The Diary of Olga Romanov (18 page)

23rd April. Sunday.

Wonderful weather for dear Alix's name day. Before
obednya
, the ladies and gentlemen residing at the palace, and also our people, came with good wishes. Had breakfast as usual upstairs. At 2 o'clock the entire family went out to the garden. Worked on the lake around the “Children's” island; broke up and dispersed all the ice. Returned home at 4 1/2 o'clock. Read in my room before dinner and in the evening, aloud. From 9 o'cl. it started to rain.

9th June. Friday.

Exactly three months since I arrived from Mogilev and that we have been under arrest. It's hard not to [be able to] get any news from dear mama, the rest [of it] I am indifferent to. Today is an even hotter day; 25° in the shade, in the sun 36°. Again there was a strong burning smell. After my walk [I] tutored Aleksei in history in my new study, as it was cooler there. Worked nicely in the same spot. Alix did not go out.
Before dinner the five of us took a walk.

—

From the memoirs of Alexander Kerensky:

This peaceful court life was only a temporary illusion. More than once the instated order was tossed around by the increasingly strong collisions with the revolutionary waves. The curious passers-by surrounded the park, eyeing them through the fence, especially on Sundays and holidays. When they saw the tsar taking his walk, they booed and whistled. When the imperial daughters and other women who lived at the palace appeared, they were met with various playful comments.

The guards inside the park demonstratively followed instructions, walking just behind the captives, treating them insolently, in all sorts of ways of demonstrating their displeasure with the failed emperor.

—

From the diary of Nicholas II:

10th June. Saturday.

During the night and during the day until 3 o'cl. it continued to be swelteringly hot and muggy. Took a long walk in the morning. Had breakfast, same as yesterday in the children's dining room. During the day worked in the same spot.

A rainstorm passed in the distance, there were a few drops of rain. Fortunately it got cooler. At 6 1/2 went to
vsenoshnaya
. In the evening, around 11 o'cl. we heard a shot from the garden, after 1/4 hour the chief guard asked [permission] to come in and explained that a guard did shoot, because he thought that he saw a red light signal from one of the children's bedroom windows. Having checked the location of the electric light and seeing the movement of Anastasia's head,
[who was] sitting by the window, one of the unter-of.[ficers] who came in with him, realized what happened and they left, having apologized.

—

From the memoirs of Alexander Kerensky:

Once, early in the revolution, when the imperial children were sick with measles, the family gathered in one room to read. Immediately, the guards ran in with a warning that there were light signals coming from the windows of the palace, and that something needs to be done. At first everyone was confused. Then there was an explanation. One of the grand duchesses, Tatiana or Olga, sat between the window and a lamp, dreamily nodding her head, which caused the light behind the girl to dim and then to glow again.

—

From the diary of Nicholas II:

8th July. Saturday.

Beautiful day; took a walk with pleasure. After breakfast found out from Count Benkendorf that we are not being sent to the Crimea but to one of the far away provinces, three or four days' worth trip east! But where exactly they won't tell us, and even the commandant doesn't know. And we really expected a long stay in Livadia!

Cut down and felled a huge pine tree on the glade path. There was a brief warm rain. In the evening I am reading “A Study in Scarlet” by Conan Doyle, aloud.

—

From the memoirs of Alexander Kerensky:

To demonstrate this awful tragedy of the imperial family in the truest light, we must remember this: when the
Provisional Government announced the decision to arrest the tsar and he chose Tsarskoe Selo as the place of his captivity, it was thought that this situation would be in place for a short duration. Transfer to England seemed so close that on 7 (23) March the British consulate, George Buchanan, had sent a verbal message to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Government, P. N. Milyukov that His Majesty the King and His Majesty's government are happy to offer refuge in England to the former Russian Emperor. There were no exterior obstacles to the Tsar's departure. Interior difficulties arose. In the general chaos which reigned in the early days of the revolution, the government was not yet fully in control of the administrative machine. For example, the railroads were freely ruled by various unions and advisories. There was no opportunity to bring the Tsar to Murmansk without exposing him to unavoidable and very serious dangers. On the way, he could end up in the hands of the “revolutionary masses” and wind up not in England but in St Peter and Paul Fortress, or even worse, in Kronstadt…

