MARTYRDOM OF A EUROPEAN DYNASTY

In July, 2020, the world will mourn the 102 years of remembrance of the massacre of Imperial Russia’s Tsar Nicholas II and his family. In 1918, Europe’s most admired royal family, second in timescale only to the Hapsburg Empire, were herded by their Bolshevik captors into a basement in Yekaterinburg under the pretext that their photograph was to be taken.

The Tsar and Tsarina Alexandra, their daughters Olga (22) Tatiana (21), Maria (19), Anastasia (17) and Alexei (13) soon afterwards fell under a hail of bullets and bayonets. The family’s corpses and those of three loyal servants and the family doctor has afterwards hurled down a mine and later burned.

Each year, from the Baltic Sea to the Bering Straits, a distance about 5,700 miles, millions of Russians and others from around the world lament their loss. Monuments and museums, art galleries, movies, television documentary and drama, church services, it is hard to forget the tragedy, except in the West.

Is lack of interest due to shame? The so-called Russian Revolution was a coup similar to most Western-inspired regime changes. Jacob Schiff, (1847 – 1920), the Wall Street banker who had financed Japan during the Russo-Japanese War (1904 – 1905), publicly boasted of his feat in bringing about the coup.

In 1911 the St. Louis Dispatch published a cartoon by Bolshevik insider Robert Minor. His published cartoon portrays Karl Marx with a book entitled Socialism under his arm, standing amid a cheering crowd on Wall Street.

Gathered around and greeting him with enthusiastic handshakes are characters identified as John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, John D. Ryan of National City Bank, Morgan partner George W. Perkins and Teddy Roosevelt, leader of the Progressive Party.

From 1922, the Western corporations moved in to feast on the cadaver of prostrate Imperial Russia is now known as the USSR. These included Ford Motor Company, General Electric, International Harvester, Caterpillar etc. Across Russia and Ukraine, and other nations overrun by the Wall Street-financed Bolshevik hordes, millions of prisoners, whom Revolutionary Leon Trotsky dubbed White Negroes, worked harder and cost much less than those employed in Western sweatshops. Over 1,000 Gulag camps were scattered across what Alexander Solzhenitsyn called The Gulag Archipelago.

The fate of the Tsar and his family are fairly well known. However, few have been told what happened to the others making up the then Romanov Dynasty (1613 – 1917).

The Romanov Dynasty was primarily a family made up of the best of Europe’s royal houses. The blood of the martyrs was that of England, Denmark, Greece, Germany, and Romania, Habsburg dynasty, Russia and Serbia (then a powerful state).

The martyred Romanovs could lay claim to being the essence of Europe’s royal houses. Theirs was not so much a Russian as a European dynasty.

The Romanov family and the Hessen family 1910

There were 53 Romanovs living in Russia when Tsar Nicholas II abdicated on March 15, 1917. Eighteen were slaughtered in the most heart-wrenching circumstances; 35 made their way to safety. Imperial Russia’s gold reserves weighed 1,311 tonnes, which is $60 billion at today’s value. This too went to the West’s banking houses and was used to offer loans to corporations desperate to invest in Stalin’s Bolshevik Soviet Union.

SLAUGHTER OF A DYNASTY, TROTSKY’S WHITE NEGROES and THE EXILED DUKE ROMANOV WHO TURNED DESERT INTO PARADISE by Michael Walsh are worldwide sellers and have earned rave reviews whilst being much-discussed during radio and video broadcasts.

 Related  article THE SLAUGHTER OF A DYNASTY

MICHAEL WALSH is a journalist, broadcaster and the author of RISE OF THE SUN WEEL, EUROPE ARISE,  TROTSKY’S WHITE NEGROES, MEGACAUST,  DEATH OF A CITY, WITNESS TO HISTORY, THE BUSINESS BOOSTER , THE FIFTH COLUMN VOLUME I and II, FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT SPEAK, IMMORTAL BELOVED, THE ALL LIES INVASION, INSPIRE A NATION Volume I, INSPIRE A NATION Volume II , SLAUGHTER OF A DYNASTY , REICH AND WRONG,  THE RED BRIGANDS, RANSACKING THE REICH ,   The Exiled Duke Romanov Who Turned Desert Into Paradise , THE DOVETAILS and other book titles. These illustrated best-selling books are essential for the libraries of informed readers.

