The fact his dog survived and not Alexei is so weird.

[Natasya]

Yeah, they don't really seem like the people who are concerned with preserving lives, even if they are those of innocents and animals.

[KiKi]

Today I was reading The Quest for Anastasia, Solving the Mystry of the Lost Romanovs by John Klier and Helen Mingay and it says when the Whites arrived at the Ekatarinburg a guard named Mikhail Letermin found Joy, the King Charles Spaniel "waiting patiently outside teh royal rooms on the morning of 17 July.  You'll be waiting a long time, he thought, before deciding to take the animal home." (pg 55)

And in the same book on pg 73 it says " The most important and poignant new find, made on 25 Jul 1919y, at the bottom of the open mine, was the body of a small dog, wich witnesses identified as that of Jemmy, Anastasia's lapdog."

In that part of the country it doesn't get much over 65F.  So, a year later, so, 5 of the moths, it was bellow 32F or 0C and then 4 more of the months it was colder than the avarage refridgerator (sp).  It could be the reason the dog was not totally decomposed in a year. 

[Natasya]

Another reason could be if the dog wasn't burned or put in the acid, then the bodies would end up looking like they'd been there longer than the dog's.

[KiKi]

That could be, too.  Maybe they just tossed the dog in.

[tatianolishka_1]

I see your point. They killed Jimmy and probably Ortino; why was Joy spared? Did they have a soft spot for spaniels or something?

[Damie]

Is it true that Anastasia took Jemmy into the room with her? Recently, I heard that was just a rumor. Also, why didn't Aleksey bring Joy with him? I mean, it's good he didn't. At least someone survived, even if it was a dog. The Romanovs were woken up in the middle of the night, and told to get dressed. That usually means you're going somewhere. Why wouldn't Aleksey bring Joy with him?

Another thing, why was Joy half blind? Maybe instead of killing her, someone kicked her in the face or something? 

Yes, Anastasia was carrying Jemmy in her arms while she and the family were led down to the basement. Of course, Aleksei was being carried by his father and I can only suppose they thought Joy was following them.

[Annie]

I see your point. They killed Jimmy and probably Ortino; why was Joy spared? Did they have a soft spot for spaniels or something?

I don't think anyone had any soft spots that night. Most likely, Joy was able to slip away and get out the door somehow (like Toto in the Wizard of Oz)


Here is the story told by Baroness Sophie Buxhoevedon when she met up with Joy again( in Omsk while she was with the British military, who helped her leave Russia) What a bittersweet story, the dog saved, not the owners, and the dog always grieving for them.

General Dietrichs told me that the Tsarevich's small spaniel, Joy, was with him at Omsk. The dog had been his small master's constant companion, and had been taken both to Tobolsk and to Ekaterinburg. At Tobolsk the Tsarevich had often been highly amused at the dog's contempt of the Kommissars' orders, for whenever Joy espied me passing the house he would manage to slip through the gates and greet me boisterously. The poor little beast had been found by the Czechs when they took Ekaterinburg, wandering about half famished in the courtyard of the Ipatieff house. He seemed to be always looking for his master, and this had made him so sad and dejected that he would scarcely touch his food even when he was lovingly cared for. I went to see Joy, and he, evidently connecting me in his dog's brain with his masters, imagined that my coming announced theirs. Never did I see an animal in such ecstasy.

When I called him he made one bound out of the carriage and tore down the platform towards me, jumping in the air and running about me in wide circles, when he did not cling to me with his forepaws, walking upright like a circus dog. General Dietrichs said that he had never given such a welcome to anyone before, and I attributed this solely to the fact that my clothes, which were the same that I had worn at Tobolsk, had still kept a familiar smell, for I had never specially petted him. When I left, Joy lay for a whole day near the door through which I had gone. He refused his food and relapsed again into his usual despondency.

What had little Joy seen on that terrible night of July 16? He had been with the Imperial Family to the last. Had he withessed the tragedy? His brain had evidently kept the memory of a great shock, and his heart was broken.

It was pathetic seeing this dumb friend, who brought back the memory of the Tsarevich so vividly. Little Joy was well cared for. He was taken to England by Colonel Rodzianko and spent his last years in the utmost canine comfort, but still never recovered his spirits.

[koloagirl]

Aloha all!

Was there not a story that Joy had gone blind when they found him?  I wonder if this is a "tall tale" or truth -- the story above seems to indicate that he was sighted at the time he met the Baroness at least.

It breaks my heart to think of that dog, lovingly cared for by Alexei all those years -- and suddenly and inexplicably lost to him -- animals are
so sensitive to "their people" and their feelings - I'm sure he went through a lot of trauma and couldn't understand why he was suddenly without "his people" and never found them again.

The one bittersweet thing about all of it is that he did live a long life in comfort and care - I hope he was so very spoiled and pampered!

Janet R.

[Peterhof]

It just ocurred to me that Sokolov could have used Joy to find the bodies of the IF.  Joy could have picked up the trace at the mines and follow it all the way to the burial site.  I think Joy would have cooperated fully in its desire to find its owners.

[AGRBear]

The story about Jimmy/Jemmy  death is murky. 

Some think the dog was killed on the night of 16/17 July 1918.

His body was found at the bottom of the Four Brother's Mine by the Whites in July of 1919 just shortly before the Red retook Ekaterinburg.  According to scientists,  it is believed that the dog was killed about June of 1919 and placed in the bottom of the shaft.   The body was
not decomposed enough to have been in the shaft for more than six weeks,  certainly not as long as a year.  It is a theory that the Whites or the Reds had  killed Jemmy and planted his body to be found which would help prove  the Imperial Famiy and the others had been killed.

AGRBear

[Isabella]

Not really - they had much more pressing matters to take care of, who would bother about some dog?

[CorisCapnSkip]

It's not so much weird that Alexei was killed and Joy was not--as Alexei was one of the main people they were after--but that the other dogs were killed and Joy was not.

[nena]

Scene at Ipatiev house, late summer 1918, one guard saw Joy near door of tsarevich's room, and poor Joy was awaiting for him.
Guard told Joy: ' You are waitig to no end'
what a irony! 
But I agree there's nothing wierd about that. 

Nena

[CorisCapnSkip]

Some people claim dogs are psychic and know when the owner is about to return home.  This must not have been so in Joy's case.

[nena]

Some people claim dogs are psychic and know when the owner is about to return home.  This must not have been so in Joy's case.

I agree with you, CorisCapnSkip.