The Romanov Who Survived an Execution

This myth concerns the family of Russia’s last Tsar, Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov. In 1918, he and his family met an untimely death at the hands of Bolsheviks. Although a burial site contained the Romanov’s remains, the body of Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov was missing.

And for decades, impostors like Anna Anderson would claim to be the Duchess. Of course, several persons held on to the possibility of a surviving member of the Romanov family. Even books and movies fueled those rumors. But in 2007, an archaeologist found a nearby burial site with two skeletons. And DNA tests concluded they belonged to Anastasia and her brother Alexei.