More stories of extraordinary women on the website Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, or Velikaya Princess Anastasija Nikolaevna Romanova, the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, the last ruler of the Russian Empire, according to historical knowledge, died on July 17, 1918. She and her family were shot by the Bolshevik branch of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution, Speculation and Abuse of Power, i.e. the Cheka. The execution took place in Yekaterinburg, in the basement of the so-called special purpose house. The bodies of members of the tsar’s family were taken to the forest, quartered, poured with sulfuric acid and thrown into closed iron mine shafts.
Did Princess Anastasia die with her family?
For many years, many rumors and legends circulated around the tragic death of the Tsar’s family. The greatest emotions aroused the fact that the youngest of the princesses, Anastasia, was not murdered, but miraculously saved herself and escaped thanks to the help of one of the soldiers, who turned out to be insubordination and did not properly fulfill his orders. Anastasia’s body was not found until 2007, so hope for her survival remained alive for many years. All the more so because from the very beginning there was often information that the princess had been found and was safe and sound. Over the years, many women, around 80 in total, pretended to be Anastasia, but it quickly turned out that they were frauds hoping to “recover” the family property.
The would-be drowned woman remained silent for two years
One February night in 1920, a policeman noticed a woman who had jumped from one of Berlin’s bridges into the river. He managed to save her and she was taken to a local hospital, but she didn’t want to answer any questions. She had broken teeth and scars on her body, doctors believed that she had experienced some traumatic experiences, but she did not want to talk about them with anyone. She did not have any documents with her that could confirm her identity, but her behavior indicated that she came from high society. As she continued to remain silent, she was transferred to a psychiatric hospital.
After some time, the mysterious woman admitted that she was Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, the miraculously saved daughter of the murdered Tsar. The woman spoke in detail about court life, and the graphologist confirmed that the handwriting was consistent. As the news about Anastasia spread, Russian emigrants, former tsarist officers and members of her family began to flock to the hospital. Everyone wanted to find out that Anastasia was actually alive. On site there were, among others: Anastasia’s aunt, Princess Olga Alexandrova and the Prussian princess Irene and one of Anastasia’s grandmother’s ladies-in-waiting. The women noticed a striking resemblance, but none of them were sure it was actually her. All the more so because the woman refused to speak Russian, claiming it was the language of her family’s torturers. Everyone understood her perfectly and attributed any discrepancies to the shock the woman had experienced.
Everyone believed that she was the tsar’s daughter
Miraculously, Anastasia survived, thanks to the kindness of Russian aristocrats and other members of the tsar’s family, and lived in prosperity and comfort until the end of her life. Out of nostalgia for a bygone era, everyone wanted to see her as a tsar, but public opinion ignored many facts that questioned the woman’s identity. Ultimately, the fraud was exposed only after her death in 1984, when DNA tests excluded her relationship to the tsar’s family. The person who claimed to be Anastazja was Franciszka Szankowska, the daughter of a Polish farmer, who had never been to Russia in her life and did not know the Russian language. The woman continued to sue for her “lost property” until the end of her life, and it is still unknown how she knew the details of the life of the tsar’s family.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
