Post by Tim on Aug 22, 2016 12:00:13 GMT -5
BOOK: Resurrection Of The Romanovs
AUTHORS: Greg King and Penny Wilson
AUTHORS: Greg King and Penny Wilson
Year of publication: 2010
In 1920, a mysterious young woman was pulled out of a Berlin canal after apparently trying to commit suicide. No one knew who she was or where she had come from. In time, this woman made a spectacular claim, that she was, in fact, the Grand Duchess Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Nicholas, along with his whole family, had been murdered by the Bolsheviks in the Russian city of Ekaterinburg on July 17, 1918, so how could this woman be Anastasia? For the next six decades, this woman, who came to be known as Anna Anderson, maintained her claim, supported by some, rejected by others. The court case to prove her claim was the longest in German history, spanning more than thirty years. In the end, they could neither accept or reject her claim, so no one won. As for Anna Anderson herself, she moved to the United States in 1968, married a man named Jack Manahan (and took his last name), and lived there for the rest of her life. She died in 1984, and at the time it seemed the secret had died with her.
Years after her death, two key events would lead to her claim finally being debunked. The fall of the Soviet Union, which led to the discovery of the remains of the Romanov Family, and the advent of DNA research. DNA tests proved once and for all that Anna Anderson Manahan was not Anastasia, nor was she related to the Tsar in any way. In fact, her real name was Franziska Schanzkowska, and she was born in 1896 in what we now call Poland (making her five years older than Anastasia, who was born in 1901). The jig was up.
Although her true identity had been unmasked, questions remained. Why did she do it? And HOW did she do it?
This excellent book seeks to answer the questions posted by this nearly century old story. Greg King and Penny Wilson undertook years of research to answer these questions. The book really is amazing in all the facts it uncovers. Much of what I assumed in the case turned out to be wrong, and it is easy to see why. While this book reinforces some long standing rumours, it totally destroys others.
Throughout the years of her claim, Anderson was surrounded by three groups. Those that truly believed her, those that wanted to believe her, and, finally, those who were in it for the money (it was rumoured at the time that Tsar Nicholas II had a fortune stashed in a back somewhere in Europe, if Anderson had turned out to be Anastasia, she could claim said fortune and those that helped might get a nice payoff). It was mostly these people that helped spread the rumours around. A lot of testimony thought to be accurate turned out to be hearsay (meaning that the person quoted was not an actual witness, but was told of the events by someone else). Others who met Anderson had only seen glimpses of the real Anastasia years previous, so they could not be sure one way or the other. Finally, since at the time no one really knew what had become of the Tsar and his family, the Bolsheviks had covered up the crime, there was no proof that the real Anastasia was dead.
Also, those that could have identified the real Anastasia refused to do so. The Dowager Empress Marie, the mother of the Tsar, could have done so. However, at this time, she was in failing health and refused to believe that her son and his family had been murdered. Of course, the family did not want to upset her, so they left her alone (in fact they did not really start challenging Anderson’s claim until after Marie’s death).
All in all, Mr. King and Ms. Wilson wrote a great book that looks at all the details of this case. A must-read for anyone interested in the tragic Romanov Family, like yours truly.
I give it a 10/10.
