My blog seems to
be a series of unconnected essays. It is rather kind of total literature. What
common can have Ketts revolt with several Nobel Prize laureates I am writing
about or lynching of Russia Tzar? And then what how connects the Tzar’s murder
with Hungarian suicide song? Standing against literary wall at the sunrise
I cannot do much.
My system, if it
is a system is simple; one of the reasons for the rebellion in 1381 was Black
Death. I just mention the plague shortly; than it came to my mind I had read
some great books that described the epidemic. One of them was written by a
Nobel Prize winner. When involved with him I talk about other Nobel Prize
winners an authors who did not received the award but wroth about the plague.
There is always
some connection between subjects; I never just jump from one theme to another
without some words of association. This way I was able to write about such
different events like expulsion of King Michael from Rumania and individuals
like Yakov Yurovski murderer of the Tzar Michael II and his
family and their subsequent canonization. Romanov dynasty leads to essay on
hemophilia.
Robert Kett rebellion
From hundreds of uprisings in the last two thousand years over thirty can be considered peasant type of rebellion. The oldest on record is the Daze Village Revolt in China in 209 B.C. About 1000 participants under leadership of two disgraced army officers Wu Guang and Chen Sheng organized popular rebellion against provincial ruler Quin. After Chen was murdered by a traitor and Guang was killed in internal strife by other officers the uprising was quickly and therefore brutally suppressed by the army.
The long list of peasant revolts ends in 1946 with an eruption of armed peasant action in Indian province of Hyderabad aimed against the Nizam of the province Mir Osman Ali K. Jah VII took the office few hours after his predecessor had passed away. He supported the landlords who kept their laborers in an undeclared slavery and against whom the malcontents turned their armed attention. Another of their goals was cancellation of debts. Jah was overturned in 1948 but the rebellion continued for another three years.
There were minor peasant disturbances in England, mostly against local landlords, yet only two serious uprisings, one erupted in 1381 and one would follow in 1549. The latter was caused by the landlords who enclosed public lands with hedges as to cut of the access to the pastures to the peasant's sheep. It started with attack against big landowner and attorney John Flowerdew and was led by Robert Kett, a large landowner from Wymondham who originally did not allow the peasants' sheep to graze on his property only to tear later penitently his fences down. The rebels elected under the Tree of Reformation, an oak close to Mousehold a representative body which presented the King's with twenty-nine grievances. The perpetrators were taken seriously however, when about 18000 peasants marched against Norwich, at that time the second largest English city after London. On July 21 on advice of his counselors the twelve years old King Edward ignoring the rebels' twenty nine points offered them on July 21 amnesty. Under the command, or rather a leadership of intelligent Robert Kett the rebels marched against Norwich.
Norwich mayor refused to admit the rebel’s to enter the city. As recompensation the city provided food. When the King did not accept the complaints, Norwich refused to feed the group and Kett occupied the poorly defended city split between supporters and opponents of Kett. Thomas Aldrich and Robert Watson, two eminent citizens joined the peasants. Later a popular preacher Thomas Codd followed the insurrection.
The local government was unable to deal effectively with the problem. It was hard to justify an attack against thousands of men who repeatedly proclaimed allegiance to the King and by their exemplary discipline proved their loyalty to him. There were exceptions. On July 19 the radical from among the rebels murdered in Norwich Lord Sheffield. Some contemporary sources maintained he fell from his horse and was stabbed by a butcher who did not belong to Kett's forces. Even had the victim been assassinated by a member of Kett'a army, sporadic acts of violence do not make the insurgents a bloodthirsty mob. In each peaceful mass movement exist radical individuals just as in extremely rigid organizations hide some moderate elements. Soon Sir William Parr arrived on the scene. His forces proved insufficient to deal with the rebellion. Alarmed King's advisors ordered Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset to assembly a powerful army and suppress the rebellion. Under John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland prevalently German and French mercenaries defeated the peasants in an unequal battle at Dussindale, a location archeologists are unable to identify. About 3,000 peasants died in the battle and 300 were hanged, some of them on the Tree of Reformation. Kett and his brother William were captured and imprisoned in Tower. After some time spent in the well appointed torture chamber they were hanged, drawn and quartered close to Norwich.
One of the reasons for 1381 revolt was laborers’ demand for higher and higher wages. Workers realized that the plague reduced significantly availability of toilers and kept rising their demands. In some areas lack of workers reached catastrophic levels. To be profitable owner could pay certain amount but employees’ demands were above it. This led to strifes and coupled with other influences contributed to the eruption of rebellion.
In three years
the Black Death decimated Europe and British isolation was not to any avail.
The commercial ships traffic had easily brought the epidemic to the
Country. Several independent contemporary sources in various countries
reached consensus that Europe lost more than one third of her four million
inhabitants to the bubonic plague. Medical scientists believe that fleas
whose host was rats carried the disease to people. Once infected, the person
could succumb mostly in 24 hours. The plague offered seducing themes and some
authors make use of the tragedy.
Three Books
It is noteworthy that three fiction books each with several chapters describing plague reached enormous international triumph. Story of San Michele by Axel Munthe, Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis, and I Promessi Sposi /Betrothed/ by Alessandro Manzoni were translated in all civilized languages.
The background of Manzoni's novel is the devastating bubonic plague that erupted in 1656 and claimed more than fifty per cent of the 360,000 of Naples' population. In Italy the book is required reading for students who enter ninth grade and in Italy only Edmondo d’Amici’s Il Cuore “/Heart of a Boy” in English translation/ and Grazia Deledda /We are like the reeds in the wind, we are the reeds, fate is the wind” equaled Manzoni in popularity. Il Cuore published in 1866 on October 17 the first day of Italian school year reached in several months 40 printings and in one year over sixty. More than hundred years ago there were few schools in Italy and many analphabetics. Such situation arose not because of lack of ability but because of lack of opportunity. Other countries were not much better off and no one presented the problem better than Dickens in England and Victor Hugo in France.
Deledda was author of numerous novels; in Italy as abroad the most popular is Elias Portolu. Her fame took time to flourish, probably because she was female and a Sicilian who were considered backward people. In 1926 Deledda was awarded Nobel Prize. From all Nobel Prize winners in all categories the Sicilian had the least education but from all of the laureates she was published first, at 15. Critics did not like all her novels are situated in Sicily and readers did not approve she was female. Nobel did not change either of the attitude; Italians criticized and read her. There were also rumors that she learned to read and write late, yet having been published author at age of 15 she must know how to write and read early. Such rumors appear. When Leon Spinks became famous some journalist maintained that he had to learn to write so he could sign his checks. Another canard concerns the third best soccer player of all times in Real Madrid team history Francisco Gento. From hundreds of Real players only the best footballer of all times Argentinean midfielder Alfredo di Stefano and Hungarian forward Ferencz Puskas are ahead of him. In some newspapers appeared insinuations that he had been a shepherd in Basque region who did know how to write or read before he came as 19 years old to Racing Santander. Maybe they did not have time. Spinks instead of studying spent time in Gym, Grazia Deledda had not time to learn to read since she was writing and Francisco Gento practicing for the 128 goals he would score for Real Madrid.
In systems prevailing at that time because of his speed he played left wing where he had not opportunity to score as often as the internal trio did, but the wing had to create chances. I did not see Michael Spinks but Paco Gento I did and all the humiliation of him did not prevent me from travelling 428 kilometers to Real Madrid game where he would play and later from wildly screaming and clapping hands whenever by his ballet like bodywork Gento bypassed defenseman of the team I was supposed to support. This game remains one of the three or four best I ever saw. The match ended in regular time of 90 minutes; or was it 90 seconds. Whenever Gento feigned he was going to the right the opponent went to the left and vice versa. At his vertex there were few players who could stop it. The time proved method to stop champion is to foul him. He had such respect that he was very rarely tripped and he neither with his skill and speed need nor to trip the opponents.
To appreciate Sigrid Undset Nobel Prize here are the winners in decade between 1920 and 1930: Sinclair Lewis, Sigrid Undset, Bernard Shaw,Wladislav S. Reymont, Henri Bergson, Anatole France, William Butler Yeats / “your idea, not mine”/ Undset’s countryman, the Chicago streetcar conductor and Kristiania toiler Knut Hamsun, Jacinto Benavente, and Thomas Mann. Now compare this galaxy with the Nobel Prize winners of the decade 2000-2010: if you do you will understand why I me; It is like to compare the Milky Way with black holes.
And still Grazia Deledda with her Nobel Prize just equaled Alessandro Manzoni’s
popularity. Currently in Los Angeles City library are 77 of her volumes, mostly in Italian.
Axel Munthe was a Swede with Flemish ancestors who studied medicine in Paris and Montpellier, practiced in France, married British woman, for most of his life lived in Italy and none of his works in written in another language than English. The most moving part of his “Story of San Michele is drastic description of plague. He took part in several rescue missions at places of natural disasters, offered assistance during war and helped during several epidemics. I cannot find better description of Mr. Munthe as Mr. unless I prefer some euphuistic expression; thanks is a shadfly and gratitude kadupul flower that starts blooming before midnight and die several hours later.
Without perforating the tickets and urging in overcrowded streetcar “passengers move forward, please”, in America and selling blankets in Norway he would not have written Vagabonds or Hunger and neither Oline nor Isak would have came to us in Knut Hamsun’s chef d’oevre “Growth of the Soil”. Do not forget / “I did not suffer any pain, my hunger had taken the edge off instead”/. In order to get an audience with Hitler he gave him or Dr. Goebbels his Nobel Prize medal. In the meeting he importuned the Chancellor in rather Viking tonality to release the Norwegian prisoners from German camps. Adolf Hitler responded with an unnerving Viking counterattack and did not grant the writer his wish. Due to his character he did not stop to support the Fuhrer and after the war he was imprisoned. The prison affected his mental capacity and for this reason Knut Hamsun was found not guilty of treason. But the Norway government sued him in civil court for damages and he was sentenced to pay over three hundred thousand Kroner which with the legal veil lifted meant confiscation of his entire property. His second trial did not violated the fourteen hundred years old Codex Justinianus' double jeopardy clause; American Fifth Amendment allows for five exceptions to the double jeopardy rule. Even if Norway had the same law Knut Hamsun’s defense did not raise the question for none of the exceptions seemed to be applicable; someway the fact that two, although different courts tried the voluble case, double jeopardy could not be considered because the first indictment charged treason and the second civil damages to the Kingdom's something; it is doubtful that the judges had an idea what it was, but it is certain that neither Solomon would have solve the riddle
The world have to wait for WWIII or XVIII to see if Brennus’ execration “Vae Victis”. haunting like Scarborough Fair / “Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme” / will be still valid against future Hamsuns, whether it would remain immoral to give quarter as it have been in previous and is in present conflicts; in fourth Century Brennus, Gallic leader of Senones and conqueror of Rome pronounced the threat when caught cheating while weighing the degraded city’s tributary gold.
