(Continued from page 21)

"In view of the advance of the enemy on Ekaterinburg and the Cheka's discovery of a significant White Guard plot having as its purpose the abduction of the former Tsar and his family...Stop...the documents are in our hands, by resolution of the Regional Soviet Presidium Nicholas Romanov has been shot...Stop...His family has been taken to a safe place".

Historians have debated the meaning of that last sentence in the telegram sent to Moscow by Ural Soviet Chairman Alexander Beloborodov at length.  That telegram is matched by another sent in code, which says, "Tell Sverdlov that the same fate has befallen the family as has its head.  Officially, the family will perish in the evacuation".  The wording of that statement raises a large question: Just what was it that happened UNOFFICIALLY?

If one takes into consideration the Russian rules of Royal succession then the sentence "His family has been evacuated to a safe place could easily mean exactly what it says.  There is no need to try reading anything else into it.

When Tsar Paul I crowned himself after the death of his mother Catherine the Great he disliked her so much that he declared no woman could sit on the throne again.  The current rules say that only a male can be head of Russia's Royal Family, which means that the Crown Prince represents that family's future.  Therefore, it might be possible that the word "family" in the telegram refers to the Tsarevich Alexei alone.  No matter what their fate, the survival of the rest of the Tsar's family is irrelevant to their continued royal succession.

One could then rightly ask why there are two bodies missing if the objective was to save only the Prince.  Sherlock Holmes would have used his famous line "Elementary, my dear Watson".  If there was any chance that the bodies were to be discovered then the Tsarevich could not be found to be the only one missing.  That would look too suspicious.

If you have shot the current Tsar then you have automatically made his son the next Tsar and he cannot be found to be the only one not in the grave.  A master at political gamesmanship and misdirection would realize that at least two bodies would have to disappear in order to avert any suspicion.  Is it possible that if the missing princess did not survive her grave will be found hidden on the other side of Ekaterinburg or in a local cemetery under a false name?

©  J. Kendrick 1997                                                                                                                                              (Continued on page 23)