RussianTsar Saint Nicholas II | Russian Silver and Gold foiled icon | Size: 8 3/4"x7 1/4"

On this day, 17. July 1918. one of the most monstrous crimes in modern history was committed – the brutal liquidation of the Russian Romanov imperial family.

In the basement of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg were shot Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra with five children and four servants.

"Commander Yurovsky woke up the imperial family at two o'clock at night and ordered them to train and gather in the basement, and then lined them up next to the wall, explaining that he intended to photograph them because "in Moscow they do not believe you are alive." The fateful night in the basement of the Ipatiev House began a few minutes later, when the executioners entered. The killing of 11 people in a small room turned into a bloody pyre during which, historians agree, hundreds of bullets were fired. Many of them bounced off the princesses ' bodies because, as it was later learned, they wore corsets in which jewels were sewn under their clothes. What failed with bullets, the soldiers finished with bayonets and then transferred their bodies to the nearby Ganja pit.“

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