Szomoru Vasarnap 1933
Maybe there is sung a war melody stronger than war march that is more appropriate and tormenting than the Scarborough Fair; more tormenting than the the fair is Szomoru Vasarnap, the Hungarian suicide song that may transcend into an international suicide evensong. It was composed by “Little” Reszo Seress, born Rudy Spitzer, a poor, allegedly two-finger pianist who could not read music; and played csardas and Radetzky march first in a large Kulacs Inn / bottle, crock / and then in Kispipa Inn. Kispipa means Little Pipe and was baptized by a pipe stove melancholically warming up the establishment attendance. He played for few pengo and paprikas.
Soon after its appearance the song was translated into at least 28 languages on all continents; it is estimated that in the end its fatalism spread to a hundred countries; it was sung in Icelandic by Bjork and artificial languages Esperanto and Lojban; already in 1935 Pyotr Leschenko recorded the piece in Russia under title Mrachnoe Vozkresenie; one year later Lilly Damita followed him in France with Sombre Dilmanche; the same year in Japan soprano Noriko Awaya /”Songs without pain are fraud”/ recorded the Hungarian melody; Mercedes Simone in Argentina offered Spanish version under title Triste Domingo. In 1959 Finish singer Eila Pellinen revived the number. In Russia it reappeared under title Ona Pred Ikonoi / She Before Ikona/; .after him Lorez Alexandria and several others American artists helped to revive the piece in USA. While the public knows dr. Zamenhof as author of former the later was created hundred years after Esperanto, between 1987-1998 and the chief contributor to the artificial language was American Arica Okrent.
It seems that he had composed the melody before Laszlo Javor wrote the first lyrics, although some sources say that Seress wrote the score to Javor’s poem. If really Javor’s poem was written in 1926 then the second assumption is right since Szomoru Vasarnap appeared in 1933 There is some evidence that Javor’s girlfriend had left him and he found solace in writing.: Later Rezso Szeress wrote own lyrics, no less inherently lethal as that of Javor. This is psalmist Javor’s Hungarian keening|:
Gloomy Sunday with
a hundred white flowers
I was waiting for
you my dearest with a prayer
A Sunday morning
chasing after my dreams
The carriage of my
sorrow returned to me without you
It is since then
that my Sundays have been forever sad
Tears my only
drink, the sorrow my bread Gloomy Sunday with a hundred white flowers
I was waiting for
you my dearest with a prayer
Gloomy Sunday
This
last Sunday, my darling please comes to me
There’ll
be a priest, a coffin, a catafalque and a winding-sheet
There
will be flowers for you, flowers and a coffin
Under
the blossoming trees it will be my last journey
Don’t
be afraid of my eyes, I’m blessing you even in my death
My
eyes will be open, so that I can see you for the last time
The last Sunday
Here is psalmist Szeress’ search for an anchor:
End of the World
It is autumn and
the leaves are falling
And love has died
on earth
The wind is
weeping with sorrowful tears
My heart will
never hope for a new spring again
My tears and my
sorrow are all in vain
People are
heartless, greedy and wicked
Love had died
The world has come
to its end, hope has ceased to have a
meaning
Cities are being
wiped out, shrapnel is making music
Meadows are
colored red with human blood
There are dead
people on the streets everywhere
I will say another
quiet prayer
People are
sinners, Lord, they make mistakes
The world has
ended
There was another text in Hungarian, Fizetek /fizetni-to pay/.
No less tragic than the words of the previous two threnodies it was written by Rezso Szeress as expanse of his original text’s lamentable latitude as if it were not sufficiently suicidal. Its first line in German is Bite zahlen, Herr Ober / The bill please, headwaiter/.
The bill, please,
headwaiter!
I had a coffee
And a life
botched, wasted
By which I am
perishing
I am in a hurry,
headwaiter
I do not have too
much time left!
Maybe already
tonight
The eternity is
waiting for me,
Perhaps already
tomorrow
Another headwaiter
will stand by me in heaven
On the street
booming with coffee houses
And I will sing
silently the refrain;
The bill, please,
headwaiter
I had thousands dreams-adieu
And a life botched wasted
From which I am perishing
As if anticipating Gloomy Sunday Slovak author Ladislav Novomesky published in 1927 his first collection of poems Nedela /Sunday/. Sluzka /Maid/ is from this book.
Maid
I,
Furko Maria,
Have come to this world with many others
To charge:
God,
Humanity,
That on our face
they placed two shinning eyes,
And soul,
Heart
That so terribly
is throttling us
They did not yet
ripped out of our chest,
The whole world
must be seen, must breath.
To the chubby
children
The three Magi did
not come,
Only nearby people
Into the cradle to
the weak children’s feet
Placed little of
the gray
And today
And now
From that little
we did not get anything.
Two eyes
Chained to the
edge of a wooden pail
Will never behold
on the silver screen
Helena Makowska
In the role of
unfaithful wife
And it is
inevitable to lie to the eyes
That in the world
there is no beauty.
For us cares the
kitchens’ dead, mute, filthy apathy,
Which never tells
us?
In Paris is dancing
Yvette Gilbert
And it is
inevitable to lie to the eyes,
That in the world
there is no pleasure.
From the edge of
the pail to the pleasure
Leads impassable
road,
The glacial maxim
of the intrepid
So ferociously,
Ferociously
punishes.
And in our bodies
we have the eyes, heart,
That the kitchens’
apathy in us will not strangulate
And will not crack
the passionate passion
Once it will tell
us,
To grab
What from the
world we did not received?
Because once the
life
Must be tasted.
From the kitchen
to the pleasure
Leads impassable
road
And the maxim of
the intrepid
So ruthlessly,
So ruthlessly
castigates.
But once sweetly
take in hands
The beauty, the
little bliss,
And then.
Then
Let the fingers
press to the lips bottle
Of Veronal.
I,
Furko Maria
Have come to the
world,
To charge
That from the
world I received little beauty
That from the
glamour of life
There was nothing
left for me
And I did not
grasp any luck,
That I had to
watch,
When I wanted to
dream,
And cry.
When I wanted to
laugh.
Only I do not know
Why I had to live
And why to die
Helena Makovska was Polish actress and singer flourishing mostly before talkies. She represents rare combination of popular singer and classical performer. She appeared in 61 prevalently German movies; one or two of her movies were Polish or French. On stage her repertoire included Ophelia, Amelie in Il Ballo di Maschera, Mephistophele, and in 1951 with Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr in Quo Vadis. Despite her nonpareil beauty she was beloved.
Yvette Gilbert /Guilbert/ was French cabaret singer whose artistic radius reached Germany, England, Italy, and Saint Peresburg, Florida where she received 100 000 dollars for three weeks engangement. How much she received in Carnegie Hall is classified. Yvette Guilbert frequently accompanied her singing with monologues and in France she was recognized as diseuse from dire, to say in French. French nomenclature it means a professional recite.
Madame Gilbert had 9 years engagement in Moulin Rouge and 7 years in Ambassadeur. She played in silent and talking movies. She had a role in Les Miserables and dramatized Pierre Lotti’s Pecheurs d’Islande.
Later she wrote two novels and studied 16 and 17 Century French music and folklore. For her research she was awarded Legion d’Honneur.
First two lines of another translation of Gloomy Sunday go like this: “Doi ralju do’u mi pleji Fo pa loi ckafi fi ko”
It seems the D and F should be in low case, but I will not argue with Dell. To me the text looked Gipsy; compare it with their song “nane tuke perina”. But it is not, it is in Lojban, an artificially constructed tongue which to some extent is derived from oriental languages. “Pleji” means to pay and “ckafi” is coffee. Palpably the Lojban text is translation of German adaptation of Fizetek. Lojban waits for you little bit down.
I think my Werther intermezzo excuses my war on logic by jumping from subject to subject.
While making the extensive research on Gloomy Sunday it came to my mind a short melancholic poem of the author of Faust;
Over the Hilltops
Over the hilltops
Silence
Among all the treetops
You feel
Hardly a breath of air
The little birds fall silent in the woods
Just wait…soon
You’ll also be at rest
It seems to be a blasphemy to consider an amateur Szeress in any artistic connection with Master Goethe. I do not compare them. I consider the poem rather a comparison of the same suffering, a comment on Rezso Szeress and their mutual sorrow. Over the Hilltops is a prolog and Gloomy Sunday an epilog to the same pain.
Another Wolfgang Goethe’s theme is consubstantial with the spirit of Gloomy Sunday and places in harmony the echo of both, Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s poem and the melody of Rezso Szeress. Goethe wrote Sorrows of Young Werther in less than one month. It is partially an autobiography in epistolary form concerning Werther. Werther is in love with Charlotte, a young girl he had met at a ball. She is engaged to a quite older Albert. Werther befriends him so that he can stay in contact with the teenager. When his misery escalates to martyrdom he leaves Garbenheim and moves to Weimar. Here he meets another girl Miss von B. She and her camarilla of lower nobility are several layers above his social stratum and hence outside of his ambit. Following the marriage of Lotte and Albert he returns to Garbenheim. In despair he decides to kill himself. He pretends to go on a trip and begs Lotte to loan him a weapon. She sends him two pistols and he shoots himself in the head. He suffers for half a day before he dies. As suicide he is buried without religious rites.
