Table of contents:
- Why the members of the Yalta and Sevastopol councils could not agree among themselves about the fate of the Romanov family
- How the Socialist-Revolutionary Philip Zadorozhny took part in the salvation of the royal family
- Bluebeard's Castle - a haven or a prison for august persons?
- Why former prisoners asked for mercy to their guards
- The salutary expulsion of members of the royal family
Video: How Commissioner Philip Zadorozhny saved members of the royal family from the Red Terror in the Bluebeard castle
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Great upheavals always give rise to chaos and senseless cruelty to their own kind. But even in troubled, blood-stained times of uncontrolled permissiveness, there are individuals who do not deviate from the principles of morality and retain the best spiritual qualities. One of such personalities is Commissioner Philip Zadorozhny. This is the man who saved the relatives of the last Russian tsar from the inevitable execution that awaited them in Crimea during the period of the “red” terror.
Why the members of the Yalta and Sevastopol councils could not agree among themselves about the fate of the Romanov family
After the second - socialist - revolution in October, Crimea became a region in which there was practically no centralized power: although there were Councils of People's Representatives in each city, they usually acted at their own discretion - without looking back at orders from the capital. This was explained by the fact that among the members of the new government were the Bolsheviks, and former Black Hundreds, and anarchists, and even openly criminal elements. And they were often led by people who were very far from humanism and education.
The Yalta councils, which were dominated by anarchists, strove and successfully implemented an uncomplicated goal: to exterminate the "bourgeois" without trial and to appropriate all the property "plundered" by those. Members of the royal family were no exception - it was planned to destroy them only for belonging to the upper class of the old-regime ruling class.
Sevastopol councils were formed as bodies representing the interests of post-revolutionary Petersburg, whose plans did not include the murder of royal persons. Therefore, when an outright civil massacre began in Crimea, and the threat of an invasion of the Kaiser's troops loomed on the horizon, Sevastopol took care of protecting the Romanovs. On February 25, 1918, the former sailor of the Black Sea Fleet, Philip Lvovich Zadorozhny, was instructed to ensure the safety of the tsar's relatives and save their lives from the inevitable reprisals of bloodthirsty radicals.
How the Socialist-Revolutionary Philip Zadorozhny took part in the salvation of the royal family
Fulfilling the order, at the end of February 1918, Zadorozhny gathered the representatives of the dynasty, exiled by the Provisional Government to the grand-ducal Crimean estates in one place - the Dulber castle. The former residence of Grand Duke Pyotr Nikolaevich, once jokingly nicknamed by his friends the "Bluebeard" castle, had high thick walls in the Moorish style and was an excellent shelter.
After additional reinforcement with machine-gun nests with searchlights along the perimeter of the wall, the estate turned into a real impregnable fortress. Armed groups of anarchists of the Yalta Council repeatedly gathered at the gates of Dulber, demanding the extradition of the Romanovs, but they did not dare to take a full-fledged assault and siege, fearing losses from the well-defended detachment of Zadorozhny.
Bluebeard's Castle - a haven or a prison for august persons?
Opponent of terror and senseless murders, Philip Zadorozhny had an honest and no doubt just character. Nevertheless, he was an ideological and pedantic person who would not hesitate to shoot members of the royal family, having received the appropriate order from the "center". However, such an order was not received, as well as demands to turn the stay of the Romanovs in the castle into prison confinement. For this reason, their stay in Dulber was not limited by anything - they freely moved around the territory of their refuge and freely communicated with each other.
It is possible that such an attitude towards the outcast Romanov family was caused by the human factor: at one time, Philip Lvovich had a chance to study at the aviation school of Sevastopol, created in 1916 by the Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich. There he personally met the "Most Gracious Sovereign", who enjoys great prestige among the officers, and since then has retained personal respect for the prince. Be that as it may, Zadorozhny did not betray his true feelings and, judging by the historical information, communicated with the Romanovs in front of outsiders rather harshly.
Why former prisoners asked for mercy to their guards
According to the recollections of the same Alexander Mikhailovich: "It was a great blessing for us to find ourselves in such custody." Not experiencing harassment from Zadorozhny and being direct witnesses of the actions of his detachment to save their lives, the Romanovs felt grateful to the "jailers". The arrival of the German troops meant the liberation of royalty, but the Germans for them remained enemies of the fatherland - the First World War did not end, and Germany officially remained the main enemy of Russia. Therefore, having received an offer from the Kaiser general for protection, the Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich refused, preferring to remain under the protection of even ideologically and alien, but his own, Russians. By this, he prevented the arrest and execution of former warders, who since then have turned into guards who protected the august persons until April 1919.
The salutary expulsion of members of the royal family
In the spring of 1919, members of the royal family were expected to emigrate indefinitely: on the English cruiser Marlborough they departed for Constantinople, not yet knowing that many of them were never destined to see Russia again. Among the exiles, in addition to the Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna (mother of Nicholas II), included: Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich with his wife Ksenia Alexandrovna - the tsar's sister - and children, Grand Dukes Pyotr Nikolaevich and Nikolai Nikolaevich (junior) with their spouses, as well as the prince's parents Felix Yusupova - Count Sumarokov-Elston and Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova.
The farewell of the former prisoners to the people of Zadorozhny was notable for the touching moment: the youngest cried, and some of those who were older apologized for the rudeness shown at the initial meeting. Philip Lvovich himself, as the sculptor Deryuzhinsky, a participant in the events later recalled, looked depressed and showed restraint in his words.
In 2009, a monument appeared in Yalta: the date April 11, 1919 was on its pedestal. It was on this day that the family of the last Russian emperor left their homeland forever and said goodbye to the people with whom fate united them for two years, thereby giving life.
Later, having dealt with the Romanovs, the commissioners began to inspect the relics of the saints.
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