THE LIVERPOOL  TETRALOGY

The revenge of a predator is a city-vigilante epic better than Death Wish A LEOPARD IN LIVERPOOL , 30 lavishly illustrated first-hand stories by a Liverpool sailor  BELIEVING OF LIVERPOOL, Latest Killer-Thriller From Michael Walsh the City Vigilante Supremo The Stigma Enigma , A powerful thought-provoking paranormal romance The Soul Meets, How to form a naughty ménage a trois THE DOVETAILS.

Latest Michael Walsh bestsellers: Those who fall victim to the taxman, banks and moneylenders are victims of legalised mugging  DEBTOR’S REVENGE, The Business Booster shows you how to double your profits not your workload THE BUSINESS BOOSTER 

The dissident author’s books available for purchase by visiting his website BOOKSTORE, BUY FROM AUTHOR and POETRY  links.

Michael Walsh currently has eight books listed under BUY DIRECT. Royalties will be ploughed into adding further popular titles declared taboo by the treacherous troika; Amazon, Facebook, and Mainstream Media. When ordering the book contact Michael Walsh by email keyboardcosmetics@gmail.com to receive your signed copy.

www.mikewalshwritingservices.wordpress.com

BOOKS THAT CHALLENGE, INSPIRE, INFORM Michael Walsh, ‘Writer of the Year’ with a strong global following. Nearly 64 interesting Amazon book titles famed for changing and improving lives. CLICK TO VIEW  www.mikewalshwritingservices.wordpress.com

COVID-19 KISSES GOODBYE TO BUSINESS COMPLACENCY

Give or take a few recessions mild by what is about to hit, businesses have weathered well. Still, COVID-19 is a game-changer. Back to square one, the future for businesses is going to be hand-to-hand fighting with the weakest to the wall.

In a buoyant economy, complacency becomes widespread. We all know of tradesmen who, despite lacking business skills prospered. We all know of business amateurs who could get by, for instance running a restaurant without a single day’s lesson behind them.

Businesses that were clueless as to marketing, that was blithely dismissive of customer care, scornful of rivals, enterprises that had no idea of how to sell themselves.

Remember them as such inept business practices are about to become a thing of the past, says Michael Walsh.

Headhunted by the Guild of Master Craftsmen and later by the Federation of Master Builders, the small to medium (SME) business mentor assessed and tutored thousands of new and established businesses from 1987 ~ 2007. Both quality assurance business organisations represent the cream of the British business community.

Membership was granted only to those customer endorsed businesses and individuals who could demonstrate a constant commitment to quality workmanship and excellent customer service and relations. Only after careful vetting, in which satisfactory customer references were acquired and work record diligently analysed, was membership granted and each year reviewed.

Michael Walsh was a principal player in Guild of Master Craftsmen’s elite team of business experts delegated to follow-up membership enquiries. At the sharp end of the vetting procedure, there were times when businesses, both new and established, welcomed the advice of hand-picked business experts like Michael Walsh.

There was, of course, alternative business training opportunities available to small businesses. Very often these mentoring sessions and three-day business courses had previously been attended by Guild of Master Craftsmen applicants. Time after time it was confided in Michael Walsh that business owners learned more in two-hours off him than during any three-day government grant-aided course.

Many British businesses became successful after taking on board suggestions made by Michael Walsh. Upon retirement, Michael Walsh provided the Euro Weekly News with the newspaper’s Business Matters weekly column. These advice columns available to 550,000 readers were a great success. A selection of these columns is now published as THE BUSINESS BOOSTER.

Wherever in the world you live the application of good business practice is universal. You will find in THE BUSINESS BOOSTER an invaluable investment. THE BUSINESS BOOSTER will massively reduce your advertising bills, rein-in your overheads, increase your customer base, and add immeasurably to your profits. Share if you like this story.

THE BUSINESS BOOSTER Michael Walsh: Recently updated and enhanced. This well-illustrated business survival manual includes 55 hot tip articles on how to increase your business, boost your profits whilst massively reducing your overheads. THE BUSINESS BOOSTER is the best business investment you will ever make.

