The Diary of Olga Romanov (16 page)

5th March. Sunday.

The wind was very strong during the night. The day was clear and cold. At 10 o'cl. went to
obednya
, Mama came later. She had breakfast and stayed with me until 3 o'cl. Took a walk in the little garden. After tea received N. I. Ivanov who returned from an assignment trip. He was at Tsarskoe Selo and saw Alix. Said goodbye to poor Count Fredericks and Voikov, whose presence here annoys everyone for some reason; they went to his estate in Pensen. county. At 8 o'cl. went to dinner at Mama's.

6th March. Monday.

Was very happy in the morning to receive two letters from dear Alix and two letters from Maria. The wife of Captain Golovkin of the Finland regiment brought them. Took a walk in the garden. Mama came for breakfast. We sat together until 3 o'cl. Took a walk; a snowstorm started again. After tea received Williams. At 8 o'cl. went to Mama's train.

—

From the memoirs of V. I. Chebotareva:

March 1917.

So many impressions that I did not have the energy to pick up the pen yesterday. I found out about the abdication only on the morning of the 4th, in Petrograd they pasted [notices] up on the evening of the 3rd. I will never forget that moment. It was snowing hard, cold, [I] ran into a worker who had the “News” flyer in his hands. Asked him to read it.
[There was] a big crowd around [me] so I was forced to read these fatal words not in privacy; he abdicated for himself and for his son. Five days and the monarchy was gone. A stroke of a pen—and the century-old system collapsed. Silence all around. Everyone feels the horror. Russia—and without a Tsar.

At the infirmary, deathly silence. All are shocked, shaken. Princess Gedroitz [Vera Ignatievna] sobbed like a helpless child. We were expecting a constitutional monarchy and suddenly the throne was passed over to the people, and in [our] future—[was] a republic…

—

From the diary of Nicholas II:

8th March. Wednesday.

Last day in Mogilev. At 10 o'cl. signed the farewell command for the armies. At 1 1/2 o'cl. went to the guard house where [I] said goodbye to all the headquarters ranks and commands. At home said goodbye to the officers and convoy and regiment Cossacks—my heart almost broke! At 12 o'cl. went to mama's train car, had breakfast with her and her suite, and sat with her until 4 1/2 o'cl. Said goodbye to her, Sandro, Sergei, Boris and Alek. Poor Nilov was not allowed to go with me. At 4.45 departed Mogilev, a group of people saw me off touchingly. 4 members of the Duma escorted me to my train! Headed to Orsha and Vitebsk. The weather is frosty and windy. Grueling, painful and dreary.

9th March. Thursday.

Arrived in Tsarskoe Selo quickly and safely—at 11 o'cl. But Lord, what a difference, on the streets and around the palace, in the park are guards, and inside, in the hall some kind of ensigns! Went upstairs and there saw darling Alix and the
dear children. She looked healthy and vigorous, and they all were in beds in a dark room. But everyone feels well, except Maria who just caught measles recently. Had breakfast and dinner in Aleksei's playroom. Saw the good Benkendorf. Took a walk with Valya Dolg.[oruky] and worked with him in the garden for a bit, since we were not allowed to go any farther! After tea unpacked some clothes. In the evening went to see all the residents on the other side [of the palace], they were there altogether.

—

From the memoirs of Anna Vyrubova:

I had never seen and most likely will never see such an emotional strength that Her Majesty and her children had. “You know, Anya, with the Emperor's abdication all is finished for Russia,” the Empress said, “but we should blame neither the Russian people nor the soldiers: it is not their fault.”

Olga, and Tatiana and Aleksei Nikolaevich started to get better, when the last one—Maria Nikolaevna, got sick.

—

From the diary of Nicholas II:

10th March. Friday.

Slept well. Despite the situation in which we now find ourselves, the thought of being all together makes one feel happy and reassured. In the morning received Benkendorf, and then reviewed, organized and burned papers. Sat with the children until 2 1/2 o'cl. Took a walk with Valya Dolg.[oruky] [along] with the escort of the same two ensigns—today they were somewhat more polite. Had a nice workout [shoveling] snow. The weather was sunny. Spent the evening together.

11th March. Saturday.

