The last time I saw the czar and his daughters was on July 16th. They were walking in the garden about four o’clock. I don’t remember whether I saw the heir. The czaritza, I did not see, as she did not walk at that time.
On Monday, July 15th, the boy who lived with the imperial family and used to push the roller chair, appeared in our quarters at Popoff’s house. I specially noticed this fact. Probably the other guards also noticed it. But nobody knew why the boy was transferred to our house. There is no doubt that it was done on Iourovsky’s orders. On July 16th I was on duty. My hours at that time were from two p. m. up till ten p. m. At ten o’clock I placed the sentries on all the eight posts (duties on posts numbers one, two, eleven and twelve were not performed by us). The sentries that I placed at ten p. m. had to be relieved at two a. m. by the new senior, Constantine Dobrynin, to whom I shifted my duties. After I was relieved I went to our quarters. I remember that I had tea and afterwards, at about eleven o’clock, went to bed. Klescheeff, Romanoff and Osokin were in the same room with me. About four a. m., when it began to be daylight, I was wakened by Klescheeff’s voice. Romanoff and all the other men, including Osokin, who slept in the same room with me, were also awakened. Klescheeff was saying in a nervous voice: “Get up, fellows, I will tell you the news; get out into the other room.” We got up and followed him to the next room where there were more men, and when we all got assembled, Klescheeff announced: “Today the czar was shot.” We all started to ask how it happened and he and Deriabin told us the following, mutually completing each other’s narrative.
At two a. m. a notice was given to them by Medvedeff and Dobrynin whilst they were standing on their posts, that they would have to perform their duty longer than two o’clock a. m., as during the night the czar was going to be shot. After receiving the notice Klescheeff and Deriabin approached the windows: Klescheeff, to the window of the lobby of the lower floor which was opposite to the door that led to the room where the murder took place; and Deriabin to the window of the room that faced the Vosnesensky Lane. Shortly afterwards, they say it was a little past midnight by the Old Time, or a little past two by the New Time (instituted by the Bolsheviki, who changed the time two hours ahead), some persons entered the lower room and proceeded to the room where the murder took place. The procession was seen very well by Klescheeff. Iourovsky and Nikoulin went ahead and were followed by the emperor, empress and the daughters—Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, as well as by Botkin, Demidova, Troupp and Haritonoff, the cook. The heir was carried in the arms of the emperor. Behind them went Medvedeff and the Letts, the ten men that lived in the lower room and were requested by Iourovsky from the “Tchresvytchayka.” Two of the number carried rifles. When the imperial family were in the room, they placed themselves as follows: In the middle of the room stood the czar; the heir was seated on a chair to the right of the czar; to the right of the heir stood Dr. Botkin; behind them against the wall stood the empress with her daughters; at one side of the empress stood the cook and the waiter; on the other Demidova.
Besides them, the following people were in the room: Iourovsky, Nikoulin, and the Letts. Behind the Letts stood Medvedeff.
Deriabin couldn’t tell the words with which Iourovsky addressed the family, he didn’t hear them, but Klescheeff positively affirms that he heard Iourovsky’s words and that Iourovsky said to the czar: “Nicholas Alexandrovitch, your relatives are trying to save you, therefore we are compelled to shoot you.” The same minute several shots were heard. All the revolvers were fired.
A woman’s scream and loud cries of several women’s voices were heard after the first shots. They executed the victims one after the other. The emperor fell first, after him fell the heir. Demidova was tossing herself about, but was dispatched by bayonets. After they all fell they were examined and some of them who gave signs of life were again shot and pierced by bayonets. Of the members of the imperial family they mentioned Anastasia as being pierced by bayonets. After that they again started to examine the dead: unbuttoned their clothes, looking for jewelry. All the things found on the dead persons, Iourovsky took himself and carried upstairs. Somebody brought from the upper rooms a few bed sheets and the dead were wrapped in those and carried out into the yard through the same rooms through which they had passed to their execution. From the yard they were carried to a motor truck which was standing behind the gate of the house. All of them were transported on a truck; some cloth was taken from the store room and spread on the truck; the bodies were put on the cloth and covered with the same cloth. Sergius Luhanoff was the driver. The truck with the bodies was taken out by Luhanoff through the gates that opened on the Vosnesensky Lane. Iourovsky and about three Letts went out with the bodies. After the bodies were taken out of the house two Letts began to mop up the blood and wash it with water and sawdust.
The narratives of Klescheeff and Deriabin about the murder sounded so much like truth and they both were so excited by everything they had seen, that nobody had even a shadow of a doubt that they were speaking the truth. Deriabin felt especially upset about it; he swore and called them murderers, butchers, and spoke about them with profound disgust.
On one of the following days, either Medvedeff or somebody who heard him, told me that Luhanoff took the bodies to the Verkh-Issetsk Works. The truck went through a wooded country. The ground began to get soft and swampy. The car was proceeding with difficulty, as its wheels sank into the mud. With many difficulties the automobile arrived at its destination, where a hole was already dug. All the bodies were laid in the hole and covered.
All that I am telling is the exact truth. Neither myself nor any other of our Zlokasoff workmen knew anything in the evening about the intended murder. After that evening Medvedeff did not come to our quarters and did not explain anything to us. I admit that some of the Sissert workmen may have known about it through Medvedeff, but the Sissert workmen were holding themselves aloof from us, and we from them. Among the Sissert workmen there was a greater number of Bolsheviki than among us.
Regarding the weapons, I can say the following: Iourovsky had two revolvers; one of them was a big Mauser and the other a Nagan. Besides that I have seen a big revolver in the commandant’s room and it is possible that it was a Colt. All the Letts had revolvers and judging by the holsters they had Nagans. Besides that a few more revolvers were brought from some place at the time Iourovsky was commandant.