The Russians who fought and bled for their country are almost extinct. One of the last who died in the sacred cause was Nicholas II. and the other Romanov victims of the Red invaders, German and Jewish. A remnant persisted to the end. To them the Red Usurpers of Moscow could never be anything except an alien domination.
I recall the night before we left Ekaterinburg. The Reds were approaching, but Sokolov went into the darkness and the rain to obtain the evidence of important peasant witnesses. He told them who he was and the object of his call. They could have locked him up in a cellar and given him up to the Reds. It was to their advantage to do so. By giving him information they incurred great risk. He explained it all to them. “And now, what will you do?” he asked. “Will you help justice? Will you remember that he who is dead was your Tsar?” They did not hesitate one instant. They chose the path of honour, of self-sacrifice. They gave their evidence and brought Sokolov on his way.
It is the peasant that will bring Russia back to new life. Alexandra’s vision may yet come true, and Nicholas and the Romanovs may not have died in vain.
PART III
I
THE MEMBERS OF THE IMPERIAL FAMILY AT THE OUTBREAK OF THE REVOLUTION
1. Nicholas II, Alexandrovich, Emperor of Russia, oldest son of the Emperor Alexander III, born in Gachino (near Petersburg) on May 6, 1867. Ascended to the throne on October 20, 1894. Married Princess Alice of Hesse on November 14, 1894. At the outbreak of the Revolution was forty-nine years of age.