Wolfgang Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther was romanticism par excellence; there are pure and there are purified. The writer made him to belong to the first category. At those times nostalgia, romanticism, melancholy, idealism, Heimweh were understood. Nowadays they are not only despised but lampooned by pirate realism.
As the Hungarian song so the German novel encouraged suicides, a trend that was Christened Werther Fever. The eponym means nothing but popularity of suicide or other mass acts of mimicry that sometimes follows a common stimulant.
The number of people who had killed themselves after the publication of Sorrows of Young Werther is estimated to be around 2000 while the victims of the Gloomy Sunday was less than hundred. Even if exaggerated the impact of Werther Fever was cataclysmic. Another effect of the novel was more voluminous but not harmful. Young men copied Werther clothes wearing aquamarine jackets and yellow pants.
While reading about Werther desolate funeral I remembered funeral lonelier than his.
After the war a British soldier in Germany committed what would be one of the most perfect crimes in history. He had a German girlfriend and in order to be free decided to kill his wife. After the taps he changed in civilian clothes, went to airport and flew to England. He went home, murdered the wife and flew back. At the reveille he was present. Then his immaculate alibi collapsed like that of an amateur thief. At first beyond suspicion and the police without clue he was suddenly arrested. A tiny unknown factor that he did not anticipated entered into the equation. There was a witness who had known him and saw him at the night of the murder close to his home. The soldier was sentenced to death and hung.
Here is the part that is more morbid that of the protagonist of Goethe’s romantic novel. At the time of Werther’s suicide there were no cameras but they were in twentieth Century. A coffin followed by a lonely woman with no sign of any living person around. No soldiers, no family, not a dog. Only death parted the killer and the walker. Had no one accompanied his body to the cemetery the picture would not had been so paralyzing. Two dead people, one in a deep coffin and the other dragging her feet behind it. In human system they were both dead, only their systems were different. The killed wife-what about her? The superiority of her agony over pain of the walker must not be allowed to be diminished. The German woman affliction belongs to another category, but it is there.
I do not recall the murderer’s name and without this most important research element even with modern investigation tools available I was unable to discover the identity of the two people. I was convinced that I have read the story and seen the picture in Jurgen Thorwald’s Century of the Detective, an invaluable book on science of criminalistics. If I obtain details of the case I would like to write a separate blog about a former man and a single guard of honor marching behind his body. The deeper the death the more questions the living ask. Dead can answer Hamlet whether to be and whether not to be, when to be and when not to be, what to be and what not to be.
Soon after its appearance Gloomy Sunday was translated in about 28 languages on all continents. Later the total would be close to 100. It was sung on Iceland and artificial in languages Esperanto and Lojban. While public knows Dr. Zamenhoff as author of this, that was created a hundred years after Dr. Zamenhoff’’s creation, between 1987-1998 and its chief contributor was American Arika /Arica/ Okrent.
Gloomy Sunday in English was pronounced Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Paul Robeson, Mel Torme, and at least 40 other names. It was pronounced Russian; In Argentina Mercedes Simone occupied radio stations with the melody. Eminent visitors to Budapest never failed to see Seress: Visconti, Beniamino Gigli / “la canzone mia piu bella sei tu”; Arturo Toscanini / “Can you not read? The score demands ‘con amore’, and what are you doing? You are playing it like married men!”: Spencer Tracy: Shah Reza Pahlevi; Louis Armstrong / “All music is folk music. I’aint never heard a horse sing a song”/: duke of Wales: John Steinbeck /: “Man himself has become our greatest hazard and our only hope”./
Seress wrote the music and then used lyrics written in 1926 by Laszlo Javor after his girlfriend had left him. Javor was said to have killed himself, yet there is not any acceptable evidence to the assumption. Most probably his suicide is confused with that of Reszo Seress who would jump to his death in 1968. Later in an appeared two no less lethal version with no less lethal consequences. According contemporary sources the song was officially proscribed as inherently chancy.
Search for Foreign Translations
I traced the tune in several translations and my error in having confused Lojban with Gipsy gave me a not great idea to search for Gloomy Sunday in Gipsy interpretation.
I discovered that in Pest performed for sixty years Rajko orchestra and Budapest Gipsy Symphony Orchestra with a hundred violinists. Supposedly it is the largest symphony orchestra in the world. Besides violins they must have other instruments, for I do not think Mozart’s Paris symphony can be played only with violins.
I proceeded from country to country and when I was looking for Czech interpretation I found out Szomoru Vasarnap was recorded by Judita /Judith/ Sterbova-Cerovska. She was born in 1929 in Czech mining city of Most and died in 2001 in Prague. Her mother was German and father was Czech. She performed mostly in German speaking countries, but despite her frequent absence she was a legend in her homeland. To become a legend in Europe is onerous which means impossible. The singer was compared to incomparable Marta Kubisova /Prayer for Marta/, Eva Pilarova /Requiem/, Hana Hegerova /Paris Olympia/, and Helena Vondrackova /Cross Jordan/. Judita Cerovska’s lasting fame eliminated the fact of her grave in Prague’s Olsany Cemetery.
Like a prominent European artists she was singing in several languages: in English Dream, in French Dominique, Je Ne Regrette rien, and Que-Elle Est Belle, in German her most in vogue are Brahms’ Wiegenlied /Lullaby/ and Noch Gestern. For her and her musical coreligionists in Germany the Noch Gestern meant what Moon River meant for Andy Williams and for those his voice had blessed.
F
For Americans is difficult to pronounce French j. In English the proper sound is found in word “leisure” where “s” is pronounced like French “j”. There is a beautiful French children song about a ship that never sailed:
Il etait un petit navire
Qui n’avait ja-ja-jamais navigue
Ohe ohe ohe ohe matelot
There was a little ship
That have never sailed
Oh eh oh eh oh eh mate
The ship sailed in Mediterranean and run of food. The crew drew straws whom to eat and the youngest sailor lost. He climbed on the mast and prayed to heaven to save him. Suddenly mass of fish jumped in the boat and his life was spare. Under-under- understand?
The petit navire was to caution the reader what is coming next. In first 9 words of Je Ne Regrette Rien for a foreign singer wait 4 submerged rocks: r, r, r, and r . To pronounce this sound is harder than the nasal n, m, and ng. To sing it requires onerous training. For French voice coaches they are determinant source of francs. Judita Cerovska’s r is de gratia Mireille Mathieu and Edith Piaf, the young sparrow. Born in Most in former Czechoslovakia she was singing her r like Paris born Piaf and Avignon born Mathieu whose favored piece was Sur le Pont d’Avignon; and they both pronounced the r in their songs like teacher of French at the Lycee Condorcet /continue reading, I did not go there/ and at that school there were teachers by name Stephane Mallarme / ‘’To define is to kill. To suggest is to create’’ and Jean Paul Sartre / “That God does not exist, I cannot deny. That my whole being cries out for God I cannot forget/.” Some etudiants and eleves bore names as Marcel Proust / “Love is space and time measured by the heart”/; Paul Valery / “A poem is never finished only abandoned.”/; Guy de Rothschild /”Richesse oblige” as comparison to classical “Noblesse oblige”/; Henry Bergson / “Genius is that which forces the inertia of humanity to learn”/; or Paul Verlaine / “Je suis l’Empire a la fin de la decadence”-“I am the Empire at the end of decadence.”/ He could not know decadence since he did not meet Elfriede Jelinek, communist and Austrian Nobel laureate in literature. Knut Ahnlund member of the commission that considers the candidates did not agree with the award; “…whining, unenjoyable public pornography…’’ was his short classification of Jelinek’s art when explaining his resignation as protest against awarding the Prize to such individual.
It reminds of 1965 protests in Britain against honoring Beetles with MBE, Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Number of former recipients returned the Order in first such instance since it was established in 1917. Among them were military expert James Berg, former Naval Officer Davis Evans-Rees, Cyril Hearn, retired RAF officer Douglas Moffit, Colonel Frederick Wagg, Canadian Stanley Ellis and more not identified individuals. On question why he was returning the Order, Paul Pearson, RAF, answered: “Because it had became debased.” Another returned the Order calling Beatles “Gang of nincompoops.” Writer Richard Pape returned his MM, Military medal awarded for bravery in land battle and explained: “If the Beatles and the like continue to debase the Royal honor list, then Britain must fall deeper in international ridicule and contempt.” Then going closer to point he explained the explanation: “The Beetles reek on mawkish, bizarre effrontery of our wartime endeavors.” Hector Dupuis, former Canadian MP replaced “nincompoops” with consonant term: “The British House of Royalty had put me on the same level as bunch of vulgar numbskulls.” Since that time such confrontation appeared whenever undeserving candidates were honored with Royal promotion. As with Nobel Prize the more maladroit product the more chance for Knighthood.
Now back to the ignominious duty to return to Jelinek’s Prize which many call fraud and writers demean as usurpation. Besides salacious writing she possessed another perquisite or merit that helps in Stockholm: she had organized among intellectuals action for release of Johann Unterweger, a convicted mass murderer who operated on international scale like Slovak Gipsy Ondrej Rigo who between 1990 and 1992 murdered killed 9 women in 3 countries. Johann Unterweger was convicted in 1976 for murdering German Margaret Schafer and sentenced to life. Later American investigators gave him name Jack which stuck with him.
A professional innocent Jack Unterweger
According to few sources he learned to read and write in prison. Media begun to call him Jack the Writer. He wrote poems, plays, stories, and autobiography Fegefeuer-Eine Reise ins Zuchthaus /Purgatory-A Trip to Prison. / Which became a bestseller? Under high pressure campaign he was released in 1990 as an example of reformed criminal and admired as celebrity.
Later Austrian police collected evidence that in the first year after he left the prison he murdered 6 women. He was sent by a magazine on assignment to USA to compare the prostitution in Austria and America. During his stay here Shannon Exley, Sherri Ann Long, and Irene Rodriguez were murderer. Modus Operandi in all three crimes was identical with Unterweger’s manner he used in killing Margaret Schafer and other murders. It is credibly suspected he was their killer.
