to late to change the course of events. His dreadful name had become too
thoroughly a symbol of disaster. The daring of those who killed him to save their
country was miscalculated. All of the participants in the plot, with the exception of
Prince Youssoupov later understood that in raising their hands to preserve the old
regime they struck it, in reality, its final blow?. (Pathy Rasputin par. 41).
Although many true facts about Rasputin have been lost what now remains is
the undying ledgened and myth of Rasputin. When People speak of Rasputin?s
myth they talk of the curse that he laid upon the Romanov family, some say he
sold his soul to the devil in order to place that curse on the family… (Rasputin par.
12).
The dreadful night of July 16, 1918, at midnight the chief executioner Yakov
?dark man? Yurovsky, went upstairs to awaken the Romanov family. In his pocket
he had a Colt pistol with a cartridge clip. Dr. Bortkin, the family doctor was alert,
he was already awake writing a letter which would turn up to be his last letter.
Yurovsky explained his intrusion saying, ?Because of unrest in the town, it has
become necessary to move the family downstairs,? he said. ?It would be dangerous
to be in the upper rooms if there was shooting in the streets.?(Rasputin par. 16-17).
Botkin understood and went to awake the family and tell them to get dressed
quickly. Nicholas, 50, and Alexis, 13, dressed in simple military shirts, trousers,
boots, and cap. Alexandra, 46, and Olga, 22, Tatiana, 21, Marie, 19, and
Anastasia, 17, quickly dressed. From there Yurovsky led all of them downstairs,
to a bare room with no furniture. Then he announced;
“In view of the fact that your relatives are continuing their attack on Soviet Russia,
the Ural Executive Committee has decided to……execute you.” ( Rasputin par.
18).
Yurovsky then used Colt in his pocket and fired at the Tsar. Soon the entire
squad began to fire at the family, each of the soldiers had been told beforehand
whom they were assigned to shoot and ordered to aim for the heart to avoid
excessive quantities of blood. The empress and Olga each tried to make a sign of a
cross as a prayer but they did not have time. Now Alexis and Tatiana, Marie and
Anastasia remained alive. It is said bullets fired at the daughters? chest but they
seemed to bounce off, (later Historians found out the daughters sowed jewels on
their dresses to act as a shield). While Alexis grasping for support was kicked in
the head by a executioner. Then the executioners stabbed Alexis, Marie, and
Anastasia. Blood was everywhere. (Rasputin par. 19-21).
Sheets off the beds were collected to drag out the bodies. When they picked
up Anastasia?s body and put her on a sheet she cried out. She was still alive. But
then she got still and they continued, till they got to a abandoned place in the
dense forest called the Four Brothers. There they undressed the family and
collected their items and the jewels from the duchesses to resell them in a
market.(Rasptin par. 23).
To get rid of any evidence of carnage, bones, and a rotting corpse they
chopped the bodies up into fine pieces which looked like chopped meat, …then the
bodies were destroyed with sulfuric acid and by burning on the bonfires with the
aid of gasoline. The fatty matter in the corpses melted and spread over the ground
where it became mixed with the earth. (Rasputin par. 25).
Now, ever since the night of the Romanov massacre took place, there has
been two missing corpses which is that of Anastasia and her brother Alexis.
Anastasia was the one who executioners claimed was still alive when they put her
on the sheet to drag her out. When they dumped the bodies, the executioners could
not find Anastasia?s. So they left the situation alone and moved on. So,…if
Anastasia was still alive from the shooting, and was not buried alive because they
didn?t find her body, then…..what could have happened? (Rasputin par 27-29).
Some say Anastasia burns in the fiery pits of Hell alongside Rasputin
answering his every whim. No matter where Anastasia did go and whether or not
she survived her soul will never lay at rest peacefully for it is tainted, as are her
families, with the harsh regrets of a single mystical myth known only as Rasputin;
the cause for the downfall of the Imperial government, the cause for the collapse
of her family. (Rasputin par. 31; Clarson 517).