MICHAEL WALSH is a journalist, broadcaster and the author of RISE OF THE SUN WEEL, EUROPE ARISE,  TROTSKY’S WHITE NEGROES, MEGACAUST,  DEATH OF A CITY, WITNESS TO HISTORY, THE BUSINESS BOOSTER , THE FIFTH COLUMN VOLUME I and II, FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT SPEAK, IMMORTAL BELOVED,  INSPIRE A NATION Volume I, INSPIRE A NATION Volume II , SLAUGHTER OF A DYNASTY ,  THE RED BRIGANDS, RANSACKING THE REICH ,  and The Exiled Duke Romanov Who Turned Desert Into Paradise  and other book titles. These illustrated best-selling books are essential for the libraries of informed readers.

THE LIVERPOOL  TETRALOGY

The revenge of a predator is a city-vigilante epic better than Death Wish A LEOPARD IN LIVERPOOL , 30 lavishly illustrated first-hand stories by a Liverpool sailor  BELIEVING OF LIVERPOOL, Latest Killer-Thriller From Michael Walsh the City Vigilante Supremo The Stigma Enigma , A powerful thought-provoking paranormal romance The Soul Meets, How to form a naughty ménage a trois THE DOVETAILS.

Latest Michael Walsh bestsellers: Those who fall victim to the taxman, banks and moneylenders are victims of legalised mugging  DEBTOR’S REVENGE, The Business Booster shows you how to double your profits not your workload THE BUSINESS BOOSTER 

The dissident author’s books available for purchase by visiting his website BOOKSTORE, BUY FROM AUTHOR and POETRY  links.

KEEP REAL NEWS OPEN: Donate by using Western Union, MoneyGram, Ria, registered mail or contact Michael Walsh: keyboardcosmetics@gmail.com or euroman_uk@yahoo.co.uk 2) Follow our blog. 3) Share our stories and 4) buy our author-signed books. 5) Receive free newsletters by writing subscribe to euroman_uk@yahoo.co.uk

Michael Walsh currently has eight books listed under BUY DIRECT. Royalties will be ploughed into adding further popular titles declared taboo by the treacherous troika; Amazon, Facebook, and Mainstream Media. When ordering the book contact Michael Walsh by email keyboardcosmetics@gmail.com to receive your signed copy.

www.mikewalshwritingservices.wordpress.com

BOOKS THAT CHALLENGE, INSPIRE, INFORM Michael Walsh, ‘Writer of the Year’ with a strong global following. Nearly 64 interesting Amazon book titles famed for changing and improving lives. CLICK TO VIEW  www.mikewalshwritingservices.wordpress.com

THE LAST EPIC BATTLE OF AFRICA

The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale (1987 – 1988) in South West Africa is airbrushed out of the conventional history books and mainstream media. Yet, the conflict was Africa’s greatest clash of arms since the Battle of El Alamein took place during World War II on October 23 – 11 November 1942.

Cuban President Fidel Castro was picked by the Kremlin to teach Angola’s rebellious Portuguese community a lesson at the end of a bayonet. Whilst the world was distracted by the phoney Cold War in Europe, Washington and Moscow worked in harmony to affect the transfer of power from Portuguese Angola and Mozambique to Black rule managed by Wall Street banking corporations.

During the transfer, Angolan and Mozambique Portuguese colonists waged a brave but futile struggle against tremendous odds. During the transition, most of the terrorist outrages committed against the Portuguese and African communities went unreported by the West’s mainstream media.

The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale took place in Angola and was one of the greatest and decisive battles in African history. The conflict hardly made the mainstream media’s small print columns. It has been said that this anomaly was because the outcome of the battle was a setback and humiliation for those backing the Washington Moscow pincer movement on colonial Africa.

The purpose of the Soviet-backed FAPLA (Peoples Armed Forces of Liberation of Angola) the onslaught was to take control of the Cuito Cuanavale military airfield and to take the townships of Jamba and Mavinga controlled by UNITA, the National Union for Total Independence of Angola. Eight FAPLA brigades gathered for an offensive dubbed Operação Saludando Octubre.

