Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia - Murder

Murder

At 11:30 pm on the night of 27–28 January 1919, guards awoke Nicholas Mikhailovich, his brother George and his cousin Dimitri in their cells at Spalernaia prison, telling them they were to be moved and had to pack their belongings. They initially assumed that they were going to be transported to Moscow. Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich even thought that they might be set free, but his brother assumed that they were heading to another place to be shot. They had an ominous hint of what was going to happen to them when at the time of departure they were told to leave their luggage.

The grand dukes were taken outside and loaded into a truck that already held four common criminals and six Red Guardsmen. At 1:20 am on 28 January, they left the prison. They drove towards the river by the Field of Mars, where the truck stalled. While the driver was trying to restart it, one of the convicts tried to run and was shot in the back as he fled. The truck eventually began running again, and they drove to the Peter and Paul Fortress. The prisoners were roughly pushed from the truck into the Trubetskoy bastion. They were told to remove their shirts and coats, despite the fact that it was almost -20°C. By then they had no doubt about what was about to occur and the grand dukes embraced each other for the last time.

Different soldiers appeared carrying another person, whom the grand dukes finally recognized as their cousin Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich. They were then each escorted arm in arm with a soldier on each side towards a trench that had been dug in the courtyard. As they passed the cathedral of St Peter and St Paul where their ancestors were buried, the grand dukes crossed themselves. The prisoners were lined up before the ditch, in which there were already thirteen bodies. Nicholas Mikhailovich, who had been carrying his cat, handed it to a soldier, asking him to look after it. All of the grand dukes faced death with the greatest courage. George and Dimitri prayed quietly. Grand Duke Paul, who was very sick, was shot on a stretcher. Grand Dukes Nicholas, George and Dimitri were killed by the same blast. The fusillade of shots sent them reeling into the ditch.