Journal of a Russian Imperial Guard soldier #15

Александровский дворец, 1917 г.
ГА РФ, ф. 683 оп. 1 д. 125 л. 23 фото 389

Ipatiev House, April 1918

A political commissar took us to another location, this time to the city of Ekaterinburg in the Urals. Alexei was not well enough to travel, having fallen seriously ill a month ago. Olga, Tatiana, Anastasia and a few other captives stayed with him in Tobolsk. I accompanied the tsar, empress, Marie, Yevgeny Botkin and Anna Demidova to Ekaterinburg. Vasily Dolgorukov, Terenty Chemodurov and Ivan Sednev also came with us but they were moved into lodgings in the city. They will rejoin us later, or so the commissar claimed.

Our new accommodation is guarded by militiamen led by secret police known as the Cheka. Botkin, Demidova and I were forced to sign a written statement affirming our wish to continue serving the tsar, promising to obey the guard commandant of the ominously named House of Special Purpose, and considering ourselves of equal position with the imperial family. We were explicitly ordered to address the Romanovs only by their names. Our meals have been rationed. We are only allowed outdoors twice a day, but any form of manual labour is forbidden. All the windows are sealed shut and whitewashed, and the house is surrounded by a towering wooden fence. The place is a prison.

Guards are posted at every corner and anti-tsarist demonstrations can often be heard outside. When Marie and her mother conversed in English, a guard rudely interrupted and reminded them that only Russian is allowed. Marie's camera was confiscated as they forbid photography in the house. They did not even let her develop the film roll which contained photos taken while in Tobolsk. She misses the quiet peacefulness in Tobolsk. Nevertheless, she has not given up on the likelihood of her family being released and still longs for a new life either in the Crimea or England.

I met with the tsar one evening. I pushed him as far as I could to try and smuggle a letter to the nearby British consulate via a sympathetic guard, seeing as he often likes to try and speak with them. But in the end, he only smiled and talked of simple pleasures. He commended my loyalty and knows I am fond of his children. Never once spoke about politics. Just before he lit a cigarette, he asked me to call him Nicholas.