[The following is in regards to the murder of Grand Duke Michael, the youngest brother of Tsar Nicholas II, whose monarchy was overthrown during the Russian Revolution. The author and historian, Richard Pipes, refers to this act as “a rehearsal for the massacre of Nicholas and his family…”]
On the night of June 12-13, five armed men drove up in a troika at Michael’s hotel. They awoke the Grand Duke and told him to dress and follow them. Michael asked for their credentials. When they could not produce any, he demanded to see the head of the local Cheka [Revolutionary secret police, basically]. At this point (as Michael’s valet later told a fellow prisoner before being himself executed), the visitors lost patience and threatened to resort to force. One of them whispered something in the ear of either Michael or Johnson which seems to overcome their doubts. It is almost certain that they posed as monarchists on a rescue mission. Michael dressed and, accompanied by Johnson, entered the visitors’ vehicle parked in front of the hotel.
The troika sped away in the direction of the industrial settlement of Motovilikha. Out of town, it turned into the woods and stopped. The two passengers were told to step out, and as they did so, they were cut down by bullets, probably shot in the back, as was the Cheka’s custom at that time. Their bodies were burned in a nearby smelting furnace.
Immediately after the murder, Bolshevik authorities in Perm informed Petrograd and cities in the area that Michael had escaped and a search was underway. Simultaneously, they spread rumors that the Grand Duke had been abducted by monarchists.
Source:
Михаи́л Александрович (Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia)
чрезвыча́йная коми́ссия (Emergency Committee) / ЧК (Cheka)
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