The Last Christmas of the Romanovs

[Music] so following czar nicholas's abdication in march he and his family lived under house arrest in the alexander palace for the next five months by mid-july alexander karensky then head of the provisional government decided that it was time for the family to leave tsarskoy cello for the safety of siberia he selected as their destination the town of tobolsk a provincial backwater of 20 000 people located 200 miles north of the trans-siberian railway founded by cossacks in the late 16th century tobolsk was part of the russian advance into siberia sitting high above the urdish river tobolsk in 1917 could only be reached by boat prominent on the lower level of the town was a large neoclassical residence built in 1788 by a local merchant it had been taken over by the government to be the residents of the governor general of the region it was here that nicholas ii and his family were brought in august 1917. [Music] the journey to tobolsk commenced on august 1st early in the morning the family boarded the train that would bring them to two men they arrived at two men around midnight on august 3rd and they were transferred along with their entourage to steamers for the 40-hour voyage to tobolsk arriving there on august 6 they had to spend another week on board while the governor's house was made ready for them the house the large lacked ostentatiousness consisting of two stories and 13 or 14 rooms it stood prominently on a dusty road that had been renamed liberty street the imperial family occupied the whole of its upper floor [Music] [Applause] within a couple of weeks the prisoners settled into a gently regular routine the younger grand duchesses and alexis continued the lessons given by their parents and the two devoted tutors who managed to follow the family into exile sydney gibbs the english tutor and pierre gilliard the swiss who taught them french alexandra red embroidered or painted nicholas walked in the compound whenever he could or sawed logs strenuously with anyone who would join him that was often alexis [Music] people in tobolsk were warm and loyal whenever they saw a member of the family some would kneel as the former tsar and serena walked through a public garden flanked by guards on their way to the nearby church for a service some would make the sign of the cross when one of them would appear at a window [Music] life was reasonably serene in the beginning much as it had been at sarsko [Music] cello [Music] who oh by the turn of the year in the full group of winter things began to change [Music] the provisional government was overtaken by the bolsheviks and terror began to stalk the country as red guards were formed alexandra wrote in a letter smuggled to her friend anna virabhava one by one all earthly things slip away houses and possessions ruined friends vanished but god is in all and nature never changes i can see all around me churches i long to go to them and hills the lovely world i feel old oh so old but i am still the mother of this country and i suffer its pains as my own child's pains and i love it in spite of all its sins and horrors no one can tear a child from its mother's heart and neither can you tear away one's country although russia's black in gratitude to the emperor breaks my heart not that it is the whole country though god have mercy and save russia [Music] the mounting danger drew them all closer together the family improvised a chapel in the ballroom of the governor's house for services but a soldier always had to be present an altar was set up with the empress white lace bedspread serving as an altar cloth the priest from the church would come to officiate and some of the local nuns acted as a choir christmas 1917 would be their last isolated from the world they lived the joy of the feast of love distributing gifts to the members of their staff that they had made themselves these gifts were projects requiring weeks to make with the main ingredient being the true love of the members of the family [Music] on christmas eve alexandra wrote in her diary [Music] december 24th 1917 sunday christmas eve got the presents ready 12 p.m liturgy at home i decorated the tree laid out the gifts later i went to the guard watch of the 14th rifle regiment i brought them a small christmas tree food and a gospel reading for each one of them with enclosure which i drew i sat there with them [Music] on christmas morning they had the blessing to attend the morning liturgy but an unfortunate incident caused them to lose further opportunities for the heavenly joy of attending church the service had nearly ended when the deacon despite the prohibition against it dared to proclaim the prayer for the prolongation of the life of the royal family the congregation in turn repeated the refrain many years the soldiers became furious shouting and threatening the priest who had commanded the deacon to intone these words kobelinski described the event the soldiers started a riot and made up their minds to kill or at least to arrest the officiating clergy it was most difficult to persuade them not to take any aggressive steps and await the decision of an investigating committee bishop irmigen immediately transferred father vasiliev to the abelaski monastery as the situation was so strained and i went to see the bishop personally and asked him to appoint another clergyman so the men decided not to allow the imperial family to go to church and only allowed them to pray in the presence of a soldier the sole concession i was able to obtain was permission for the imperial family to visit church on the 12 great feasts under house arrest and closely guarded they were able to organize a traditional christmas that was in many ways their closest family holiday grand duchess old to describe the simplicity and resourcefulness of that last christmas in a letter to one of her friends [Music] december 26 1917 tobolsk hello dear rita well here it is already the holidays we have standing in the hall a christmas tree with a wonderful scent completely unlike anything we had in sasky it is a particular type known as a balsam evergreen it has a strong smell like mandarin orange blossom and the trunk all the time emits resin there is no decoration only silver tinsel and wax candles from the church as there are no others here after supper on christmas eve we organized the presents most of which were different things we sowed as we gathered them and designated to whom they would be given we recalled the charitable bazaars we did in yalta remember how many things we prepared the vigil service took place around 10 o'clock in the evening and the christmas tree was lit it was beautiful and cozy now i have to close wishing you much happiness in the coming year with hugs and love to you my dear friend god bless you you're olga the family had also a very special blessing on that christmas alexandra wrote in her diary after the liturgy there was a prayer before the miraculous icon of abulatskaya mother of god the icon was brought to the house on christmas eve from the oblatesco's niminsky monastery 17 miles from tobolsk and it offered great spiritual consolation to the imprisoned family pierre gilliard recalled in his memoirs some years later the wonderful atmosphere of that christmas eve the empress and the grand duchesses prepared everything by their own hands making gifts in the course of many weeks for all of us and likewise for all of the attendants her majesty distributed several woolen pieces of her own by such touching attention she wished to express her gratitude to those who had remained loyal to her the priest came on december 24th in the evening to do the service at the house everyone assembled in the hall then the distribution of the designated surprises to us this was done by the children themselves it felt as though we had become one big [Music] family [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh my god [Music] the family remained in custody and to bolsk until the spring of 1918 at which time they were all transferred to a katarinburg on july 17 1918 there in a katarinburg they were brutally murdered by a bolshevik squadron the loyal attendants who were with them were also killed only the tudors jilliard and gibbs were released because they were not russian citizens the lives of jilliard and gibbs after the horrifying events changed dramatically juliard returned to switzerland and married one of the children's russian nurses gibbs became a russian orthodox monk and priest and was given the monastic name of nicholas in memory of the czar father nicholas returned to england and lived in oxford for many years serving in the memorial saint nicholas chapel which he established in his house on marston street he always preserved the handwritten poem given to him by empress alexandra at that last christmas into bolsk i pray that christ the christmas king may stoop to bless and guide you day by day to holiness your friend enjoy your comfort in distress i pray that every cloud may lead you to the light and he may raise you up from height to height himself the day star of your darkest night i pray that christ before whose crib you bend the knee may fill your longing soul abundantly with grace to follow him more perfectly [Music] [Music]

Channel: The Romanov Royal Martyrs

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Keywords: romanovs, romanov, romanov royal martyrs, Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia, Royal Family, Romanov execution, Romanov dynasty, Romanov trailer, Romanov family, Romanoffs, Helen Rappaport, Four sisters, Last Tsar, Ekaterinburg, Olga Shirnina, Anastasia Romanov, Alexandra Feodrovna, Grand Duchess Elizabeth, Royalty, British Royalty, romanov family today, romanov family death, romanov coronation, romanov sisters, romanov jewels, romanov saints, romanov book, National Geographic

Id: snsOSDc8Tkk

Length: 15min 14sec (914 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 30 2020