Anniversary of the Romanov's death

Since today is the 93rd anniversary of the Romanovs' assasination, (er, late tonight it will be,) I am posting a short story I wrote a couple months ago about them, as well as a tribute video I made.

                  SKATING ON THE STANDART
              a short story about the Romanovs
 WITH THE RELEASE of the film, “Rasputin and the Empress”, starring the Barrymore family, in 1932, an interest in the last imperial Romanov family of Russia was kindled.
At the time I was a young reporter for a newspaper in my hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
There had been many stories circulating the town about a Russian immigrant named Vasily Ivanovitch Chegoffsky in the early 1920s when I was around ten years old. As far as I knew, he still lived in a little house at the end of Thirty-Fourth street, and so, armed with notebook and pencil, I boldly knocked on his door one day in the spring of 1933 with the hope of interviewing him for the newspaper.
I was surprised to find that he was a very amiable man, a bit of a recluse, and not at all the cruel Russian the townsfolk had made him out to be. I suppose these assumptions were merely made up out of prejudice and not knowing the truth about the friendly Mr. Chegoffsky.
He welcomed me in and made me a glass of tea with a Russian samovar. I told him of my purpose in coming, and he nodded.
“Ah, yes. I heard of this film, and out of curiosity I went to see it. It is terribly inaccurate, I must tell you. The Imperial Family is portrayed most untruthfully. It is merely a trumped-up version of fact, embellished with wild tales to make it appealing to the public. But--if it has sparked an interest in the family, then I am glad. More tea?”
“Yes, please.”
“Now,” said Mr. Chegoffsky, settling back into his chair. “What would you like me to tell you?”
“Well, I came to interview you and see if you knew anything about the Imperial Family. It seems that you do.”
“Yes, indeed! I had the great pleasure of knowing them intimately for several years.”
“Really?” This was more than I had ever hoped for! My pencil poised to take notes, I asked,
“How so?”
“I served as a sailor on the yacht Standart from 1908 to 1911. I was in my early twenties then, and very proud indeed to serve the Tsar.”
Warming up to the story, I began to take down all he said. The following is the tale he told me, in his own words.

I have often thought back to my time as a sailor on the Imperial yacht Standart with joy. The Imperial Family was truly lovely, and it was an honor to serve them. I always look back to the events of 1917-18 with sadness, and wish that the lives of these remarkable people had not been cut off with such brutality.
My favorite memory from serving on the Standart is of the Grand Duchesses and some of us sailors roller-skating down the deck. It must have been around 1910 that we did this, for I left my time on this large yacht in 1911.
I believe it was the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaievna’s idea, and the rest of us played along. It made many a boring hour sailing on the Baltic Sea merry.
I do not recall how us sailors obtained roller-skates, but I distinctly recall skating along the deck with the two younger Grand Duchesses, Maria and Anastasia Nicholaievna, on either side of me.
There are many more fond recollections from my time on the Standart, but this one is my favorite. It shows how unaffected and candid the Grand Duchesses were, which, I think, will present a different view to the people of the present day. I sincerely hope that some day this cruel Soviet regime will end, and that the Imperial Family will some day be known as they truly were.

 This I later transposed into a newspaper article which won the first prize blue ribbon in our yearly “Best Article” contest. I was very proud of that ribbon, and hung it in a place of honor in the den when I had my own house.
I became very good friends with Vasily Chegoffsky, and was saddened when he died at the age of eighty-two in 1966. He told me many more tales of the last Romanovs, and by the time he passed on, I felt as if I had really known them.
At that point I was the head of the newspaper and I wrote an obituary for the Russian: 


Two days ago a citizen of our city, Vasily Ivanovitch Chegoffsky, passed away in his home on Thirty-Fourth Street. Many of you may remember the prize-winning article of 1932, which I wrote as a young junior reporter. That article would never have come to being if it wasn’t for Vasily Chegoffsky. He was a fine man, and he will be missed. 
                                                     ~~~~~

Video:  OTMA: Antebellum

R.I.P.