[Blagar75]

Hello everyone,

I have a question about Olga' diary for 1913 (translated by Helen Azar).

On 15 September, she says "Alexei was so cute with Shotol." I have been searching who "Shotol" was but my research did not come up with anything. I have thought it may have been one of the imperial pets but probably not a dog because we know them relatively well. Maybe a cat?

Does anyone know?