As the battle commenced the odds were not in favour of the defenders as the forces of FAPLA arraigned against them were 50,000 strong. FAPLA’s troops were heavily supported by well-armed and supplied mercenaries and Cuban troops.

There was also a heavy presence of Red Army officers.  The 3,000 mostly South African defenders were hardly enough to fill the spectator stands of a school’s playing fields. However, the resolve of the South Africans wrought havoc on their foes. The small defending forces succeeded in cutting down 4,600 of their Communist foe.

The South African Defence Forces lost 31 men who were killed during the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. Also lost were three tanks, five armoured vehicles and three aircraft.  In addition to the 4,600 troops scythed, the Communists lost 94 T-62 tanks, 23 rocket launchers, 100 armoured vehicles, and nine strike aircraft filched from the Warsaw Pact Soviet colonies. The Moscow backed forces lost an estimated 1 billion South African Rands in equipment.

As an interesting aside the tactics employed by the South African Defence Forces were based on tactics inspired by Third Reich Wehrmacht Field-Marshall General Erwin Rommel when he crushed the British forces at Gazala in the Western desert. EXCERPT The Last Gladiators Michael Walsh. Recently updated and enhanced. Thirty chapters, over 120 pictures, book reviews are very much appreciated.

MICHAEL WALSH is a journalist, author, and broadcaster. His 64 books include best-selling RHODESIA’S DEATH EUROPE’S FUNERAL, AFRICA’S KILLING FIELDS,  THE LAST GLADIATORS, A Leopard in Liverpool, RISE OF THE SUN WEEL, EUROPE ARISE, FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT SPEAK, THE ALL LIES INVASION, INSPIRE A NATION Volume I, INSPIRE A NATION Volume II , and many other book titles. These illustrated best-selling books are essential for the libraries of informed readers.

THE LIVERPOOL  TETRALOGY

The revenge of a predator is a city-vigilante epic better than Death Wish A LEOPARD IN LIVERPOOL , 30 lavishly illustrated first-hand stories by a Liverpool sailor  BELIEVING OF LIVERPOOL, Latest Killer-Thriller From Michael Walsh the City Vigilante Supremo The Stigma Enigma , A powerful thought-provoking paranormal romance The Soul Meets, How to form a naughty ménage a trois THE DOVETAILS.

Latest Michael Walsh bestsellers: Those who fall victim to the taxman, banks and moneylenders are victims of legalised mugging  DEBTOR’S REVENGE, The Business Booster shows you how to double your profits not your workload THE BUSINESS BOOSTER 

The dissident author’s books available for purchase by visiting his website BOOKSTORE, BUY FROM AUTHOR and POETRY  links.

We are in debt to our donors (click ESPRIT DE CORP) who finance the distribution of spin-free real news and fearlessly expressed views.

KEEP REAL NEWS OPEN: Donate by using Western Union, MoneyGram, Ria, registered mail or contact Michael Walsh: keyboardcosmetics@gmail.com or euroman_uk@yahoo.co.uk 2) Follow our blog. 3) Share our stories and 4) buy our author-signed books. 5) Receive free newsletters by writing subscribe to euroman_uk@yahoo.co.uk

Michael Walsh currently has eight books listed under BUY DIRECT. Royalties will be ploughed into adding further popular titles declared taboo by the treacherous troika; Amazon, Facebook, and Mainstream Media. When ordering the book contact Michael Walsh by email keyboardcosmetics@gmail.com to receive your signed copy.

www.mikewalshwritingservices.wordpress.com

BOOKS THAT CHALLENGE, INSPIRE, INFORM Michael Walsh, ‘Writer of the Year’ with a strong global following. Nearly 64 interesting Amazon book titles famed for changing and improving lives. CLICK TO VIEW  www.mikewalshwritingservices.wordpress.com

BUSINESS SURVIVAL AND REVIVAL MANUAL

Had Michael Walsh focused on using his business expertise rather than following his ideological instincts he would likely be a wealthier person now. A highly respected business affairs columnist for media, Michael Walsh based his business counselling on a successful career as a business consultant.

