historyforbreakfast:

bulletproofjewels:

This is a really HUGE breakthrough for the Romanovs. I’m actually shaking as I read this article. I have posted about this previously, but the site has since been updated.

The SEARCH foundation is an independently funded organization that was responsible for the discovery and excavation of Alexei and Anastasia’s remains. Now they have a lead on Michael’s.

In 1918, the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich and his secretary, Brian Johnson were arrested by Soviet forces and imprisoned, not unlike many other Romanovs, in the city of Perm. His captor was Bolshevik Andrey Markov, who burst into Michael’s hotel room and forced him to leave by gunpoint. Markov told Michael he was being taken to a train, by which the Grand Duke did not resist. But the Bolshevik led them out ‘by a shortcut’ through the forest, and both Michael and Brian were shot in the chest and head. Local peasants heard the gunshot, and by the time they arrived the shooter had disappeared. But it did not take them long to find the bodies. The peasants respectively buried the two men under the trees, into which they scratched the letters “M” and “A” Michael Alexandrovich.

In 2007, a man recorded in an interview with Russian press reveiling a story he had kept through communist rule. On the night of the 11 June, 1918, he had been amongst the villagers who had come across two men’s bodies in the forest. He died soon after but his story has helped reveal one of the final mysteries of the Romanov family.

And in 2012, the murder site was located. The SEARCH foundation followed the directions given by the man and found the precise spot where there were engravings upon the trees. Unfortunately the weather soon turned characteristically harsh and they were forced to give up their search. But the website says that the organization will be returning in the summer of 2013.

I personally, will keep my eye on this. Soon we may have Uncle Misha reunited with us, and his dear family once again.

[Source]

Wow I had no idea this was going on :O this is incredible!

Oh wow! How wonderful that the Grand Duke and his secretary can finally be laid to rest appropriately soon! 

Ninety-four years ago today, around two-o’clock in the morning, Russia’s last tsar, his wife, five children, and four faithful retainers were led into a small, sinister room in the basement of the Ipatiev House. They were told it was to protect them from possible shelling by the Whites, who were converging on the town of Ekaterinburg. 

Yakov Yurovsky, the commandant and coincidentally, a former photographer, asked the prisoners to line up to have their photograph taken. It was necessary to prove to the Russian people that the Imperial family was still alive and well in captivity. But there would be no photograph. As soon as the Imperial party had lined up to Yurovsky’s specifications, a group of armed men entered the room.  

Yurovsky announced that due to the approach of the White Army, the Tsar and his family would have to be executed. There was no time for protestations. There were no sobs and no pleas for mercy. Standing in front of his wife and son, in a final futile protective gesture, Nicholas exclaimed in confusion: “What? What?!” 

Yurovsky repeated the announcement and shot Nicholas point-blank in the chest. One by one, the rest of the family and their servants fell to gun-shots, savage bayonet wounds, and  blows to the head with rifle butts. After several minutes of terror and chaos, the smoke cleared and the room was still. The men checked the bodies for signs of life. Satisfied, they began to load them onto stretchers. The men were startled when Grand Duchess Anastasia, after having been transferred to a stretcher, suddenly sat up and let out a piercing scream. She received several cruel blows to the face before she too was silent. 

After 305 years, the Romanov dynasty had become extinct.

Rest in peace Nicholas, Alexandra, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei

   Dr. Eugene Botkin, Anna Demidova, Alexei Trupp, and Ivan Kharitonov

You are not forgotten.