Romanov family in Tobolsk – The Romanov Family

January 23, 2019Helen Azar No Comments

THE ROMANOV FAMILY: “GIANT STEPS” GAME

What exactly is “Giant Steps” the game that is so often mentioned in the Romanov diaries and letters? A number of swings with harnesses are secured to a pole by long ropes, and everyone swings around, taking giant strides.

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Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia playing on Giant Steps

Anastasia to Nicholas II: “31 May, 1916. Tsarskoe Selo… These days Maria and I swing on giant steps a lot. We are almost never nauseous, [although] we fell a bunch of times already, but so far have not hurt ourselves…”

Tatiana, Anastasia and Nicholas II on Giant Steps

Nicholas II to Maria: “Imperial Headquarters, 13 June, 1916… Alexei, Nagorny and Muravnukin are on the giant steps or we play a sort of hide-and-seek…”&nbsp

The Romanov family even built a make-shift Giant Steps swing for Alexei in the backyard of Governor’s mansion in Tobolsk, obviously it was one of their favourite activities.

Alexei swinging on the Giants Steps in the backyard of the Governor’s mansion in Tobolsk

Apparently, “Giant Steps” is still relatively popular in modern Russia:

Above excerpts are from the book “Maria and Anastasia: The Youngest Romanov Grand Duchesses In Their Own Words“.

December 15, 2018Helen Azar No Comments

THE DIARY OF OLGA ROMANOV: Royal Witness to the Russian Revolution

The First English Translation of the Wartime Diaries of the Eldest Daughter of Nicholas II, the Last Tsar of Russia, with Additional Documents of the Period
In August 1914, Russia entered World War I, and with it, the imperial family of Tsar Nicholas II was thrust into a conflict they would not survive.

His eldest child, Olga Nikolaevna, great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, had begun a diary in 1905 when she was ten years old and kept writing her thoughts and impressions of day-to-day life as a grand duchess until abruptly ending her entries when her father abdicated his throne in March 1917. Held at the State Archives of the Russian Federation in Moscow, Olga’s diaries during the wartime period have never been compiled into English until this volume.

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Also available as ebook

December 15, 2018Helen Azar No Comments

IN THE STEPS OF THE ROMANOVS: Final Two Years of the Russian Imperial Family 1916-1918

IN THE STEPS OF THE ROMANOVS: The Final Two Years of the Russian Imperial Family 1916-1918

This volume offers an accurate glimpse into the final two years of the last Imperial Family of Russia: exclusively through their own diary entries and personal correspondence, supplemented by contemporary eyewitness accounts, many of which are published here in English for the first time.
The reader will get to know on a deeper level the Grand Duchesses and the Empress, as they work at Tsarskoe Selo infirmaries; witness the imperial family’s grief for their murdered “Friend” Grigori Rasputin; experience their arrest after the outbreak of revolution, and follow them into captivity in Siberia – and ultimately the Red Ural – where they meet their tragic end in the cellar of “The House of Special Purpose”.
This already familiar unique piece of history is individually told by Nicholas, Alexandra and their five children: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei. Their collective personal story is a portrayal of a united family bound together by love, hardship and tragedy, taking place during the twilight of an extraordinary bygone era.

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ROMANOV FAMILY IN TOBOLSK: BLAGOVESCHENSKY CATHEDRAL

For some time after they arrived in Tobolsk, the Romanov family were allowed to attend the local cathedral for services. Blagoveschenie church was located very close to the Governor’s mansion: across the street then diagonally across the town gardens, and across another street to the left. I did the same walk, based on their own descriptions, and was able to locate the exact spot where the church once stood. (more…)

September 28, 2018Helen Azar 1 Comment