The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-02-21
|s)v|ET WRITER
TELLS STORY OF
CARS MURDER
c..~seme Tale Of Execution 81
Emperor Nicholas and Family
Published by Bolshevist.

',rhs Associated Press.)-A Boil
.s.sist account Of the execution of
= late Emperor Nicholas and his
s-,sly which took place here on
- night of July 16, 1918, has been
80 nublic in a pamphlet written
4 Bykoff. former chairman OF the
ytaterinburg Soviet.
I, was inspired by the commune
/. oninion that the story OF the
.-.rution should be told from the
Salsheyist side. But apparently it
IA not meet with the approval of
4. higher officials for, although
was published in the closing
s.ys of 1921, it was Immediately
~ithdrawn from circulation. ITO
1 hook was printed by the state print
1 irg department of the Ural district
4 soyernment in this city and gives
( general review of the labor
,syolution in the Urals. The last
.hapter in it's records the emper-
rs death and is entitled THE Last
DAYS of the Gar"
The book was obviously CEN
sored carefully before it was pub
TIshed as it lacks many details of
The execution which ordinarily
would have been given by eye wit
nesses. 1t attempts to justify, the
execution by explaining that the
0renburg Cossacks were tn Il
threatening Ekaterinburg from the
south; the Czechoslovak forces
we're pressing in from the east and
letters had been received showing
that plots were being formed to
deliver the imperial family to the
counter revolutionistS. Two ex-
tracts from letters are quoted as
evidence of the existence Of these
plots.
Cars Last Words.
According to Bykoff's account the
last words of the emperor when he
and his family were led unexpect-
edly into the basement of their
prison and told that all the Roman
offs must die, were: But are We
not TO be taken anywhere?"
The empress and her four daugh-
ters (The Grand Duchesses Olga,
Tatiana, Anastasia, and Marie)
and the little CZarevitch and the
remaining members of the house
hold of IL were so stunned that
they said nothing When Avdieif,
the commandant of the house or
dered them to line up against the
basement wall and pronounced the
sentence.
Bykoff says that a firing squad OF
iour shot the former imperial fam
Nv with revolvers. The identity OF
the members of the execution squ1d
is not revealed.
The pamphlet places the respon-
sibility for the execution OF the
ROmanofIs directly upon the Ural
6strict soviet which decided early
in July, 1918, that the car and his
amilv must die and entrusted the
execution of the sentence and the
destroying of the bodies to Peter
Emakoff, an old workman OF the
Upper Issetsky Works.
Four Witnesses
Ayideff, commandant of the house,
read the sentence, according to
Bykon's story, and there were only
four witnesses. But it is not indi-
Gated whether Avdieff shot or even
Witnessed the death of the imperial
family.
There were no statements in
Bykoffs account which indicate
that the Ural district soviet carried
out the execution under direct
orders from MOSCOW.
The Romanoffs were in their
ordinary clothing when shot. 1t
was not their custom to retire until
long after 10 O'Clock at night. Con
sequently all were still dressed
when the Inflated group of II was
Unexpectedly ordered to the base
nent and shot.
Byhoff's story says the guards
outside the house and the public
were kept in ignorance of the shoot
ing by a noisy automobile outside
which drowned the pistol reports.
Remove Bodies.
At l o'clock the next morning the
Il bodies were cecretly removed
tTom the house and taken to a
neighboTing wood. There the
etching was removed. The bodies
we're burned first and then the
clothing. Bykoff says the jewels
and fragments of jewelry viii n
ADMIRAL Kolchak's officers later
Gained to have found in the ashes
were probably concealed in the
e.cthing and overlooked by the
men who disposed of the bodies.
In addition to the Czar and Car
! ma Alexandra and their four daugh-
lefs and one son, the persons who
net death in the basement were
fFlnce Dolgoroukoff, DR.. Bodkin,
VINO was physician to the Ramon
ofs, lady-in-waiting and a man
who was nurse to the Czareyitch.
me names of the last two are not
gwen in Bykoff's pamphlet.
Grand Duke Michael, brother of
tae late car, was shot at Perm in
! saiy' 1918, according to Bykoff's
sceount, and the Grand Dukes
eefgius Mikhailovitch, Igor Kon-
stantinovitch, Konstantin Konstan-
unovltch and Ivan Konstantinoyitch
we're killed about the same time at
Aapaieysky, north of Ekaterinburg.
inese members of the Romanoff
.1nliy had previously been held as
nIsoners in Ekaterinburg, but were
.snsIerred because of the uncer-
.ain position of Ekaterinburg with,