One of the most intriguing stories of the Russian Revolution concerns the identity of Anastasai. The young daughter o f Czar Nicholas LL. During his regin over Russia. The czar had planned to revoke many of the harsh laws established by previous czars. Some workers and peasants. However clamored for more rapid social reform in 1918 a group of these people known as Bolsheviks overthrew the goverment. On July 17 or 18 they murdered the czar nad what was thought to be his entire family.
Although witnesses vouched that all the members of the czar’s family had been execute, there were , rumors suggesting that Anastasia had survived. Over the year, a number of women claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia. Perhaps the most famous claimant was Anastasia
Tschaikovsky, who was also known as Anna Anderson.
In 1920, 18 months after the czar’s execution, this terrified young woman was rescued from drowning in a Berlin river. She spent two year in a hospital, where she attempted to reclaim her health and shattered mind. The doctors and nurses thought that she resembled Anatasia and questioned her about her background. She disclaimed any connection with the czar’s family. Eight years later , however , she claimed that she was Anastasia. She said that she had been rescued by two Russian.soidiers after the czar and the rest of her family had been killed. Two grothers named Tschaikovsky had carried her into Romania . She had married one of the brother, who had taken her to Berlin and left her therepenniless and without a vocation. Unable to invoke the aid of her mother’s family in Germary , she had tried to drown herself.
During the next few years, scores of the czar’s relative. ex-serants , and acquaintances interviewed her. Many of these people said that her looks and mannerisms were evocative of the Anatasia tht they had known. Her grandmother and other relative denied that she was the real Anatasia however
Tiered of being accused of fraud, Anatasia immigrated to the United States in 1928 and took the name Anna Anderson. She still wished to prove that she was Anatasia, though , and returned to Germany in 1993 to bring suit aginst her mother’s family. These she declaimed to the court, asserting that she was indeed Anatasia and deserved her inheritance
In 1957 , the court decided that it could neither confirm nor deny Anatasia’s identity. Although it will probably never be known whether this woman was the Grand Duchess Anatasia , her search to establish her identity has been the subject of numerous books , plays , and movies