But in specific English circles, especially among the liberals and laborites, the intention of the British government to offer hospitality to the former Russian Tsar was met very coldly…. On 10
^th
April (new style) the newspapers released a semi-official statement of the British Ministry of the Foreign Affairs which could be viewed as a retraction…. “The British government does not insist on the offer made earlier to provide a refuge to the imperial family.” What does “does not insist on the offer made earlier” mean? One would think that the British government persistently negotiated with the Russian Provisional Government about the transfer of the imperial family to England, and not being able to get an agreement were forced to retreat from their noble intention to save the cousin of their own king and the favorite
granddaughter of Queen Victoria from the horrible revolutionaries.

In reality, it was the complete opposite. 6 (19) March, the Minister of Foreign Affairs P. N. Milyukov notified Sir George Buchanan of the Provisional Government's intention to send the former Tsar and his family to England. After three days the British government, in response to three telegrams, had agreed to accept the imperial family. What happened next? Soon after a legend emerged in which the English government “never refused to offer an invitation.”

—

From the diary of Nicholas II:

10th July. Monday.

[Took a] morning walk around the entire park. During the day cut down four dry pine trees and cut them up right there for firewood. Returned home exactly at 5 o'cl. Read a lot. Before dinner Olga received gifts.
¹⁹

11th July. Tuesday.

Took a walk with Aleksei in the morning. At our return found out about Kerensky's arrival. During the conversation he mentioned our probable departure for the south, due to the proximity of T. Selo to the restless capital.

In honor of Olga's name day went to
molebna
. After breakfast worked nicely in the usual spot; cut down two pine trees—getting close to seventy sawed trees. Finished reading the third part of the Merezhkovsky trilogy “Peter”; well written, but makes a difficult impression.

—

From the memoirs of Alexander Kerensky:

One day some automobile hit the fence of the Palace Park. Naturally the entire Tsarskoe Selo screamed treason: someone was trying to kidnap the tsar! The car was planning to tear through to the [palace] entrance! So we had to post completely useless sentries at the broken fence.

—

From the diary of Nicholas II:

12th July. Wednesday.

The day was windy and cold—only 10°. Took a walk with all the daughters…. All of us were thinking of the impending trip; the departure from here seems so strange after 4 months of captivity!

13th July. Thursday.

In the last few days bad news has been coming from the southwestern front. After our offense at Galich, a lot of regiments [were] infected by the ignoble defeatist preaching, [and] not only refused to move forward but in some areas retreated without even any pressure from the enemy. Taking advantage of this beneficial, for them, circumstance the Germans and the Austrians broke through southern Galicia despite low military strength, which may force the entire southwestern front to retreat east. Complete disgrace and despair! Today the Provisional Government finally announced that capital punishment has been instated against those on the military arena who are convicted of treason. I hope that these measures are not too late.

The day stayed warm and overcast. Worked on the same spot on the side of the glade. Cut down three and cut up two felled timber logs. Slowly starting to pack clothes and books.

19th July. Wednesday.

Three years ago Germany declared war on us; it seems like a whole lifetime ago, these three years! Lord, help and save Russia!

It was very hot. Took a walk with T., M. and A. Once again [with us was] the entire convoy of guards from the 3rd regiment. Worked on the same spot. Felled four trees and finished the pine trees which were felled yesterday. Now I am reading Merezhkovsky's novel
Alexander I
.