The far-right Michael Walsh has been compared to John Harvey-Jones (1924 – 2008). The charismatic business advisor hosted the television series The Trouble Shooter which identified and removed problems troubling good but ailing businesses.

Back in 1987, the gun shop owner and former leader of British Movement was headhunted by the prestigious Guild of Master Craftsmen. The authoritarian business accreditation body was ranked higher than the British Standards and Kite Mark standards of business excellence.

Michael Walsh was the Guild of Master Craftsmen’s most successful and longest-serving Assessment and Recruitment Manager.

The quality assurance accreditation body’s patron was the Rt. Hon. Margaret Thatcher. The Guild’s membership base includes the most illustrious names in British industry, commerce and retailing industries.  In 1989, the highly acclaimed Federation of Master Builders also invited Michael Walsh to assess businesses on their behalf. Michael finally ‘retired’ in 2007.

During his 20-years’ service with business accreditation bodies, Mike Walsh vetted and assisted membership applications of over 1,000 businesses. Many business proprietors remarked that his analysis and advice was far superior to that of their bank or local authorities’ businesses course.

Drawing on his vast experience Michael Walsh later published his best-selling ‘business survival manual’, The Business Booster. He concedes that there are thousands of business advice books available.

“However, I was hands-on privileged to meet the heads of thousands of successful businesses. Some were sole traders whilst many were household name businesses. I learned a great deal from them. By making available The Business Booster I simply pass their advice to the coming generation of business builders.”

Unlike the authors of many ‘get rich quick’ book titles, Michael Walsh is no business theorist. He successfully created or managed a political movement, was a successful retailer, owned a printing and publishing business, and was Managing Director of Southern Comfit International, the international property syndicate for seven years.

During his period with trade bodies he became something of a legend for the quality of the advice he was able to give to businesses.  Many business owners concede that they owe their business success to his guidance.

On his retiring to Spain, Michael Walsh was engaged by the Euro Weekly News.  Europe’s largest newspaper group of its kind was keen to use his experience to benefit the business community.

The Business Matters survival manual is perfect for all business owners wherever they are in the world. The author says that any one of the several score advice stories is guaranteed to give a business the edge of its rivals.

“Read and absorb, apply the principles of The Business Booster and any business will survive and prosper in even the most hostile of competitive climates.  A unique hands-on guide to successfully and efficiently running a small business, The Business Booster by Michael Walsh is available on Amazon Books.

MICHAEL WALSH is a journalist, author, and broadcaster. His 52 books include THE BUSINESS BOOSTER and THE FIFTH COLUMN VOLUME I and II.

KEEP REAL NEWS OPEN: Donate by using MoneyGram, Western Union or registered mail. 2) Follow our blog. 3) Share our stories and 4) buy our author signed books.

Michael Walsh currently has eight books listed under BUY DIRECT. Royalties will be ploughed into adding further popular titles declared taboo by the treacherous troika; Amazon, Facebook, and Mainstream Media. When ordering the book contact Michael Walsh by email keyboardcosmetics@gmail.com to receive your signed copy.

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RUSSIA’S DEEPLY SYMBOLIC WARNING

Russian President Vladimir Putin again appears to warn Israel that, unlike the U.S. and EU, Russia does not consider the interests of Israel to be untouchable. Having already berated Talmudic Jews for their malevolent seizure of power in 1917, the president’s instruction was to restore the memorial that marks the assassination of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, uncle of  Tsar Nicholas II.

The original monument was paid for by public donations and erected in 1905 with great solemnity and later destroyed by vengeful Bolsheviks in 1918. The symbolism of the president’s instruction will not be lost on globalists.

The massive cross was the creation of the legendary artist Victor Vasnetsov and stood in its place for only 10 years. Its demolition was caused by Vladimir Lenin, Sverdlov and a group of other Bolsheviks tossing a looped rope over the head of the Christ figure and dragging it to the ground.

The assassinated Grand Duke, the brother of Russian Emperor Alexander III, was staunchly anti-Jewish and cleared the Jewish merchants from the temples of Russian commerce following is the appointment.

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia

February 18 marks a tragic event that Russians consider very important. Indeed, when the terrorist attack occurred the world was in shock and ever since Russians remember the appalling assassination carried out by Jewish insurgents.

