[Quick set up: Nicholas II of Russia has been held in confinement with his family since his abdication during the end of World War I the beginnings of the Russian Revolution. Some men are sent by the Provisional Government to collect him and his family and bring them to Moscow, but Nicholas’ hemophiliac son, Alexei, is ill and unable to make the journey safely. It is clear that the entire family will not be able to travel. Nicholas and his family struggle with the situation of who should go and who should stay.]
The Tsarevich’s Swiss tutor, P. Gilliard, who met with her at 4 p.m., describes the scene thus:
The Czarina… confirmed that I had heard that Iakovlev has been sent from Moscow to take the Czar , and that he is to leave tonight.
[Czarina speaking] ”The commissar says that no harm will come to the Czar, and that if anyone wishes to accompany him, there will be no objection. I cannot let the Czar go alone. They want to separate him from the family as they did before…
”They’re going to try to force his hand by making him anxious about his family… The Czar is necessary to them; they feel that he alone represents Russia… Together we shall be in a better position to resist them, and I ought to be at his side in the time of trial… But the boy is so ill… Suppose some complication sets in… Oh, God, what ghastly torture! …For the first time in my life I don’t know what I ought to do; I’ve always felt inspired whenever I’ve had to take a decision, and now I can’t think… But God won’t allow the Czar’s departure; it can’t, it must not be. I’m sure the thaw will begin tonight…”
Tatiana Nikolaevna here intervened:
”But, Mother, if Father has to go, whatever we say, something must be decided…”
I took up the cudgels on Tatiana Nikolaevna’s behalf, remarking that Alexis Nikolaevich was better, and that we should take great care of him…
Her Majesty was obviously tortured by indecision; she paced up and down the room, and went on talking, rather to herself than to us. At last she came up to me and said:
”Yes, that will be best; I’ll go with the Czar; I shall trust Alexis to you…”
A moment later the Czar came in. The Czarina walked towards him, saying:
”It’s settled; I’ll go with you, and Marie will come too.”
The Czar replied: “Very well, if you wish it…”
The family have spent the whole afternoon at the bedside of Alexis Niolaevich.
This evening at half past ten we went up to take tea. The Czarina was seated on the divan with two of her daughters beside her. Their faces were swollen with crying. We all did our best to hide our grief and to maintain outward calm. We felt that for one to give way would cause all to break down. The Czar and Czarina were calm and collected. It is apparent that they are prepared for any sacrifices, even of their lives, if God in his inscrutable wisdom should require it for the country’s welfare. They have never shown greater kindness and solicitude.
This splendid serenity of theirs, this wonderful faith proved infectious.
At half past eleven the servants were assembled in the large hall. Their Majesties and Marie Nikolaevna took leave of them. The Czar embraced every man, the Czarina every woman. Almost all were in tears. Their Majesties withdrew; we all went down to my room.
At half past three the conveyances drew up in the courtyard. They were the horrible tarantass. Only one was covered. We found a little straw in the backyard and spread it on the floor of the carriages. We put a mattress in the one to be used by the Czarina.
At four o’clock we went up to see Their Majesties and found them just leaving Alexis Nikolaevich’s room. The Czar and Czarina and Marie Nikolaevna took leave of us. The Czarina and the Grand-Duchesses were in tears. The Czar seemed calm and had a word of encouragement for each of us; he embraced us. The Czarina, when saying good-bye, begged me to stay upstairs with Alexis Nikolaevich. I went to the boy’s room and found him in bed crying.
A few minutes later we heard the rumbling of wheels. The Grand Duchesses passed their brother’s door on their way to their rooms, and I could hear them sobbing…
Source:
Pipes, Richard. "The Murder of the Imperial Family." The Russian Revolution. New York: Knopf, 1990. 753-54. Print.
Original Source Listed:
Gilliard, Thirteen Years, 260-63.
Further Reading:
Николай II Алекса́ндрович (Nicholas II of Russia) / Nicholas the Bloody
Алексе́й Никола́евич (Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia)
[Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia / Великая Княжна Мария Николаевна (Maria Nikolaevna Romanova)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchess_Maria_Nikolaevna_of_Russia_(1899%E2%80%931918)
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