Author Topic: Surviving servants  (Read 4898 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Ra-Ra-Rasputin

  • Guest
Surviving servants
« on: October 28, 2006, 07:45:49 PM »
I'm interested if any of the servants had their own survival claimants; have any people claiming to be Trupp, Demidova or Botkin ever shown up on the public radar?

I think it's funny that it only appears to be fun to pretend to be a survivor of a massacre if those being massacred are royalty.  Did no one want to be a servant?  ??? I can't imagine why not!

Rachel
xx

Offline LisaDavidson

  • Moderator
  • Velikye Knyaz
  • *****
  • Posts: 2665
    • View Profile
Re: Surviving servants
« Reply #1 on: October 28, 2006, 11:43:58 PM »
I'm interested if any of the servants had their own survival claimants; have any people claiming to be Trupp, Demidova or Botkin ever shown up on the public radar?

I think it's funny that it only appears to be fun to pretend to be a survivor of a massacre if those being massacred are royalty.  Did no one want to be a servant?  ??? I can't imagine why not!

Rachel
xx

Actually, someone claimed to be Anna Demidova. I'm sorry I don't have a source for you - if and when I locate it, I will post it, but if anyone remembers this, please post it.

Offline Belochka

  • Velikye Knyaz
  • ****
  • Posts: 4447
  • City of Peter stand in all your splendor - Pushkin
    • View Profile
Re: Surviving servants
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2006, 04:22:38 AM »
I'm interested if any of the servants had their own survival claimants; have any people claiming to be Trupp, Demidova or Botkin ever shown up on the public radar?

I think it's funny that it only appears to be fun to pretend to be a survivor of a massacre if those being massacred are royalty.  Did no one want to be a servant?  ??? I can't imagine why not!

Rachel
xx

There might have been the "fame" but certainly not the fortune.

Margarita
   ::)


Faces of Russia is now on Facebook!


http://www.searchfoundationinc.org/

Robert_Hall

  • Guest
Re: Surviving servants
« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2006, 05:13:30 AM »
Well, Trupp was quite elderly, was he not? Botkin, of course had children who would readily identify a fraud. I remember the Demidova claim, as well, was it in Radzinsky or Massie perhaps ? Not at home to find it in my library... That leaves the cook- Kharitonv [? I imagine he would be relatively easy to identify as well, from the former houshold that did survive.

Annie

  • Guest
Re: Surviving servants
« Reply #4 on: October 29, 2006, 09:35:03 AM »
I would say the answer would most obviously be the money. They could have had the fame of saying they were there when the family was shot, but it seems like they would have to live in fear of being exposed in case the true story emerged since they would be lying and making details up from scratch. So it really wasn't worth the trouble.

As far as Botkin's children being able to ID him, yes that may seem true, but since they were either 'wrong' or lying about AA, how can we ever be sure they wouldn't have done the same thing for a father claimaint IF there were any money involved (which there wasn't, I assume if the good Dr. had any money they already got to it as his heirs)

Another thing to consider is that others who knew them well and had escaped, like Buxhoevedon, Vyrubova, Gibbes and Gilliard would also be able to expose them. Or even their own familes, if they were available. Which brings me back to AA. FS was a "Jane Doe" (Anna Anderson is the European name for Jane Doe or so I've heard) who easily claimed a new identity, and her family obviously was not anxious to claim her (probably considered her a constant problem and were glad to have others care for her) so she was able to play along more than people who could have been easily exposed.

Offline LisaDavidson

  • Moderator
  • Velikye Knyaz
  • *****
  • Posts: 2665
    • View Profile
Re: Surviving servants
« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2006, 10:15:30 AM »
My thanks to our member ChatNoir who tells me the story of the imposter Demidova is mentioned by Edvard Radzinsky. I believe it was contained in his biography of Nicholas II.

Offline AGRBear

  • Velikye Knyaz
  • ****
  • Posts: 6611
  • The road to truth is the best one to travel.
    • View Profile
    • Romanov's  Russia
Re: Surviving servants
« Reply #6 on: October 30, 2006, 06:20:20 PM »
We discussesd this subject a LONG time ago and I believe someone had found information that one or two of the male servents had claiments by people  in small Russian villages from time to time... but I don't  think I recall any of them making themselves known throughout a province and making themselves really noticed  nor did they make any legal claims.   Most  claimants just wanted life a little easier and just a small bit of fame.  They  faded away.... 

AGRBear
"What is true by lamplight is not always true by sunlight."

Joubert, Pensees, No. 152

Lordtranwell

  • Guest
Re: Surviving servants
« Reply #7 on: November 23, 2006, 02:09:16 AM »
The subject of survivors, especially of the IF children, and claimants is not all that difficult to resolve.  Gibbes and Gilliard did 'survive' and they were floating around all over Europe in the months and years following the murders.  I am in no doubt that Gilliard and Gibbes would have instantly known the children - even as grown ups.  Working so closely with them for so many years would have tuned them into the small habits and tendencies of the children.  I am a retired headmaster and I do not think anyone could pretend to be any of my former pupils and get away with it.  The same may apply to those that Buxhoevden and Vyrubova knew.  It may be easy to dupe the uninitiated but almost impossible to con those who were close to them.

AaronGlaeser

  • Guest
Re: Surviving servants
« Reply #8 on: November 24, 2006, 01:34:23 PM »
Lordtranwell,

Pierre Gilliard was in fact involved in proclaiming one of the earliest claiments to pretend to be Alexei, to be a farse.  He initially was able to rebuke this young man's claim.  It did not take him long at all to resolve this false claim.

best,

Aaron