He committed 10-15 murders in four countries. Unterweger was traced from Canada through Europe to United States where he was arrested by FBI in 1992 in Miami. Two years late he was charged with 11 murders but was found guilty on 9 only since the cause of two could not be determined with legal certainty. Austrian court sentenced him to life in prison without possibility of parole. Less than a day later in Graz-Karlau Prison he made a knot from shoelaces and a string and hanged himself. According the authorities the knot was similar or identical with the knots he used to kill his victims. He had maintained his innocence till his end.
In 1985 Austrian rock music composer created a song Jeanny that supposedly celebrates rape and violence It caused scandal and the piece was banned on some radio and television channels. After Underweger’s arrest there were attempts to connect its vulgar text with the murderer, but Jeanny was written 5 years before he turned to mass murderer and although the lyrics celebrated crime, it were not Jack’s crimes. The song is an example how profane and worse a song can be without using one single profane word. It is open to different interpretation. In fact it does not seem even profane. It is not as bad as some of our rappers’ products. And still the cryptic, ambiguous text brought much condemnation. It appears that the most objectionable words in the text are “A bed in the corn field’’ and reference to disappearance of 19 years old girl who went missing for 14 days and there was suspicion she might have been victim of crime There are several version of the lyrics so maybe these are more morally challenging. How it encourages rape and crime is not clear. The piece might encourage evil enough even without encouraging Unterweger.
Jeanny, however, was widely and strongly condemned by public which is good sign and allows for question whether it did not bring more good than evil. It was banned by some television channels and radio station. There were massive protests against the song and proposition to ban the song in catholic country. When government rejected the request, the opposition increased.
Jeanny deserved to be banned because of the song vagueness. It does not openly encourage rape or crime but it implies it or allows for such interpretation. What does mean: “And you said, ‘leave me alone.’ They are coming to get you. They not find you. Nobody will find you. You are with me.” Manure precipitates in various forms, condensed and distilled.
Some writers insert into their decent books few questionable pages or chapters, others manage to place several decent pages or chapters into their questionable books and one seems to have never written an undefiled paragraph. Jelinek must have been one of them. She was totally unknown abroad and sparsely read in Austria. It is possible that these are new postulates for Nobel Prize candidature. The Prize might help to increase the publishing of their operas which is a mathematical success; nonetheless, it will not extend their stature.
Piaf and Cerovska
Some lines of Je Ne Regrette Rien and L’Hymn d’ Amour equal the fatality of Gloomy Sunday. There should be warning that listen to the songs is at own risk, but, like physicians say it is risk against benefits. Here the benefits exceed the risk. It is easy to hear Piaf moaning “It is payed, obliterated, forgotten” and “I do not care about the whole world” in L’Hymne d”Amour in Kispipa and Seress accompanying her with his indexes on piano.
Piaf’s life piercing “forgotten” in Rien de Rien ,Je Ne Regrette Rien is an excruciating musical four-way bypass surgery with low survival rate. The songs are Supreme Law of the land of music. There is tocsin in her throat that anaesthetizes the public. Cerovska familiar with French musical alchemy performs “forgotten” in the same way as her two French sisters. The Czech singer was highly cultivated and intelligent woman. After her for long no crown princess dared to ascent her abandoned throne higher than few steps. Piaf dedicated L’Hymne d’Amour to memory of the friend Marcel Cerdan, world middleweight champion who had perished in 1949 in airplane crash on Azores.
Judita Cerovska was a highly cultivated and intelligent woman and after her retirement for long time no crown princes in former Czechoslovakia dared to ascend her throne higher that few steps. As for my purpose Cerovska had on her repertoire Gloomy Sunday in an unknown language. The Czech title was Smutna Nedele, exact translation of the words Gloomy Sunday but I did not understand one word although I speak Czech as well as did Saint John Nepomucene. Certainly it was not in any Slavic tongue. The words sounded like Lojban, but I was aware that beyond United States few people spoke the artificial tongue.
I found or remembered that Indo-European languages fall in two groups according how the numeral hundred is pronounced. Satem group comprises 35 tongues plus several Upper Indian and Kashmir language and derives its name from Iranian word Avesta, a language in which holy books of prophet Zoroaster were written and in which satem means a hundred. The other follows centum which means a hundred in Latin and includes 42 languages plus Medieval Greek and Ancient Greek. For example there are at least five languages where expression for hundred is sto. In Estonian is it sada and Finnish sata, in Serbian stotina. All these belong to Satem group. To Centum group belong Portuguese sem, Catalanian and French cent, Italian cento, Spanish ciento, German hundert,, Swedish hundra, Danish hudred, Dutch honder, and Basque Ehun. The last five are noticeably far from centum, but there is abstruse, nonetheless inferential explanation for the anomaly. I did not read the palm of the linguistic atlas /Man who reads the history palm knows/ though I wish I could. Although the two divisions list languages as Manx and Dard, Hungarian is missing but not lost. They all belong to Uralic group, not Indo-European. For those who like Gloomy Sunday, a hundred in Hungarian is szaz, “sz” as in szomoru.
I learned that Cerovska had recorded in Gipsy language Bashale Romale, their folk song meaning Days Without Numbers. I am sure that Smutna Nedele was also in Gipsy and wondered whether with two tunes performed in this language she was not Gipsy herself; it was pure curiosity of a researcher, not of a tabloid scribbler. Had I consulted Czech sources I would have immediately recognized there was an infinitesimal probability she was one. Her maiden name and married name was both pure Czech. She being German means her mother was German /Sterbova is also pure Czech name without trace of German origin/ who married Czech named Cerovsky. Having I started with Czech sources, I would have found out her name was written with “hacek”, a diacritical mark called caron. In form it is inverted French circonflexe, a miniature v placed above the letter. Without caron c is pronounce like ts in it’s. With the mark it is pronounced like our ch in charcoal. Circonflexe appears in Cerovska also above r and in Sterbova above e. Both change the pronunciation, but it is not necessary go into details. These diacritical marks are unknown in Gipsy tongue, but in Czech they appear above several letters. Even without hacek her name is pure Czech and my only reason to find out whether she was white was aroused by curiosity whether Gypsies had singer of such quality. To be a good person requires more gifts than to be a singer and she had heart and soul overflowing with both.
From time to time her German fans blamed her for being Czech and from another time her Czech zealots wished she was not German. And made her popular both in German speaking countries and the land she had been born.
I am satisfied that Gloomy Sunday in her adaption I had listened to is in Gipsy. I cannot prove it with “absence of doubt” as Black explains certainty. The same author expounds that where “existence of principal facts is only inferred from circumstances” such evidence is admissible. Basale Romale completes my conclusion.
Sonja Henie
Besides Knut Hamsun one of the innocent victims of wartime propaganda was Norwegian skater Sonja Henie who would become our citizen. In connection with her the using the word victim is fully justified.
She was et Norsk living in our country. Henie was carefully accused of un-Norwegian activities by Norwegian refugees in USA. She has met few times the Fuhrer who was fervent admirer of her art more than of her person. She won her last Olympic gold in 1936 in Garmisch Partenkirchen. Soviet Union and Spain boycotted the games, nevertheless 28 countries took part in the competition, among them all Alpine countries. In winter sports Spain always produced only mediocre individuals with the exception of Blanca Ochoa who took part in 4 games and won bronze medal in Abbeville. She also won 4 times World Cup races in slalom and giant slalom. It does seem not much but Ochoa competed against Austrians, Germans, Swiss, Americans, and Italians and many times ended second and third. There is no ranking in ski sports, instead each place in competition is worth certain number of points that determine the quality of the skier. For several years Ochoa was among the top ten. Curiously, she was born in 1936, the year her country engaged in war decided to snub Berlin games. Soviet Union first attended the Olympic games in 1952. Before them their strength was unknown and is safe to say that their athletes were at that time mediocre. Soon they would excel in many disciplines, yet in 1936 their results would not endanger domination of other countries. Consequently it is safe to say absence of these two countries was not significant los
In Garmisch Partenkirchen we won four medals, all by men. Should the two men sled winners, Americans Ivan Brown and Alan Washboard throw their medal to German shepherds because of Hitler? In 1936 Germany did not attack any country yet and in Europe Britain and France seemed strong enough to check any aggressor. Any medal brings glory to particular country. It is possible that Russia and Spain were not represented in Garmish since they had little chance for success. It is proper to ask had Spain and Russia good chance to be successful.
Before the Olympics Sonja Henie was ostracized in Norwegian press for having saluted the officials with raised hand and therefore at the games she refrained from doing so. For example French athletes did and later claimed that they had thought the raised hand was an Olympic comment allez-vous. Bulgarian delegation raised also their hands maybe also thinking the salute meant kak si. Another charge was she had accepted autographed photo of Hitler. All sins were forgotten when in 1953 and 1955 she returned with Holliday on Ice to a triumphal exhibition in Norwegian cities.
It is doubtful that unless having been prophets Henie as well as French and Bulgarians were aware what direction National Socialisms would take in 31 months. As mitigating circumstances, neither did Chamberlain, Roosevelt, Dzugashvili, Eduard Daladier, Benito Mussolini, Ignacy Moscicky, Kings and Pius XI, about 50 members of the League of Nations, and the rest of the world politicians. The good guess is that in 1936 Adolf Hitler was ignorant of himself as well. In Germany the unemployed, poor; dedicated Social Democrats and liberals, humanists, philanthropists, communists, children and geniuses saluted with raised hand. It was imitation that at that time did not mean unqualified support for Hitler. But a 24 years old girl should have known? Why, please? Because of logic; does not the doorman in the Europa hotel in Salzburg wears blue uniform in Wednesday afternoon and green on Sunday and his colleague in Sacher in Wien the same on Monday and Friday? Comment allez-vous?
For many years circulated legend that Adolf Hitler refused to shake Jesse Owens’s hand at the medal ceremony though he did not forget to congratulated other athletes. It took about 50 years for the moral uncertainty principle to be explained. At the day when this impertinency was supposed to occur the dictator was not present on the stadium. Besides, any sensible person would have thought about the scandal and that sensible even Hitler was.
