Speaker 1: Before we get started, a warning that there will be
Speaker 1: depictions of death and violence in today's episode. Hello from
Speaker 1: Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this is Womanica. Historically,
Speaker 1: women have been told to make themselves smaller, to diminish themselves.
Speaker 1: Some have used that idea to their advantage, disappearing into
Speaker 1: new identities. For others, a disappearance was the end to
Speaker 1: their stories, but the beginning of a new chapter of
Speaker 1: their legacies. This month, we're telling the stories of these women.
Speaker 1: We're talking about disappearing acts. The year is nineteen eighteen.
Speaker 1: A family is asleep and under house arrest. They're awoken
Speaker 1: during the middle of the night and told to put
Speaker 1: on their clothes in a hurry. The children rub the
Speaker 1: sleep out of their eyes and look around at the
Speaker 1: guards who surround them. The commander tells them not to worry.
Speaker 1: They will soon be taken to a safe house. Just
Speaker 1: come downstairs. All will be well, Or so they thought.
Speaker 1: This was the empty promise that began the elusive legacy
Speaker 1: of today's Womaniquin. Let's talk about Anastasia Romanov. Anastasia was
Speaker 1: born just outside of Saint Petersburg, Russia, in nineteen oh one.
Speaker 1: She wasn't an ordinary girl born into an ordinary family.
Speaker 1: Her parents, Nicholas the Second and Alexandra, were Czar and
Speaker 1: Czarina of Russia. Anastasia was part of the Romanov dynasty,
Speaker 1: the family that had ruled the country for nearly three
Speaker 1: hundred years. Anastasia had three older sisters, Olga, Tatiana, and Maria,
Speaker 1: with whom she was incredibly close. There are several photos
Speaker 1: of the four girls together wearing identical white lace dresses
Speaker 1: and floppy sun hats. Some of them were even taken
Speaker 1: by Anastasia herself. Friends and family described Anastasia as sharp
Speaker 1: and clever, with a penchant for getting into trouble. She
Speaker 1: loved to play pranks on her siblings and enjoyed being
Speaker 1: the center of attention. Though she had a strong person,
Speaker 1: Anastasia's younger brother, Alexei, was often the family's focus. He
Speaker 1: was frequently housebound due to a bleeding disorder. As the
Speaker 1: only male heir to the throne, his survival was critical
Speaker 1: to maintaining the royal line, especially during a time of
Speaker 1: political upheaval. The children grew up during a contentious period
Speaker 1: in Russian politics. Under their father's rule. Russia's roles on
Speaker 1: the Russo. Japanese War and World War One brought terrible
Speaker 1: casualties that left the country in a state of disarray.
Speaker 1: Russians were increasingly unhappy with the leadership, and unrest grew.
Speaker 1: The infamous Russian mystic Anastasia's mother called in to care
Speaker 1: for Alexei greegory resbutant further alienated the Romanovs from the
Speaker 1: Russian people. There was a growing movement to abolish the
Speaker 1: Russian monarchy and adopt a communist government instead, a big slablism.
Speaker 1: The family knew its position was precarious. In February of
Speaker 1: nineteen seventeen, the struggle for power in Russia reached a
Speaker 1: boiling point. Workers began to strike, demanding better working conditions,
Speaker 1: but when Nicholas sent his army to quell the unrest,
Speaker 1: members of the military turned against him. Unhappy with the
Speaker 1: defeats they'd been facing on the warfront, local protests morphed
Speaker 1: into a bigger revolution. They called for the end of
Speaker 1: the monarchy. Not long after the revolutionaries took over, Nicholas
Speaker 1: abdicated the throne and a provisional government was put into place.
Speaker 1: Soon the Bolsheviks, a communist group, had taken full control.
Speaker 1: After being forced to abdicate, Nicholas took his family and
Speaker 1: fled the scene. They were eventually exiled to the Ural
Speaker 1: mountains and placed under house arrest. They lived there in
Speaker 1: relative quiet until they were awoken one fateful day in
Speaker 1: July of nineteen eighteen. Under the pretext of providing the
Speaker 1: family with better security, the Bolshevik leader told them to
Speaker 1: go down to the cellar. The family and staff went downstairs.
Speaker 1: When they reached the cellar, gunmen were brought in and
Speaker 1: began to shoot at them. One soldier recalled the execution
Speaker 1: as a shower of hail. Soldiers began firing with abandon
Speaker 1: many missing their intended targets. Fumes and gun smoke filled
Speaker 1: the space, making it hard to see. Bullets ricocheted off
Speaker 1: jewels embedded in the Romanov's clothing, hitting the walls. The
Speaker 1: violence went on for twenty minutes. At last, the room
Speaker 1: seemed quiet. All that remained was the heavy breathing of
Speaker 1: the soldiers. The bodies burned and buried in a clearing
Speaker 1: near a cluster of birch trees. This is the end
Speaker 1: of Anastasia's short life story, but her ghost lived on
Speaker 1: much longer. Just a few years after the Romanovs were killed,
Speaker 1: a woman named Anna Anderson popped up in Berlin claiming
Speaker 1: to be be the supposedly dead Duchess Anastasia. She said
Speaker 1: she'd survived the shooting and escaped her assailants. Her account
Speaker 1: was convincing. Sure she looked like Anastasia, but people were
Speaker 1: desperate for a glimmer of hope or maybe mystery, for
Speaker 1: someone to have survived the violent massacre. Within months of
Speaker 1: her announcement, Russians began visiting the so called Anastasia to
Speaker 1: pay their respects. But it was all a lie. Anna
Speaker 1: died in nineteen eighty four, and posthumous genetic testing proved
Speaker 1: that she was not actually the fallen Duchess. Further confusion
Speaker 1: around the DNA evidence at the grave site also gave
Speaker 1: people reason to pause and wonder what actually happened. Though
Speaker 1: eleven people were executed, only nine sets of remains were
Speaker 1: initially found. DNA evidence of Prince Alexei and one of
Speaker 1: his sisters appeared to be missing. This mystery was also
Speaker 1: put to bed in two thousand and seven when a
Speaker 1: group of archaeologists discovered a second grave site. This one
Speaker 1: contained the remains of two more people who have since
Speaker 1: been identified as the missing members of the family. Despite
Speaker 1: evidence pointing to the death of the whole Romanov family,
Speaker 1: some refused to accept that Anastasia was among those who
Speaker 1: lost their lives. In fact, nearly one hundred different people
Speaker 1: have claimed to be the long lost Anastasia since the execution.
Speaker 1: Countless films, books, and shows have been generated from the
Speaker 1: romanticized story of her disappearance. Whether Anastasia truly disappeared or not,
Speaker 1: the lare around her life and family lives on. The
Speaker 1: continued fascination with her life seems in many ways to
Speaker 1: be a manifestation of people's desires for hope in spite
Speaker 1: of insurmountable odds. All month, we're talking about disappearing acts.
Speaker 1: For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Wamanica Podcast special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister
Speaker 1: and co creator. Talk to you on Monday,