Evening star., 1920-06-26
DIARY OF CzAR|NA
TELLS OF LAST DAYS
UNDER OLD ORDER
sews Up Her Jewels With
Help of Children and
'Some 0thers.''
BY ISAAC DON LEVINE.
ARTICLE III.

BY ISAAC DON LEVINE.
ARTICLE IL.
The second period in the life of the
exiled Russian imperial family began
on February 81, 1918. On that day
the allowance received by the Roman
they were forced to dismiss ten of
their servants. This was the first of
a series of changes in the regime of
their exile in Tobolsk, which ended
on April 25 with the order to remove
the czar from Foboisk to Ekaterin-
ezaFina, Alexis. vas i'll The czarina
raced the dilemma of remaining with
the sick boy or accompanying her
husband. After great suffering, she
chose the latter course, leaving the
eldest daughter, Olga, behind to take
care of Alexis. Tatiana and Anastasia
remained in Tobolsk with Olga, while
Marie accompanied the czar and czar-
ina to Ekaterinburg. 1t was this
which. later gave ground for the
rumor that the czar's children were
alive and had not been assassinated
together with their parents. This is
disproved in the subsequent entries in
the diary.
The czarina's entry recording the
first change in the Tobolsk regime
reads as follows:
February "a, Dined with Baby.
Spoke over affairs with Vania (Dol-
today that we shall receive snly 1000
rubles month, 900 each for us seven,
and 30 must part with ten of them,
and live much more restrictedly-and
take all into our own hands from the
1st OF March, new style (bolshevik
The following day the csarna tells
of looking through her accounts and
paying all the wages. Later she adds,
talked over affairs with Vania." On
March l, at in the evening, she en-
tered the following:
'Dined with Baby. N. (Nicholas)
read to us. Heard that Gen. Yam
ushkevitch (ehief of the general staff
at the outbreak of the war; was
killed in the train near Gatchina,
PRINCE Orlov has had stroke at
Yalta and that Sergeiev has been
killed there among others
Comic Sketch Performed.
On March 3, Sunday, the czarina had
an unpleasant surprise. "Practiced
singing with the girls" she wrote, ''as
the choir won't sing any more" In the
Ger the management of Mr.. Gibbs of
the Crystal Gazer.r comic sketch
by Leopold Montague. Under the date
of March there is another alarming
piece of news. Heard that Felix's
cousin has been killed at KieT,,i she
emily Prince Felix Yusupov, who is
now in London, and in whose house it
was that Rasputin was murdered.
Nothing in particular happened in
the following few days Here is a
complete record of q days activities,
typical Of many. as made by the
czarina, the figures at the left of some
of the SENTENCES indicating the hours
of the entries.
March 5, Tuesday.
Strong wind, snow. and sun. Read.
u. Lunched downstairs Sewed.
church "ara Rssi Fsstea praetlssd g9Esipgins for
IS. Dined with basy:, u, read; to u.s."
charming Gubarev has been killed"
The next day Packing In. was per-
formed for the second time and was
very gayly acted" On ,Mondsy. the
Baby. Spent the afternoon writing
with him, as he7.hurt his toe and SO
must keep his foot up or lie on the
floor. Showed"
A Day Of Memories. 49,.
Then came March f5,tthe most fate
full day in the history Of Russia. Just
one year previous; the world was
shaken by the, fall OF, sthe. ightiest
throne on earth, The amanoifs had
been oyerthroWn, And nov, a year
later, we fnd them in siberia! And
their fate, the czarina, Remembers the
date. One brief sentence and three
exclamation marks in her diary are
the only indication of the flood of
memories that pust have engulfed
her that day. Otherwise the record OF
March 15 shows nothing out of the
ordinary. 1t fol1ows;r
=. E...'.- March Is, Friday.
Wrote letters.
"Lunohed with Baby. He went out
today again.
."Rainted tand wrote.
sTea. Rested and wrote.
Anniversary of Ms abdication!!
tT3ined with Alexis. N. read to u.s."
On March Is the czarina and her four
daughters made up the choir at the
service of that morning In the even
ing the ex-czar read "The Life of st:
Nicholas" -Four days later We find
that the ex-empress had to walk all
the way to the church, "as path too
bad for chair"-referring to her
wheelchair. And then between 8 pm.
and midnight the Remanoffs and their
lowing was entered the next morning:
March 2S, Saturday.
Mass and holy communion.
Walked there and back from church,
Choir sang beautifully. Painted
and read"
GLORIOUS sunshine, several degrees
of warmth in the sun and zero in the
shade" is the opening sentence of the
entry of the 24th. On the 25th the
czarina, sitting on the balcony, OBJ
served her former Crimean body
guard. Markoy. pass by, adding "and
Stein, too" Who was Stein?
On March % the czarina tells of a
cold contracted by Alexis. He does
not go out she writes, "as he has
a cough" On Tuesday. April 2, she
made this entry: sat whole after
noon knitting on balcony, 20 degrees
in the sun, in thin blouse and silk
jacket" Then came another anniver-
sary, April 8, the day of the removal
Of the Romanoffs from their home at
Tzarskoye Selo. The czarina's rec
ord of the day follewss -
"Dined with baby. Said good-hy
to three of our men. who left us
month ago, hut now go home.
IN. read to us, T,t
"A year today A. NJ. were taken
away from Tzarskoye Seio."
Some excerpts from the ezafina's
daily entries made in April are re-
April z, Sunday.
Morning mass, We sang. Read
the whole morning.
Luncheon with baby Read and
sat half hour ON balcony. Fresher.
Had showed a wee bit in the morn
ing