.Norway is a too puritan country. Sonja Henie was the best figure skater in history of skating since “beginning of recorded time. She won the gold medal in three consecutive Olympics, a record that stands for more than sixty years; only Katarina Witt won twice, all the rest winners were one-time champions. Henie was ten consecutive years world champion; no other skater reached the top step more than five times.. The most popular person in her native country and wherever they had the projector and the Sun Valley Serenade was shown: which implicates indirectly the whole civilized world, not only Holy See as supporter of Hitler’s regime. She was also et Norsk living in our country. Sonja Henie was carefully accused of unnorwegian activities. She met several times the Fuhrer and won her last gold Olympic medal in Garmish Partenkirchen; at the same games participated 668 athletes from 28 countries: our country, Britain, and Canada having been among them; USA won four medals.
Abroad Sonja Henie contributed to the cause of the Kongeriket Norge more than any of Norwegian émigrés. During the war in USO she entertained our soldiers. Her salute and Fuhrer’s autographs were recognized for what they were, minor trespasses of woman who did not mean anything bad and who did not know much about politics and Hitler. Chairman of USO Thomas Dewey, a fierce patriot and future presidential candidate welcomed her work for his organization. As American citizen she behaved as faithful adopted American daughter. After the Pearl Harbor hit-and-run her support of our war effort was exemplary. Using political diagnosis it was not people of her new country who were besmirching her integrity but part of Norwegian refugees, strangers to America who were permitted to seek security of political asylum in land of which she was full-fledged citizen.
The Norwegian clandestine activities were no less dedicated to liberation of their homeland than Russian, Draza Mihajlovic’s and Tito’s or French and suffered their quantum of casualties; their sacrifices contributed to the German defeat. It is paramount to stress that all of them risked their life voluntarily. At the beginning of the war the small seafaring country possessed thousand commercial ships. Her navy sunk one billion worth of German goods. British called Norway Kingdom “our neutral ally”. Ally she was.. Since September 1 1939 till the neutral country herself was attacked on April 9 1940 Norway lost approximately 400 sailors and 58 vessels.
Then charges of her connections with Hitler and her salute came up. Fortunately, the obloquy weakened when many refugees took her part.
The skater possessed annihilating pulchritude which she controlled up to the age when no facelift and maitre de make-up can contravene time. She admired by women as well as jealous women.
Sigrid Undset
Only Nobel Prize grande-dame, mother of Kristin Lavranasdatter, wife of Lavrans Langmandsson, sister of impared Ulvhild Lavransdatter, cousin-german of Erland, and daughter of all of us, Sigrid Undset did during war for her homeland as much as Sonja Henie. Wherever Sun Valley Serenade with Henie was played Undset’s Kristin was read. As smashingly undeveloped publishers occur not only in third world countries her first manuscript was rejected.
When Stalin attacked Finland she handed her Nobel Prize to the Finnish war effort.
When Germany occupied her country she found refuge first in neutral Sweden and then in America where she went on speaking tour. Undset did not finish her circuit since her countrymen were not interested in her speeches or were busy aspersing Sonja Henie with tongues that were sharper than her skates.
Undset was a noble person, politically pure; it is safe to say she hated Germans when Adolf Hitler was teenager, therefore about forty years before his Plan Weserubung, the disposition for occupation of Norway, and Denmark, the country which had the honor of her birthright; negative mien towards Germany depends on whether Sigrid Undset was capable of hatred. The source of her peculiar attitude is not known; besides she worked for ten years for a German company. She raised her despicable husband’s children. Her daughter died shortly before WWII and her stepson Anders, officer in the Norwegian was killed in the war close to their own house. Did not these disinterested American Norwegians who could not spend two hours with Norwegian Nobel Prize winner know it ? Her life on television have been watched by three million three hundred thousand out of about five millions Norwegians.
Knut Hamsun
Another great Norwegian who in postwar period has to fight serious predicament was Nobel prize winner and author of numerous novels. He was awarded the Prize for literature in1920. Notably, Hamsun was at that time 86 years old and continued write while in asylum for psychotics. The author kept writing with undiminished capacity for prominence. His incarceration raised two questions; first, how an insane person can create great literature and second, how a person writing great literature can be demented; UNESCO and Haag Vehmic Court agenda. He himself inclined to the second proposition, blaming the courts, thus annihilating the astrologers called scientifically psychologists. Psychoanalysis was a mighty fort. It took more than many years before the minefield around Freud was carefully removed: a pyrotechnic can stray from his destiny only once. Many skeptics of the couch bled to death having stepped on the personal mines of psychoanalysis by expressing doubts about his theories. Hamsun exposed the ignorance and corruption of mental doctors in Ezra Pound psychiatric asylum time, about thirty years before doctor Morozov, doctor Daniel Lunts and scores of their colleagues in scores of asylums like Serbsky Institut and Kaschenko Institut were raping the science and burying its corpses in rodnaya Ruskaja zemlja while in Novaya Zemlja were freezing the brave. I am angry with myself I do not remember where I have read: "It is the brave who die first.” The Kaschenko Institute was named after Pyotr Kaschenko an august psychiatrist practicing before, during, and for three years after Aurora blank shot. Kaschenko died in 1920. He took consequential part in 1905 by Father Gapon inspired demonstration known as Krovavoe Voskresenie /Bloody Sunday/. In mounted Kossacs’ attack about thousand people were shot and sabred while singing and chanting with their pops caliginous Church canticles and praying for Nicholas II of Romanov dynasty that ruled Russian since 1613, his Tzarevna “Sunny” Alexandra, their daughters Grand Duchess Olga, born 1895, Grand Duchess Tatiana born in 1897 Maria born 1899, Grand Duchess Anastasia born in 1901, and the only son the Tsarevich of Russia Alexei born in 1904. This was the answer to the Memorial prepared by Father Georgi Gapon. In indirect connection the lie that twelve years later the shot from Aurora destroyed buildings was exposed. The shot was blank. Curiously the conquest of Bastille in 1789 was no less problematic. It appears that the garrison comprised less than ten invalids. In a French movie that might win Oscar for Foreign Movies in a dialog was mentioned Lenin as having worked as domestique, a menial, for Paris artist. There are more things in Hollywood and Gaumont, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Twenty-six years after his Knut Hamsun’s death Danish writer Thorkild Hansen wrote “Processen Mod Hamsun,” a book which would become a basis for the movie ”Hamsun.” In its pages he sharply criticized Norway authorities for criminal treatment of the Nobel Prize winner, “soul of Norway, recipient of Goethe’s medal in 1934 Hansen suggested:"If you want to meet idiots, go to Norway.” Many went. As my doctor taught me “risk against benefits”. Did Hamsun contribute to his country more than he damaged her? Was Marshal Petain’s Verdun bigger than his Vichy? Laval, Mussolini. In 1929 in appreciation of Vidkun Quisling’s many years lasting cooperation with British humanitarian commission helped to alleviate the famine in Ukraine King George V awarded him the order Commander of British empire. In 1940 his second son George VI revoked the order. Five months after the war when George VI was still English king Quisling was shot in the capital in Akerhus Festing /Aker House Fortress/ more than 600 years old castle built to protect Oslo. It is situated by sea and therefore never conquered. The most famous inmates were the leaders of the Saami uprising in Kautokeno. Saami are native people on Scandinavia. In the Festing are buried several kings, a queen and other royals. The fortress was occupied only after having been abandoned in 1940. He and other prisoners were executed in the part of the fortress called Slaverief /moil/. Before the war the country did not have capital punishment, yet Norwegian government in England decided to institute it and with Vidkun Quisling in mind followed the decision. Merciless yet incorruptible choler of time revenges injustice. Alexandr Solzhenitsyn also wrote about Hamsun’s trial Process with Hamsun. Foreign countries ignored, Norway and kept publishing his work. China published Kratskog Historier og Skitser/Kratskog’s Tales and Sketches/: and ignoring his allegiance to Adolf Hitler Knut Hamsun’s Mysterier was translated into Hebrew when in Israel Wagner was still on index; by history ironical coincidence at the same time was beginning process that led to the obliteration of Wagner’s censure. After fifty years of protest in 1995 Flying Dutchman was performed, but the cultural radicals prevailed and Wagner was again banned and returned only after 16 years. Shortly after establishment of Israel there were sporadic attempts against Ludwig van Beethoven, yet the significant Jewish musical artists prevailed and he was played before the enthusiastic audience while lovers of literature read Knut Hamsun’s Mysterier.
In 1954 his work was published in N in 15 volumes. History the Aristophanes, stepmother blind to kneeling, deaf to moaning yet always lampooning the dead introduced premiere of comparative vaudeville: at the same time when Wagner was reentered on the index of prohibited composers Holy See initiated the process of abolishing the Index of Librorum Prohibitorum established originally by the Tridentine Council, the ninetheenth council in history of Church in 1545 but put in effect by Paul IV four years later; Pope Paul VI, person who undermined the Church with delayed action
bomb and damaged her more than Luther,Hus, Zwingli, King Gustav Vasa ,King
Henry VIII and the whole reformation; more than any clergyman or lay person issued in 1966 Motu Propio / on my own/ Integrae Servandae effectively suspending the Index. It does not mean that Facultes Jesuites de Paris or Louvain Pontifical Gregorian University will be allowed to offer pornography classes, but Motu Propio might shorten the delayed action.
Slowly, but unstoppably the mills of God King Harold V and Queen Sonja followed like the commoners their heart and not politics and in 2009 joined the “Hamsun Year” celebration on occasion of 150th anniversary of the author’s birth, when his ghost was around already for decades. Years ago Norwegian critic wrote: “He is a ghost that will not stay in grave.” Moscow also helped the writer’s ghost to defy the consequence of his burial by joining the international actions. The city proclaimed Hamsun Days and arranged doll exhibition called Hamsun’s Fairytale Country with trolls and other fantasy dolls from Norwegian folklore. Hamsun International Festival opened on the same day in Oslo and Moscow. Stefan Zweig describing Josef Haydn’s death said: “…and gradually died in him whatever was in his body still mortal…” It was not too much; the words apply to Hamsun. German writer Anna Seghers who’s “Seventh Cross” was made in USA into movie gave one of her books title “Die Toten Bleiben Jung” - “The Dead Stay Young.” He does. The longer genius is dead, the shallower his grave, the more moist his ashes and the more is he ArchHamsun.
