STARTING TO LEARN RUSSIAN JULY, 16, 2007

Wow

I find it a strange coincidence that as a way to honor the memory of my Russian decsendants I decided to learn Russian at almost exactly 90 years to the day after the murder of the Russian Royal family. Maybe if I am lucky I will find a way to have contact with Russians (when I can speak with them in Russian).

I spent last weekend (July 14 & 15, 2007) at home starting my studies alone, for most of the weekend. Then Monday night I returned home again after work & continued the studies, instead of going to dance class Monday night.



Monday was July 16, 2007, exactly 90 years since the day the Romanoff Family, the Czar & Czarina & family were killed



http://www.joebattsarm.com/lexicografie/dias7.html



Nicholas Alexeevich Sokolov (1882-1924), 36, was appointed examining magistrate of the district of Omsk (which was in the hands of the White Army), on February 7, 1919, by Admiral Kolchak, and as such his task was the continuing of the investigation on the murder of the following eleven persons: Nicholas Alexandrovich Romanoff, Alexandra Feodorovna Romanoff, Alexis Nikolaevich Romanoff, Olga Nikolaevna Romanoff, Maria Nikolaevna Romanoff, Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanoff, Tatiana Nikolaevna Romanoff, Dr. Evgeni Sergeevich Botkin, Alexis Trupp (lackey), Anna Stefanova Demidova (servant) and Ivan Kharitonov (cook).
His conclusion that all of them were killed in the night of July, 16, 1918 in the basement of the House of Ipatiev, is based on five `facts':
1. A telegram was intercepted in which the bolsheviki confirmed that the entire Imperial Family was murdered.
2. Several eye-witnesses stated that they had seen that the Romanoffs and their people were dead.
3. The bodies were burned, and on the spot where this had happened were found several clothes, jewels and other personal possessions.
4. Near this spot, on the bottom of a mine, in which permanently was three feet of water, Sokolov found the carcass of Tatiana's dog, dentures and a finger. There wasn't any grave, he solumnly stated.
5. Nobody has seen the Romanoffs alive after this night.
Numerous investigations of forensic scientists show that Sokolov's conclusions were extremely debatable and most of the time wrong. Professor Francis Camps, pathologist of the British Home Ministry, analyzed Sokolov's material during a month, and concluded that the examining magistrate did an ill service to history, and that Sokolov obviously loved the fine art of self-deception. Dr. Edward Rich of the American Military Academy West Point confirmed professor Camps' conclusions. `Sokolov's conclusions are based on a series of presuppositions and not accurate.'
On June 25, 1919 Sokolov took a picture of the carcass of Tatiana's dog, which was the only recognizable corpse. Professor Keith Simpson, pathologist of the British Home Ministry, `If you look at the picture with a magnifyer, you see very little loss of fur. (...) It is impossible that this carcass at first has been in the water for two or three months. (...) No dog could have had so much fur after being in cold water for two of three months. After the frost period the dog would have been in the water for another two months, and this picture doesn't show that at all.'
It's not just the contents of Sokolov's report which can be disposed of as improper, the things he does not mention are also food for thought regarding his meticulousness. Why for example didn't he mention the fact that during the investigation the substitute district attorney Magnitsky found five bodies of Austrian men in a nearby mine? This information was important, because the interior guard of the House of Ipatiev partly consisted of former Austrian prisoners of war.