"But what is this about the legend having recently been PROVEN false? I know the whole story was a long shot, but I've done a fair bit of research on the topic and don't remember seeing/ hearing anything that actually PROVED Anya didn't get away when the family was ambushed... I'm not saying that whoever posted that earlier is wrong, I'm just a little obsessed with this subject and would like to see for myself... any links to news articles, websites, etc?"
If there is one thing I know, it is my Russian history, so I will answer your question Junior.
First of all, there was no possible way for Anastasia to have escaped from capture as the movie portrays. When they were taken from the palace during the Revolution, they all willingly left, thinking they would be kept safe away from the crowds who had begun attacking the palace.
She did get on that train with her family and went to the seclucion house in Ekaterinburg(excuse me if the spelling of that is slightly off), there are pictures proving it. The question of her still being alive came from first hand expirences of the guards who were ordered to shoot the ex-tsar and his family in the basement that tragic night. The tsarina and her daughters had tried to hide their jewels from the crude guards by sewing them inside the bodice of their dresses. So when the shooting began, the bullets were bouncing off of the jewels and the guards didn't understand why. Eventually, when it seemed everyone was dead, they loaded all the bodies into a truck, and one of the girls was moaning. A guard reported that she had still been alive, but also continued to say that he smashed her over the head with the butt of his rifle and she fell back down.
NOW the legend itself comes from there never being a report of the death of the last royal family of Russia. The people speculated, but it wasn't until years later it was confirmed. When the grave was finally found, 2 bodies were missing. They were missing because the bodies of the youngest two were burned. The guards tried to burn the bodies and when they found it would take much too long, they threw the rest into a mine shaft and buried the bodies they had attempted to burn in a seperate grave.
Finally, when they found the final two remains, it was confirmed it was Alexei's body, but they still cannot confirm which of the younger girls were found. I assume it was Marie because Marie had actually been older, BUT smaller than Anastasia. So Anastasia's body may have been found years and years ago!
As for the legend; Anna Anderson whom Anya is pressumably based on was the woman who lived under the identity of the Grand Duchess Anastasia. She was in and out of asylums her entire life, and looked enough like Anastasia that even the royal family swore it was her. People believed her story to the point that her gravestone has the name Anastasia Federnova Alexandrovich Romanov- Grand Duchess. It wasn't until years AFTER her death that they found the actual remains of the family and could give a proper DNA test. Anna Anderson had been cremated convienantly enough, so the test was put off for another couple years. Finally, someone came forth with a piece saved from an operation that was Anna's intestine. They used that with the DNA of the Romanov's, and found Anna Anderson was not even from Russia. Her family could be traced back to a small family of factory workers from Poland. She was not the Grand Duchess.
And as I explained above, the Grand Duchess had never truely been missing!
I do not have links, I just suggest you read any book on the topic and they will all tell you what I have just told you.
Updated On: 8/6/08 at 02:12 PM