What’s a big deal to kill the Tzar.
On July 16 1918 about eight into the night a fourteen years old kitchen boy Leonid Sednev was told his uncle wanted to see him. He left immediately not knowing the uncle was shot by revolutionary forces six weeks ago. He was inseparable friend on another boy, one year younger, heir apparent Alexei. As he would never see his uncle so he would never play gorodky wit Alexei. The kitchen helper would die in 1928 or 1929, the other in few hours. The Tsarevich of Russia would die the same night six hours after Leonid set on the way to Kaluga.
The Tzar, his family, and some servants who had the courage to volunteer to follow him to the exile were imprisoned in Ignatiev House in Yekateringburg in Ural, now city with more than a million inhabitants. During communist regime the area was named in honor of Yakov Sverdlov who on personal instruction from Lenin telegraphed the order to execute Romanovs to his collaborator Filip Goloschekin. Talking to Sverdlov Trotskij wondered whether the family of the Tzar has been also slain: “Oh yes, and where is the Tzar?” “It is all over. He has been shot.” “And where is his family?” “And family with him.” “All of them?” “All of them.” Sverdlov added some words in the sense “So what? Or “What’s a big deal?” Romanovs were abused and starved like Louis XVI “citizen Capet”, “widow Capet”, and his children. Probably Avdayev the supervisor of the guard detail put them on military ration, but likely he followed higher order. There is similarity in the fate of the killers. Fouqier-Tinville who presided over the Revolutionary Tribunal would die on the guillotine as would Hebert who besmirched Marie Antoinette memory by wild inventions and was considered qualified beast even by his own cabal. Finally with exception of Marat who was assassinated by Charlotte Corday the entire main and many minor actors of French anarchy were guillotined, the gorillas Robespierre, Danton, Saint Just.
In Russian theatre of the mob rule hominoid Yakov Yurovski /sometime Yurovsky/ survived to head the reunion of his squad in 1934, but Lenin died on consequence of an assassination attempt by Fanya Kaplan. Trotskij, after having survived an assassination attempt less than three month ago was on August 20 1940 attacked in the house of artist Frida Kahlo in Mexico by Soviet agent, Spaniard communist Ramon Mercader and died the next day. Sverdlov, the unofficial head of Russia who issued one of the most climacteric orders in country history suffered from tuberculosis and died at 33. It was never established if he had really died from TBC or from politicis because there was some evidence he might have died from influenza and some that he was implicated in the conspiracy against Lenin. Another rumors asseverated he was killed in Oryol by anti-Semites.
Let us return now to the Ipatiev house in Ekaterinburg.The head of the guard detail was originally Chekist Alexander Avdayev. For unspecified reasons on July 4 or 8 he was replaced by Yakov Yurovski. Who was the new commander? As for accepting or even hypothesizing that he was human, from anthropological point of view he was rather counterfeit, a humanoid, and an impostor of man. Why he replaced Avdayef? Good guess would be Avdayev was not strict enough or if the execution was considered he was not trusted to organize the lynching efficiently, if he would organize it at all. After all, three Latvians refused to participate in the murder. Avdayev rule of the House of the Special Purpose was tolerable. For the crime Soviets needed a criminal.
Yurovsky
confiscated the royal family jewelry, allowed the guards to steal the food
regularly brought to Ipatiev house by Orthodox nuns from Novotikvinsky convent
where Yurovski’s sister was mistress of novices. He began starving the
prisoners by putting them on military ration and abuse them without
provocation. Social Revolutionary when they had arrested Romanovs did not have
this on their minds, the less the murders. All this remains on Kerensky,
Miljukov, and Social Revolution Party’s conscience. They should have to
apologize to Russian people during their life and to God after their death. Romanov’s family
was posthumously rehabilitated. All top
Eser politicians who did not manage like their leader Kerensky escape in
British Embassy car would end as the Tzar.
The reason for the sudden murder was allegedly the approach of formidable Czech Legion, a force consisting of former Czech prisoners of war who had organized army to fight against Bolsheviks. The White occupied Ekaterinburg eight days after the murder. Soviets in the region believed Czechs had intention to liberate the royal family, but their mission was to seize and hold the Siberian railway for their evacuation to Vladivostok in order to be transferred home. The Legion was commanded by General Chechek, General Syrovy, and General Radola Gajda. As an intended interlude: after the WW II the last two were sentenced as “colaborants’, a minor war criminals. General Gajda spent two years in prison. One of his sons was killed when jumping from the train carrying German prisoners of war to Russia, the other was killed after the communist revolution in Czechoslovakia. He was trying to escape to West Germany /”past the hills”/ and was shot by border guards. General Jan Syrovy was Prime minister after Munich and in this function signed the Munich Treaty. He was recipient of thirteen foreign decorations, among them of Legion d’ Honour. At his trial the prosecution presented his picture as he was shaking hand with Adolf Hitler; reminding of the same trouble Sonja Henie had to go through General Syrovy was sentenced to twenty years and in 1960 be released by mass amnesty and worked as night watchman. Syrovy and Gajda of were graduates of Ecole Superieure de Guerre, equivalent of Soviet Voenaya Akademiya Im. M.V. Frunze or General Staff academies in larger countries.
In order to justify the murders the Soviets developed few theories, one of them being the above mentioned that white troops intending to free the Tzar, the other the approach of Czechs. Lenin insisted their mission was liberation of the Tzar and his family. In truth the Czech command had not inclination the royals were imprisoned in Ekaterinburg. Even supposing it was truth why did Yurovski slew the children? Both explanations were pasteurized lies. The White “counter-revolutionary band” captured Ekaterinburg ten days after the date announced in the execution document. The Presidium of the Ural region Soviet had plenty of time to move the family out of the reach of potential liberators. In other part of the document rot more expletive lies: “The Romanov family is being held together with the monarch under guard: the family has been evacuated from Ekaterinburg in the interest of public security”. To allow for the mordancy; if the family was held with him it would have meant with his corpse. “With he” is transparent misinformation. Looking on the matter in proper way, Romanov family was relocated together with his corpse to the secret pit in Ural forest.
During the war Czech had a kind of government and in 1945-1947 its members were tried as traitors. At that time a courageous Czech journalist wrote that had not Germans shot General Elias he would have been shot after the war as traitor. During German occupation prime minister General Elias was actively supporting clandestine activities against Germans and after assassination of former President of Interpol SS General Reinhard Heydrich, then the German Protector of Bohemia and Moravia Elias was arrested by Gestapo and on June 19 1942 executed by firing squad on shooting range Kobylisy, the same place where about 550 patriots were shot. Prominent among them were Orthodox bishop Matej Pavlik Gorazd and three priests: Vaclav Cikl, Jan Sonnevend, and Vladimir Petrek who were sheltering in Saint Bartholomew chapel in Prague / “You saw me crying in the chapel”…/ the seven parachutists sent from Britain to assassinate in Prague Reinhard Heydrich and who were killed in shootout with SS. Dr. Gorazd was not implicated in the case but offered his life for his flock / “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his flock”. John 10:11. All four were executed on September 5 1942. Dr. Gorazd was very well known clergyman who had undertaken several missionary pilgrimages including the pastoral visit of the United States. He was canonized in 1987.
Yurovski had been full time watchmaker in Berlin, part time junior revolutionary and by avocation opportunist. His father was common criminal who was sent to Siberian penal colony. His son, an unstable person had converted from Judaism to Lutheran faith, more from contingency than conviction. He was married by pop in Orthodox church that apparently did not care about moral screening,
In Israel the Heinrich Heine controversy was as intensive as that of Richard Wagner. Originally, one or the Tel Aviv main street was named after Heine. Notwithstanding, later the street name was changed and Heine got his street in an obscure part of the city. Jewish theologian Pinchas Lapide described him as “Jewish circumcised, baptized protestant, married a Catholic”. He omitted Heine’s period of atheism. The poet’s motives for conversion are hard to clarify. Another Jewish artist, composer Felix Mendelssohn was baptized at six together with four of five siblings to Lutheran faith. His father remained Jew, the fact that complicates the search for reason of the conversion. It seems that his father felt like Christians in Germany his children would have more opportunity.
Semi-creature like Yurovski welcomed revolution with flashing arms and with no less incandescent arms the revolution offered hospitality to people like he. It opened them armed hope, and, most important, opportunity, Mausers, Maxims, and Nagants to realize themselves. After Prince Alexei’s friend Leonid Sednev left, the Tzar was perplexed but Yurovski dispelled his worries.
With Avdayev’s departure all his guards were replaced with revolutionary workers from Verkh-Isetsk factory. All of them were volunteers. Three Latvians refused participate in the slaughter without consequences which supports the opinion they were volunteers. The three probably accepted an undetermined assignment without knowing the details and when told they had to kill the Tzar they backed up. Some of Yurovski’s men were chekists but of them only Yermakov and Mikhail A. Medvedev are identified by name. Here comes the question if they were picked up from a manufacturing plant were they workers and not chekists? Cheka agents were full time employees of Ural Soviet and could not have another job. Interestingly, two of them were named Medvedev. Brothers?
Hardly. One is M.A. and the other P.S. Medvedev. In Russia the first letter signifies Christian name and the second are derived from father and similarly like in some Latin countries in Russia married woman takes the name of her husband while keeping her maiden surname. Thus Medvedevs could have been father and son or cousins but not brothers unless one of them was adopted while keeping his name. It is highly probable that they were not relatives. In Russia Medvedev is frequent name. It means a bear.
