ANASTASIA?

                In Oct., 1917 when the Bolsheviks took over, Czar Nicholas and his family were arrested and eventually placed in the House of Special Purpose in the city of Yekaterinburg.  With the Russian Civil War going on, the Reds began to fear that the Whites would liberate the royal family.  With White forces nearing Yekaterinburg, the local Bolshevik authorities decided to execute the family.  The Czar, the Czarina Alexandra, and their four girls and one boy, along with four servants, were herded into a room.  Their chief jailer and ten soldiers opened fire on them with no warning.  The survivors were finished off by rifle butts and bayonets.  (It is theorized that some of the women were not killed by the gunfire because the bullets bounced off jewels hidden in their corsets.)  Soon after, a legend grew that the eldest daughter, seventeen-year-old Anastasia, survived the execution.  Several women claimed to be her.  The strongest claimant was Anna Tchaikovsky.  She was in a Berlin hospital for attempted suicide when she made the claim two years after the execution.  She bore a striking resemblance to Anastasia and several relatives confirmed she was the Czar’s daughter.  She also knew some details to back up her claim.  For instance, she knew about a secret meeting between her uncle, the Duke of Hesse, with Nicholas in 1916.  In 1970, a German court case was unable to determine if she actually was for real.  In 1979, the final resting place of the family was discovered with all bodies accounted for. Anna died in 1984 and DNA testing proved she was not Anastasia.

                –  Amazing 166-168