In February 1891, Emperor Alexander III appointed Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich (1857-1905) Moscow Governor-General. His brother was a political hardliner who shared his brother’s belief in strong, ethnic Russian nationalist government.

With immediate effect 20,000 – 30,000 Jews were evicted, about 3/4 of the entire Jewish population of Moscow. From there on Jews were not allowed to join the Moscow merchant class of the 1st guild until their share decreased to 33% among representatives of this category of inhabitants of the capital.

Eager for revenge the militant Jewish controlled S.R. (Socialist Revolutionary Party) sentenced Grand Prince Sergei Alexandrovich to death. The Bolsheviks then waited for a convenient chance to carry out the death sentence.

The Grand Duke’s wife, Elizaveta Fyodorovna knew her husband’s life was in danger having received unsigned letters with warnings not to accompany her husband unless she wanted to share his fate. Disregarding the threats, the Grand Duchess constantly escorted her husband.

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich; Sergei’s wife, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna holding Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna; Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich with his son, Dmitri, on his lap.

On February 15, 1905, the family attended a concert at the Bolshoi Theatre in aid of Elizabeth Feodorovna’s Red Cross War charities. Aware of the processional route to be taken the Bolsheviks planned the assassination of the Grand Duke. But, seeing the childless couple’s niece and nephew in the carriage one of the assassins thought better of it. He decided not to wave the handkerchief which he had agreed to use as a signal to one of the comrades ready to throw the bomb.

The aim was to assassinate the Grand Duke, not to kill his wife and two innocent children in cold blood, which would surely send a wave of revulsion through the empire and set back the revolutionary cause by years.

Nonetheless, Ivan Kalyayev, of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party’s Combat detachment, three days later, stepped forward and hurled a nitro-glycerine bomb directly into the lap of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. The detonation disintegrated the carriage and the Grand Duke was killed immediately, his body shredded.

The corpse of the Grand Duke was mutilated, with the head, the upper part of the chest and the left shoulder and arm being destroyed whilst very little remained of the victim’s face. Some of the Grand Duke’s fingers, still adorned with the rings he habitually wore, were found on the roof of a nearby building and were recovered sometime later.

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Kalyayev, who by his own testimony had expected to die in the explosion, survived. Sucked into the vortex of the explosion, he ended up by the remains of the rear wheels. His face peppered by splinters, pouring with blood. He was immediately arrested, sentenced to death and hanged two months later.

Ivan Kalyayev (July 6, 1877 – May 23, 1905) was a member of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party. He is best known for his role in the assassination of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, which was an operation of the SR Combat Organization. Arrested at the scene, Kalyayev was convicted of murder and hanged.

Photograph of Ivan Kalyayev taken after the assassination of the Duke. “I threw the bomb from less than four steps. I was taken by the explosions; I saw the carriage fly to pieces. My overcoat was strewn with splinters of wood all around, it was torn and burnt, and there was blood on my face.”

When Elizaveta Fyodorovna arrived at the scene of the explosion a crowd of people had already gathered. One of the onlookers attempted to prevent her from coming close to her husband’s remains. Unwilling to be thwarted, with her own hands she picked up the parts of his body torn asunder by the explosion and put them onto the stretchers.

On the third day following her husband’s death, Elizaveta Fyodorovna visited the jailed assassin. Kalyayev said, “I did not want to kill you, I saw him several times when I had the bomb ready, but you were beside him and I did not dare the attempt.”

“Did it not occur to you that you killed us both,” she replied.

She then said she had brought Sergei Alexandrovich’s forgiveness and asked the murderer to repent.

Elisabeth publicly forgave Sergei’s murderer, Ivan Kalyayev, and campaigned without success for him to be pardoned.

The Grand Duchess ordered a monument to be designed by the Russian artist Victor Vasnetsov, which was built and placed at the site of her husband’s assassination. Here then was a cross on which the words of the Saviour pronounced by Him on the cross were written, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34) (6).