Received Benkendorf in the morning, found out from him that we will be staying here for a rather long time. This is a pleasant awareness. Continued to burn letters and papers. Anastasia got an earache—the same as with the others. From 3 o'cl. until 4 1/2 o'cl. walked in the garden with Valya D. and worked in the garden. The weather was unpleasant, windy, 2° of frost. At 6.45 went to the
vsenoshnaya
at the campaign church. Aleksei took his first bath. Stopped by Anya's and Lilly D.[ehn]'s and then [went to see] all the rest.

12th March. Sunday.

It started to get warmer. In the morning Benkendorf and Apraksin were here; the latter is leaving Alix and said goodbye to us. At 11 o'cl. went to
obednya
. Aleksei got up today. Olga and Tatiana feel a lot better, while Maria and Anastasia are worse, headaches and earaches and vomiting. Took a walk and worked in the garden with Valya D. After tea, continued to put papers in order. In the evening made rounds of the house residents.

13th March. Monday.

Keeps getting warmer, the day was semi-overcast. Took a walk in the morning for a half hour. Kept busy with old business. Maria keeps having high temperature [of] 40.6, and Anastasia has earache. The rest felt well. Took a walk during the day and worked. In the evening sat at Anya's with Lilly D.

14th March.

A gray and warm day. Took a walk with Valya D. in the morning for three quarters of an hour. Right now—[there is] a lot of time to read for pleasure, although I spend a lot of time sitting upstairs with the children. Maria keeps having
high temperature—40.6. Anastasia is having complications with her ears, even though yesterday they drained her right ear. During the day took a walk around the entire park.

15th March. Wednesday.

Lovely sunny frosty day. Took a nice walk with Valya D., and as is usual now, escorted by one of the guards. Maria and Anastasia's condition is the same as yesterday; slept badly and Maria's fever [was] the highest to date, as during the day it was 40.9. The rest have completely recovered. Walked and worked a lot during the day. Read before dinner, and sat with the children in the evening until 10 o'cl., and the two of us had tea.

—

Olga Romanov's final diary entry:

15th March. Wednesday.

On the 23rd [February] at breakfast got sick with measles—was put to bed. Aleksei [got sick] during the day, and Anya too. The ear[ache] went away slowly. The next day Tat.[iana] got sick, [we] lay down together. Al. came by during the day in his bed—it was dark. My T° reached 40,3. Mama is with us all the time. Shvybz got sick on the 2nd [of] M.[arch]—Maria [on] the 7th. On the 27th or 28th Febr. Lili Dehn arrived here and is still living in the Red Room.

[Olga's diary abruptly ends on March 15, 1917. Perhaps out of depression or other reasons, she never recorded in her diary any further events. She did write numerous letters to friends and relatives from exile, first from the Siberian city of Tobolsk, and later from Ekaterinburg. From here on, others take over to finish her story.]

—

From the memoirs of Anna Vyrubova (March 1917):

On the first evening after the transfer of the palace into the hands of the revolutionary soldiers we heard shooting under the windows.
Kamerder
Volkov came with the report that the soldiers entertained themselves in the park by hunting the Emperor's favorite wild goats. We lived through terrible hours. While handfuls of drunken and arrogant soldiers strolled through the palace, the Empress was destroying all her dear letters and diaries and in my room, with her own hands burned six cases of her letters to me, not wanting them to end up in the hands of these wicked people.

—

From the diary of Nicholas II:

16th March. Thursday.

Clear frosty day. Walked in the morning. Maria and Anastasia are [feeling] the same, in bed in a dark room and coughing a lot; they have bronchitis. Walked and worked during the day. In the evening sat at Anya's and then at Benkendorf's.

17th March. Friday.

The same [kind of] sunny day. Walked from 11 o'cl. until 11 1/2 o'cl. Maria and Anastasia's temp. went up and down alternatively, and also [they were] vomiting. Took a long walk during the day and worked; finished the path by the old gazebo with Valya D. In the evening stopped by Anya's and Lilly Dehn's.

18th March. Saturday.

A gray day and a warm spell; in the morning during my walk there was some wet snow. During the day Maria had [temperature
of] 40.9 and occasional delirium, in the evening it went down to 39.3; Anastasia, during the day—37.8, in the evening—39.3. Worked a bit during the day. At 6 1/2 went to
vsenoshnaya
with Olga and Tatiana. Spent the evening with the family and [we] dispersed early to rest.

19th March. Sunday.