From several accounts it appears that after Yurovski, Yermakov, the commissar of Upper Isetks and chekist Pavel Medvedev were the most important members of the execution squad. Pavel Medvedev seems to have been more involved than Yurovski. He was commander of Red Guards; while the later was commanding the House of Special Purpose detail which means Ipatiev House. When eight days after the murders the Whites captured Ekaterinburg Pavel Medvedev was arrested in Perm. At the interrogation he related: “Yurovski said we must shot them all tonight.” He also claimed there were eleven killers. The most thorough research was done by professor Ivan Plotnikov, historian at the Maxim Gorki Ural University and he lists all nine assassins by name. Their names are given bellow. Several chronicles include Filip Goloschenko among the killers. He delivered to Yurovski the telegraphic answer to July 18 telegram of Ural Soviet to Lenin and Sverdlov and although present in the Ipatiev house during the shooting he did not take part in it. Who supposed to be the eleventh man was never established.
The Ural Soviet had asked Lenin and Sverdlov to approve the text of the public announcement of the execution:
17
July 1918
Due
to the approach of the enemy to Ekaterinburg and the discovery by the
Extraordinary Commission /Cheka/ of a large White Guard conspiracy having the goal of abducting the
former Tzar and his family… the documents are in our hands. In accordance with
the decree of the Presidium of the Ural Region Soviet, on the night of 16 July
Nicholas Romanov was executed. His family was evacuated to a safe place.
Regarding this, we are issuing the following notice. “In view of the approach
of a counterrevolutionary band to the Red capital of the Urals /Ekaterinburg/
and the possibility that the crowned killer might escape… the People’s Court…a
White Guard plot was discovered to abduct his family and himself, and
compromising documents have been found, which will be published/.” The
Presidium of the Ural Region found Nicholas Romanov guilty of uncountable
bloody acts of violence against the Russian people. On the night of 16 July
1918, this sentence was carried out. The Romanov family is being held together
under guard; in the interests of public security, the family has been evacuated
from Ekaterinburg - Presidium of the Regional Soviet.”“We request your sanction
regarding the wording of the above. The documents of the plot are being rushed
to you by courier to Sovnarkom /Soviet Narodnykh Kommissarov-Soviet of People’s
Commissars/.” Tslk.
“Tslk”
is probably a telegraph operator code.
The Sverdlov’s order to execute the family was delivered by chekist Filip Goloschenko who was was present in the Ipatiev’s house during the murders, nonetheless he did not participated in the massacre. It is not clear who the eleventh slaughterer supposed to be. After his interrogation Medvedev is not mentioned in any of the contemporary documents. It is safe to say that he was shot.
History, the career of amnesy bacteria need to punch deep in marble the names of the victims and still deeper to perpetuate the names of slayers in inferior mineral, but not softer than granite. Professor Plotnikov nine names of men who had killed the family: Yakov Yurovski, G.P.Nikulin, M.A. Medvedev /Kudrin/, P.Z.Yermakov, S.P.Vaganov, A.G.Kabanov, P.S.Medvedev, V.N.Netrebin, and Y.M.Tselmis, Latvian national. In Yurovski’s report in 1934 appear only Yermakov and both Medvedevs. He had described the morbid execution in two other documents, in Notes in 1920 and in Memoirs of the execution in 1928. All of them became available after the crash of communism.
From the nine slayers only Yurovski Nikulin, and Yermakov are mentioned in future. In his biography of Yurovski “I am the Chekist” Yakov Reznik notes that before his death Yurovski wrote him a letter calling him “son” and leaving him several documents and list of his assets. Yermakov always asseverated it was he who had shot Nicholas II. He concluded several of his speeches with the affirmation: “I personally shot theTzar”. He donated his Mauser to museum. It seems to be a contradiction for Yurovski had distributed Nagants. Nevertheless, the Chekists might have had other weapons. Mauser produced mostly rifles and at that time only Mauser 6.35 and 7.65 handguns only which were used in the armies of many countries.
Lynching in Deep Cellar
Upon receiving the order Yurovski issued the lynching detail seven shot 12 Nagant M 1895 7.62 Belgian pistols produced in Russia. Belgian pistol FN 380 ACP 1910 was also among weapons seized from one of the Gavrilo Princip’s group of assassins in Sarajevo. He fired the shots that was not heard around world but started world war with the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. Some criminologist believes Princip used different handgun.
There were reports that in Romanovs’ murder were fired also rifles, but tenable evidence is missing. Yurovski designed to each Chekist individual targets. He himself chose to kill the Tzar who was carrying his son. Most witnesses testified he had shot the imperator, but at the reunion of Ural Soviet in 1934 Yermakov in argument with Yurovski boasted he had killed the Tzar. This perverted pride satisfies requirements for admission to the caste of anthropoids rather than humans. It is a incontestable proof that man who once slays anybody is able to slay always everybody There was never established who had killed which member of the family since in the confusion the directions were not kept but it is safe to believe the Tsar was shot by Yurovski, although there is no any proof to support the opinion that he murdered the Tzarevich whom the monarch was holding in his arms. No one of the nine members of the squad admitted the less boasted he shot the Tsarina. As if ashamed no one of them prided himself to have lynched any of the rest of the royal preys and their employees. The monarch was the only quarry worth of the sport and for and for the slaughter nobody was punished. Man can get away with extermination of mortals whom God had created for magnanimous purpose; extermination committed with less solicitude than is shown to cattle in Chicago slaughterhouses.
On July 17 1918 before midnight Yurovski told Doctor Eugene Botkin, his intermediary with his prisoners to wake them up. In his last letter to his brother Alexander Botkin wrote: “I am dead yet not yet buried.” He asked the doctor to warn the inmate that in Ekaterinburg had erupted riots threatening Romanovs safety and therefore in order to protect them they have to move to safer place.
The preparation took about 40 minutes. In cellar were assembled eleven designed victims: the Tzar Nicholas II, whose mother was sister of Queen Victoria, his wife Tsaritsa Alexandra Fyodorovna, their daughters Olga, Tatiana, Marie, Anastasia, their son Tsarevich Alexei, 13, maid Anna Demidova, servant Alexei Trupp,a Latgallian /Catholic Latvian/, doctor Eugene Botkin, and cook Ivan Kharitonov.
Tzar of Russia was carrying his son and was holding him for some time but finally put him down on chair and took place in front of him as if to screen him. Other testimony suggest father was holding him to the last moments.The scene reminds of 1937 Louis Bromfield’s Rain Came. Floods break a dam built with savings on mind and in raging waters father holds his children as if to reassure them no matter there was not slightest chance they will escape; they did not. The unforgettable book contains many other powerful episodes. Rain Came could have been written without describing the family drowning and still remain one of the best novels in American literature; but once the author created the father’s powerful helplessness his book cannot be imagined without the tragic picture.
With exception of the Tzarevna all prisoners were standing. Again, other witnesses say some of the targets were also sitting. Yurovski went outside and told the guards to be ready. Soon they entered the room. Upon returning he explained to Nicholas II that there existed both in Russia and abroad a conspiracy to liberate them and to prevent this it was decided by the Soviet of Deputies to execute them. The Tsar said: “Chto?”- “What? “, the last Russian tzar last words in our world and the first in the just one. He did not have time to ask anything more nor listen to an explanation. It is hard to explain to even guilty person why he is dying and Yurovski did not intend to offer any apology anyway. There was no time to offer the prisoners chance to say last words. Such maudliness has no place in revolution whether Lenin’s or Robespierre’s. Fate of Louis XVI and Nicholas II intimately connect both anarchies; the fate of both anarchists dichotomizes them. Lenin lived for few years, Maximilian Robespierre few months, until on decadi thermidor 1794 he ascended the tumbrel on his last stop at the Place de la Concorde.
The shooting started immediately. Ten Nagants firing seven rounds each in closed room clouded it with smoke. Withal, there is the testimony that some in the force used rifles to finish the wounded. All orders were perfectly disregarded and the guards were firing at random. Technically, Yurovski had advised to aim at heart as to prevent too much bleeding. From medical point of view this was a foolish assumption.
After a while Yurovski commanded to cease the massacre, nonetheless with the most powerful idea, the idea of revenge on mind it was hard for the dead workers to stop. From eleven targets Anna Demidova, four Grand Duchesses, and Tzarevna of Russia were hurt, but not dead. So far no student of the execution noticed a conspicuous fact. Those killed before the shooting was interrupted were three commoners doctor Botkin, Trupp, and Kharitonov plus Nicholas and Alexei. Only two Romanovs? Ten assassins firing with abandon and six of their targets survived first volleys? Of the six survivors five were royals. It might seem the assassins were purportedly not aiming on the royal family but the fact that all survivors of the first period of shooting were wounded undermines the assumption. Farfetched guess would be that most of the assailants were sparing Nicholas’ wife and daughters and only one or two were aiming on the women. It is also noteworthy that all survivors were women. The argument that women were hiding under their clothes jewelry that protected them can be true, but it did not help them much; at the end all were killed. The witnesses repeatedly maintained that the Grand Duchesses were hiding under their dresses diamond jewelry which stopped or cause the bullets to digress. When reading the witnesses’ accounts it is essential to realize that they are the only witnesses and that they have all reasons to whitewash themselves. Yurovski took credit for finishing the Tzarevich while Yurovski and Yermakov, the chekists and maybe others bayoneted to death Demidova, who was fiercely fighting and in the end lost heroically her impossible duel. Both chekists finished with bayonets short life of Alexei and his four sisters. Before their death wounded Tzarevna and Grand Duchesses crossed themselves and some managed to utter few opening words of prayer. How do we know? There were nine murderers and slowly they start talking. It was inevitable that one day the details of the lynching will seep from these witnesses and they did. To use two weapons to slaughter woman one must be incomplete human, but not incomplete beast, a pseudo human, kind of quasi organism. The wounded retreated against back wall and there met the death.
The wall in front of which the Imperator and his family were standing was built from solid material, concrete or bricks and the projectiles were ricocheting. Yurovski claimed to have been close to being hit by shot fired by one of his team who was standing behind him; the same bullet hit someone’s hand; he did not remember whose. The explanation must be regarded with reservation if the witness of evil is the participant this evil. It is difficult to assume that even a person as maniacal as Yurovski pretends the enterprise was dangerous and make heroes of the participants. With extermination of the injured and kicking of the bodies by Yurovski and some others guards the Saint Valentine massacre in Ipatiev house was concluded.