The monument to the assassinated Grand Duke as it stands today.  On May 4, 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in a ceremony unveiling a monument to Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich on the site of his assassination in the park by the Kremlin’s Nikolskaya Tower. The memorial cross on the site of the death of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was demolished by Bolsheviks in 1918.

From the time of her husband’s assassination, Elizaveta Fyodorovna wore mourning dresses; she kept a strict fast and prayed much. Her bedroom in the Nicolievski Palace began to resemble a nun’s cell.

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia with her sister Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia, were granddaughters of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

All the splendid furniture was removed; the walls were painted white and covered only with icons and pictures of evangelic content. She never appeared at any receptions or balls. She went to church only at weddings or baptism of relatives and friends and left for home or on her business immediately after the ceremony. Nothing bound her to the high society life.

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna as a nun after her husband’s death

Elizaveta Fyodorovna took her jewelry and gave much of it to the state treasury, leaving some to her relatives. With such as remained she decided to use for the building of a monastery of Mercy.

The Grand Duchess bought a large estate with four houses and a garden on Ordynka Street in Moscow. The largest two-story building housed the dining room, the kitchen, storage and other rooms for nuns. The second house became a church and a hospital, with a drugstore and a clinic for visiting patients beside it, and the fourth building was set up as a house for the Priest-Confessor, the library, and classes for orphan girls.

During World War I Elizaveta Feodorovna organised sanitary trains, arranged a hospital for the wounded in Moscow, where she often visited, organised special committees to provide widows and orphans of those killed at the front. It was especially touching for a soldier to receive icons and images from the Grand Duchess, prayer books, and the Gospels. She was especially concerned about distributing icons and literature and artefacts through Orthodox churches with everything necessary for worship.

Convent of Saints Martha and Mary

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The Jewish Bolsheviks were unrelenting in their hatred for Europe’s most popular dynastic family members. Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, widow of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, sister of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, 54 years old, in July 1918 she was arrested and ultimately executed by the Bolsheviks near city Alapayevsk. She met a brutal death when still alive: the diminutive saintly sister of mercy was hurled down a forest mineshaft.

This is an abridged version of the full tragedy which can be read in Slaughter of a Dynasty. 

Purchase on Amazon

 

IF YOU’VE GOT IT FLAUNT IT

On-going debate about the distraction of social media and television has much merit. But, it is our weakness if such takes too much of our time up. I wonder, having watched a favourite programme, will we ever glow from the satisfaction of having ourselves created something of enduring pleasure.

I spend too much time on Facebook; I enjoy the cut and thrust of social activity that crosses the world’s frontiers.

However, I must admit to being torn as to how I spend my leisure time. Like many others I have been given a gift; mine is creative writing, which I enjoy immensely.

A Latvian friend would spend hour after happy hour crocheting the most beautiful garments. I know of at least one church where her work performs its task as a sacred altar cloth. Her crocheting provides lasting pleasure and earns her high praise.

Many people hide their gifts as if they are ashamed or perhaps consider it vain to mention them. My profession meant my making home visits. Often, my attention would be caught by a photograph or artwork, a figurine or an item of clothing.

My expression asked the questions. Often, the shy reply would be, “it’s one of mine.”

I recall a 2 x 1 metre bevelled mirror that depicted an etched image of the RMS Titanic lunging out of the Atlantic as it collided with the iceberg. The etching was so breath-taking in its drama and beauty that I never forgot it. Yet, it was the work of a young glass engraver.

An acquaintance created an exact replica from sculptor’s clay of the church one was married in. I met a lady who applied her skills by turning enamelled dolls into imitations of one’s daughter. A young pianist composed her own melodies.

A was awestruck by personally created wedding dresses, hand-crafted furniture, carved figurines, paintings, photographic art, and replicas of everything from model ships to busts. Without question, each artefact was up to art gallery or museum standard. However, those with the greatest gifts tend to be the most quietly spoken.

Impressed by the skills and patience of their creators I was even more impressed by their creators’ blasé response to praise.

I am sorry I never pursued the idea. It occurred to me that if I were to book a local hall there would be an opportunity to showcase works of art created by the town’s most gifted citizens. I am sure the hall’s booking fee would be modest. Imagine the thrill of sharing one’s gifts with those you rub shoulders with every day.