Does Vladimir Putin know the true fate of the Russian Imperial Family?

Burial at the Crypt of St Petersburg’s st Peter and Paul Cathedral on July 17th 1998

According to a Facebook page with thousands of followers from around the world, the true fate of the last Imperial  Family of Russia was very different to what has been accepted for almost a century.

The page of The Russian Imperial Family Historical Society (RIFHS) http://www.facebook.com/RUSSIAN-IMPERIAL-FAMILY-HISTORICAL-SOCIETY-281626701958649/ is visited every day by hundreds of Romanov fans; some attracted by the romantic stories of the family, others with real historical interest because they  believe that there are many facts that have not been revealed yet. After the disappearance of the Romanovs in July of 1918, several articles in prominent newspapers outside of Russia reported them as “alive and in hiding”. Even the mother of the Tsar, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, repeatedly affirmed till the last day of her life in 1928 the her son and his family were alive, living in hiding and surrounded by loyalists. She never  went into mourning and remained in high spirits during the months following the alleged murder. The “official version” of the murders was published by investigator  Sokolov in 1924, and from that moment on it was accepted as the truth, although serious historians, forensic experts and Romanov scholars have contested his findings and disputed his shallow arguments.

In 1992, after the discovery of some putative bones of the Romanovs was announced, the Orthodox Church inside Russia raised their concerns, and so did a group of scholars and amateur historians from twelve different countries that have continued investigating this case in depth, visiting public and private archives, and gathering documents, letters, photos and testimonies in different languages and from truth worthy people. In 1998, the Russian government announced the burial of the bones that had been identified as those of Nicholas II and four members of his family. Two skeletons were missing.  When the state funeral of the so called “Romanov remains” took place,  the Orthodox Church refused to participate. Alexei II, then Patriarch of Russia did not attend the ceremony and a few days before appeared on national television explaining the reasons why him and his group of investigators did not believe those bones belonged to the Imperial Family. During seventeen years they continued asking for a new investigation, especially after the surface of forty four bone fragments that were discovered and also identified as those of the missing skeletons.

Finally, in 2015 the Russian government ordered the  re-opening of the investigation. The director of the State Archive A. Mironenko agrees  that is necessary to take into account all the historical documents. This is the same claim that a group of dedicated  historians in Ekaterinburg, led by Professor Veniamin Alekseev, have made since many years. But there has also been keen interest in the west. In 2010 I became aware of the existence of several historians in Europe and in the USA that firmly believe that the truth about the fate of the Romanovs has not been told, yet. They are very excited about this new chance to scrutinize what has been told and written and reveal to the world the other story that has been banned to the public.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to discover the truth and set the record straight. Scientific proof is highly important. I believe DNA tests are crucial and must be taken into account; but also historical documents and lots of circumstantial evidence should be examined”. Said Marie Stravlo, an investigative journalist, author and translator that is now leading the RIFHS. I  met her in Spain several years ago during one of her many  research trips.

She started her own investigation in 1998 after receiving privileged information about the true fate of the Romanovs by a member of the Imperial Family of Germany, whose parents had strong blood ties with the Romanovs. Since January of 2009 Stravlo has been completely devoted to a full time investigation with amazing but controversial results. That same year she met other investigators that shared information and documents, and joined the Russian Imperial Family Historical Society.

After traveling to nine countries on several occasions, and interviewing members of royal houses, other Romanov scholars, historians, authors and  people with amazing knowledge of the story, she is absolutely convinced that there is ” another story, the real story”, that has never been told with regard to this case.  During seven years she gathered not only stories about the members of Nicholas and Alexandra’s family that were never told before, but also photos, documents, testimonies and letters, hundreds of letters that could expose a different fate of the Imperial Family.

Marie Stravlo

I have always had a core believe, from when I was a teenager, that Anastasia Manahan was Grand Duchess Anastasia and  the story has always fascinated me. When I met Marie Stravlo and she kindly shared some of her findings, I was so impressed that I wanted to write a historical novel. She agreed to cooperate and allowed me to use the story about a lost Romanov Icon that belonged to Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, daughter of Tsar Paul I.

The book, published in 2012 under the titled THE LOST ROMANOV ICON AND THE ENIGMA OF ANASTASIA,