In August 1917 the family
of the last Russian Emperor Nikolai II was convoyed to Tobolsk under the
decision of the Provisional government, who expressed great
apprehensions connected with activated Bolshevist movement in
St.-Petersburg. This departure was supposed to relieve the tension, and
to secure the Tsar family.
The Romanovs family arrived in Tyumen by a special train, accompanied by
300 selected guardians and numerous servants. The family of the last
Emperor arrived in Tobolsk in August by the ship ‘Russ’. In Tobolsk they
were accommodated in the governor’s house in the lower part of the town.
The family occupied the first floor, and the servants lived on the
ground floor. Virtually, it looked more like an exile. The Romanovs
family were forbidden to go out to the town. Though in isolation, they
were in the focus of attention of different political forces. The notes
of Nikolai II have reached our days, where he described his stay in
Tobolsk. The Emperor would preserve outward calmness and resignation. He
read a lot of books and magazines, eagerly occupied himself with
physical labour and would saw and chop firewood. Younger children kept
on studying – their farther taught them Russian history. Sometimes
amateur performances were held. A political situation in the country was
growing more and more complicated, and in March 1918 the Soviet regime
was declared in many settlements of the Tobolsk province. In April 1918
the authorized commissar V. Yakovlev arrived in Tobolsk with the order
to get the Tsar’s family transported to Moscow. But at night of July 17,
the Tsar’s family was executed by shooting in the house of the engineer
Ipatjev in Ekaterinburg.