—

From the memoirs of Alexander Kerensky:

We could wait no longer. We had to send the imperial family somewhere farther out, to some quiet place which would be hard to find in Russia at that time…. I started looking for an appropriate place. At first I was going to send them somewhere in central Russia, say to the estate of one of the grand dukes, Mikhail Alexandrovich or Nikolai Mikhailovich, with whom I even discussed such a project. Immediately it became clear that the peasants did not feel very friendly towards this idea. The very fact of their transfer to those areas…through densely populated regions was impossible. The Tsar wanted very much to go to the Crimea, and all his hopes focused on that, possibly even more so than their departure to England. One by one all his relatives headed there [to the Crimea], the Dowager Empress being one of the first. But the idea of the congregation of the former members of the deposed imperial dynasty already started to make everyone nervous. Besides that there was the unanswered question—how to transport the imperial train through all of Russia from north to south.

Why did I eventually choose Tobolsk, which was not that much farther than the Crimea? Some monarchists insisted
(and perhaps still do until this day) that the only reason for this choice was the wish to “avenge the Tsar with the same coin,” by sending him to Siberia, where in the past all revolutionaries were sent. In reality, it was possible to get to Tobolsk via northern route, passing through the densely populated regions. As far as revenge, why would we want to organize transport to Tobolsk when the Peter and Paul Fortress, or better yet, Kronstadt, were right nearby.

I preferred to choose Tobolsk exclusively because it was indeed isolated, especially during the winter. The town with well-to-do, satisfied residents, far away from railroads…and [it] lacked any active proletariat. In addition I knew about their superb winter climate and a rather appropriate governor's house, where the imperial family could live in comfort.

—

From the diary of Nicholas II:

29th July. Saturday.

The same beautiful weather. During the morning walk, while passing by the gates on the way to the orangerie, we noticed a guard sleeping in the grass.
Unter-officer
who was escorting us came over and took away his rifle.

During the day we cut down 9 trees and sawed up one pine tree—all right by the road. It was humid and cloudy, and thunder was heard, but the sky cleared up towards the evening. After
vsenoshnaya
Aleksei got gifts.

Cleaned up and packed my things, so now the rooms look so empty.

30th July. Sunday.

Today dear Aleksei turned 13 years old. May the Lord grant him health, patience, strength of character and body in these difficult times!

Went to
obednya
, and after breakfast to
molebna
, where we brought the
Znamenie
Madonna icon. It felt especially nice to pray to her holy image with all our people. The marksmen of the 3rd regiment brought it and carried it away across the garden.

—

From the memoirs of Alexander Kerensky:

When finally the approximate departure date was confirmed, I spoke with the emperor during one of my regular visits to Tsarskoe Selo, described the difficult situation in St Petersburg, and proposed that they prepare for departure. Of course I notified him of the British government's refusal, but did not confirm where they will be taken only advised that they bring warm clothing. He listened to me very attentively…. Our eyes met. Possibly in my eyes he read reassurance: the tsar, who rarely trusted anyone, who lived through betrayal from his close associates, now expressed trust towards the person whom his wife only recently wished to see hanged.

—

From the diary of Nicholas II:

31st July. Monday.

The last day of our stay at Tsarskoe Selo. The weather was beautiful. Worked in the same spot during the day; cut down three trees and sawed up yesterday's [trees]. After dinner waited for the appointed hour of departure, which kept being delayed. Unexpectedly Kerensky arrived and announced that Misha
²⁰
will be coming soon. And in fact, around 10 1/2 dear Misha came in, escorted by Ker.[ensky] and the chief of the
guards. It was so nice to see each other, but it was awkward to talk in front of outsiders.

When he left, the sentry marksmen started to drag our luggage to the circular hall. The Benkendorfs, ladies-in-waiting, chambermaids and our people were there too. We paced back and forth, waiting for the trucks to arrive. The secret about our departure was kept to a point where the motor [car]s and the train were ordered after our appointed departure time…. Aleksei wanted to sleep; he lay down then got up. A few times there was a false alarm, we put on our coats, came out on the balcony and returned to the hall. It got light [outside].