Bright day. At 11 o'cl. went to
obednya
with Olga, Tatiana and Aleksei. Maria's and Anastasia's temp. went down to normal, and only in the evening Maria's went up a little. Went for a walk at 2 o'clock, walked, worked and enjoyed the weather. Returned home at 4 1/2. Sat with the children for a long time, and [we] were at Anya's and others' in the evening.

—

From the memoirs of Anna Vyrubova:

On 19 March I received a note from the Empress that Maria Nikolaevna is dying and asking for me. The messenger told me that Anastasia Nikolevna is also very sick; both had pneumonia, and the latter also became deaf due to the ear infection…. For a minute I fought with feeling of pity for the dying Maria Nikolaevna and fear for myself, but the first prevailed and I got up, got dressed and Kotzeba pushed me in a wheelchair through the upper hallway to the children's quarters, whom I had not seen for a whole month. A happy exclamation from Aleksei and the older girls made me forget all. We ran to each other, hugged and cried. Then I tiptoed to Maria Nikolaevna. She was lying there, white like linen, her eyes, naturally large, seemed even larger, temperature was 40.9, she breathed oxygen. When she saw me, she made some attempts to pick up her head and started to cry, repeating: “Anya, Anya.” I stayed with her until she fell asleep.

—

From the diary of Nicholas II:

20th March. Monday.

Apparently Maria's and Anastasia's illness broke, the temp. remained normal; they are weak and slept all day, of course with breaks. Walked from 11 o'cl. Lots of [snow is] thawing. Worked a little during the day. Sat at Anya's in the evening.

—

From the memoirs of Anna Vyrubova:

The only thing that he [Nicholas II] wished for, and was ready to beg his enemies for without losing his pride—was not to be exiled from Russia. “Let me live here with my family and be the simplest of peasants, earning his bread,”—He said,—“send us to the most safe corner of our motherland, but let us stay in Russia.” This was the one and only time when I saw the Russian Tsar so absolutely crushed by the events; on all the subsequent days he was calm.

Daily, I watched from the window at how he shoveled snow from the path, right across from my window. The path went around a meadow and Prince Dolgoruky and the Emperor shoveled the snow towards each other; the soldiers and some recruits walked around them. Often, the Emperor looked around at the window where the Empress and I were sitting, and undetected by others smiled at us or waved his hand.

—

From the memoirs of V. I. Chebotareva:

March 1917.

Complete disarray at the infirmary…. The Sisters volunteered to switch to soldiers' food rations, when the committee protested about the extra butter they were getting, the civil zeal has cooled off, and the Red Cross made remarks
even to Vera Ignatievna: nothing that has not been made into law can be carried out.

—

From the memoirs of Alexander Kerensky:
¹⁴

When the Alexander Palace was put under my control, the first thing I did was to look for a commandant, a person who I was familiar with for a long time, who deserved utmost trust, [who was] controlled, calm, with firm character and the nobility of a knight. The first commandant I chose, Colonel Korovichenko, occasionally would exasperate the imperial family with [his] stares and blatant crudeness, [which are] often common to shy people.

—

From the diary of Nicholas II:

21st March. Tuesday.

Kerensky, the current Minister of Justice, showed up unexpectedly today, walked through all the rooms, wanted to see us, spoke with me for about five minutes, introduced the new commandant of the palace and then left. He ordered the arrest of poor Anya and for her to be taken to the city along with Lillie Dehn. This happened between 3 and 4 o'cl. while I was taking a walk. The weather was awful and matched our mood! Maria and Anastasia slept almost the entire day. After dinner the four of us, with O. and T. spent a quiet evening.

—

From the memoirs of Alexander Kerensky:

I remember well my first visit to the imperial family. This was sometime in mid-March, during my first inspection of the recently appointed palace sentries…. I asked the
ubergofmarshall
Count Benkendorf to warn the Tsar of my wish to see him and the Empress. The old aristocrat with a monocle promised to announce me to His Majesty based on etiquette. He returned soon, and formally announced: “His Majesty has kindly agreed to admit you”…To be honest I will admit that I was not at all neutral about my first meeting with Nicholas II. There were so many cruel and awful events associated with his name in the past, that I was afraid to lose control and not be able to get over my secret negative feelings…. Through the door opened by Benkendorf I immediately saw the entire imperial family behind the door to the adjacent room. They gathered a little to the left of the door, behind a round table by the window, assembling into a confused nervous little bunch.