An incomplete analogy would be an action known under three names: Night of Long Knives, Roehm Putsch and Kolibri. On June 29, 1934 a convoy of cars rode from Munich to hotel Hanselbauer in Wiessee in Bavaria. As soon as their reached their destination the SS jumped out of the vehicles, ran to Hanselbauer and shot tens of SA men, their rivals for the power over Germany. Many of them were his fellows. The execution continued the next day over the whole country and the final count of casualties was estimated to have been at least 85 but not exceeding 200. Who cared? Adolf Hitler cared, however not in the usual sense. If he had to rule by himself without interfering from unfriendly opponents like Catholic politicians Otto and Gregor Strasser or his cordial comrade Roehm he had to get rid of all of them and he did with the exception of Otto Strasser who managed to flee and after exile in six countries settled in safe Canada. Therefore he cared the most dangerous will not escape and with few exception they did not. This defect was corrected; some of those assassinated in the hotel got on the list by mistake. Adolf Hitler was Chancellor just for 16 months and far away from the future dictatorial powers. His enemies, SA,/ Schutzabteilung/ had three million men, more than his faithful SS, /Schutzstaffel/.
It might and it is callous to compare from any conjecturable angle gangster massacre in Chicago with Inactive house butchery. In Chicago one cabal opposed another; both of them comprised of equal thugs. One of the similarities between all three events lies in the method: the unexpected attack and no prisoners taken. The major difference makes the victims. In Romanovs’ affair the fatalities were innocents while in the other two the perpetrators were not much better than the casualties.
Seemingly we cannot disregard the numerical difference and concentrate only on the methods. In the Night of Long Knives died more than twenty times as many people than in the Russian crime. Does it make the Roehm’s affair more lamentable? Is the history revenge limited to generation of bereaves? Exodus 20:5 and 34.6-7 and Deuteronomy 5:9 do not agree and whispers that the sins of fathers pass on children. Ezekiel 18:20 and Deuteronomy 24:16 tell that they do not. There is not middle road but there must be a road. For faithful it does not matter since creed is above and beyond mortal stratum.. We can close the garage in Chicago and stay with SA and Ipatiev house. Both are essentially murders of political opponents, unprovoked and brutish. In Wiessee were assassinated only adult men, in Ipatiev house basement lost their life a child and more females than males. In Russia in order to eliminate witnesses four servants who were not politically involved had to die. In Germany all witnesses, the SS slayers, survived. The mirage that they would tell truth belongs either in introduction on the first page of Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales or someplace between Snowhite and Seven Dwarfs and Goldilocks. Once more; the most peculiar facet of the three carnages is that the Yurovski’s victims were innocent while the perpetrators were not common but uncommon barbarians. In Saint Valentine shooting as well as in the murder of SA there was not any difference between the killers and the killed. Slaughtered Moran gangsters were not any better than their slayers sent by Al Capone and dead SA were not better than SS.
After the slaughter Yurovski’s only concern was to recover looted jewelry from his team and then to hide the corpses. In order to make the identification more difficult he ordered to burn the victims’ clothes. The bodies were loaded on a truck and driven to a mine, but the truck broke down. After that the bodies were thrown in another abandoned mine which appeared to be too shallow to hide eleven bodies. The squad rejected the proposal to dynamite the mine and they went to look for better hiding place. On Moscow high road there was a deeper mine. “We looked over the place and decided it was good,” wrote businesslike Yurovski in 1934 as if buying a horse. Someone proposed to burn the bodies, yet the plan was never scrutinized in detail as the results were unpredictable. Someone from the Yurovski’s force suggested burying them in several places. The plan was rejected. It is amazing how imperfect was the preparation for the disposal of the bodies. First, Yurovski had ordered a truck which arrived shortly, nevertheless, since that time everything what could was going wrong. They were looking for a place where the proceedings could not be noticed by civilians and far from dwellings. The funeral force discovered opportune location where the Tzarevich Alexei and Anna Demidova were burned and a pit dug. Why not all and why the two was never explained and if, no one would have understand the explanation. The detail dug a pit and the corpses were thrown in. The poured sulfuric acid over them and covered the mass grave with soil and then in order to hide any sign of digging he placed railroad ties on the top. The scene looked like a soggy road reinforced with the ties. In Russia his was common practice to make muggy roads passable.
The Bolsheviks were not finished as they would never be finished till 1991. As former governor of California Pete Wilson said to chortling audience ”communism now remains alive on few scattered colleges.” His Pious Majesty and his family were neither the last nor the first Romanovs to have been killed. Two months before the death of the Tzar was executed many persons related to Imperator or servants of the royal family as if the Bolsheviks wanted to erase any trace of monarchy. Many royalty and their employees would follow.
The Tzar was subject to assassination attempt before.As Tzarevich future Nicholas II together with his cousin Prince George of Greece and Denmark visited the commemoration of the Trans-Siberian Railroad. After traveling all the railroad length they were visiting Japanese cities Kobe, Kyoto, and Nagasaki. On May 11 1891 in Otsu, the capital of Shiga Prefecture situate on Lake Biwa Nicholas was attacked by one of their escorts, Tsuda Sanzo. Sanzo hit the Tzarevich on the head with his saber; Prince George thwarted the second blow with his cane.
In his defense Sanzo claimed as Orthodox they committed sacrilege by visiting Holy Sites of Shinto. The statutes provided death penalty for assault on persons of regal stature but the defense claimed the law was meant to be applicable only to Japanese royals. Among confusion the attacker was sentenced to life after Nicholas asked the Japanese authorities to refrain from the capital punishment. After few months he would die in prison. Similarly, Gavrilo Princip, the Sarajevo assassin of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg died on April 28, in Fortress Terezin of tuberculosis when amputation of one arm failed to save him.
In June and July were shot Marshall Vasily Alexandrovich Dolgorukov, descendant of the Rurik dynasty that had ruled Russia between 862 and 1597 a.d., Ivan Dmitrievich Sednev servant of Romanov’s children, count General Ilia Leonidovich Tatishev, and Clement Gregorievich Nagorny, personal servant of the Tzarevich Alexei. , Ivan Dmitrievich Sednev servant of Romanov’s children, count General Ilia Leonidovich Tatishev, and Clement Gregorievich Nagorny, personal servant of the Tzarevich Alexei.
Pierre Gilliard, the French teacher of the family volunteered with other employees remained with the family in captivity but his request was denied. After Whites had entered Ekaterinburg he returned to Ipatiev house and found on the walls marks of bullets and bayonets points of which had finished Anna Demidova and some others victims. Gilliard as most of other servants were not allowed to follow the Tzar’s family to Ipatiev’s house. Some of them lived, some were traced and murdered. The Swiss citizen Gilliard was among the lucky, later returned home and published book in which he described his visit to the murders scene after White troops entered Ekaterinburg. He had found traces of bullets and bayonets on the wall. He survived the civil war and later returned home.
On July 17 and 18 were shot one group of 8 and one of 5 victims. From the 13 at least five were members of Romanov family and their servants. Mass extermination of nobility and their domestics continued in the areas under Bolsheviks’ control. On July 18 especially cruel end met Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fedorovna, four another members of Romanov family, and their secretary. Her husband Sergei, Grand Duke of Russia had been in 1905 assassinated by terrorists at the height of their assassination activities After his death she established Mary Convent of Mercy in the Possession of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fedorovna where she became a nun. Elizabeth Fedorovna and her associate were thrown alive in a mine and all wounded by the fall died one by one. After the red forces lost the city they were exhumed. There must have been at least one witness since it is accepted as truth that though she was seriously wounded and her bones broken in the fall disregarding herself and her own injuries she was attending to Prince Ioann who had injured head. She managed to bandage his head.
The body of the Duchess Elizabeth Fedorovna was found uncorrupted. With acute threat of Bolsheviks’ return the corpses were evacuated through China to Jerusalem. Here they were buried in Church of Saint Mary Magdalena. On October 26 2011 the Duchess and her companions in death were translated to their final resting space in Moscow. Bodies of other Romanovs were transferred from Russia to Shanghai and then buried in Church of All Martyrs in Peking. By alleged order of Russian consulate they were in 1947 transferred to Russian Cemetery in Shanghai. In 1987 the burial ground was destroyed and at the site was built a golf course. What happened to the corpses is unclear.
Romanovs and Rurik
All religious institutions mentioned in the essay belong to Orthodox Church. After the self-destruction of communist dictatorship the new government is slowly returning the churches, convents, monasteries, schools, institutions, and other properties to Russian Orthodox church, but it is not predisposed to return Kremlin and other assets to another claimant, going back 414 years.
In year 2009 there were living 53 Romanovs who are not much interested in restoration of dynasty. So far none of them took any steps towards restoration of the dynasty. From the legal point of view they are prime candidates to the empty Russian throne. In 1979 they formed Romanov Family Association with Nicolas Romanov Romanovich as president. With exception of Maria Vladimirovna Romanova all 22 members and all 5 associate members of the association honor Prince of Russia Nicolas Romanov born November 26 1922 as their doyen. Some of the family noted that his parents were commoners, but for majority of them this is would not be any obstacle for being recognized as Romanov. The youngest member is Nikita Rostislav Romanov born January 24 1987. Romanovs admit that Nicholas abdicated on his own will and thus their dynasty abnegated all royal prerogatives the association leaves the reanimation of their dynasty to decision of Russian people. They organize financial support for their former country. It protects Romanovs from masqueraders like spurious Anastasia and to maintain connections between members of the family. They went so far as disprove Maria Vladimirovna Romanova who is not member of the Association for her claim to the crown and leadership of the family in exile. Born November 26 1953 in Madrid she is great-great- granddaughter of Alexander II and as teenager has taken oath of allegiance to Russia. She has studied at Oxford.
Many of current Romanovs are descendant of refugees who had escaped Russia on British ships that had played decisive role in their evacuation. HMS Marlborough evacuated 19 of them, HMS Lord Nelson about 15, HMS Speedy unknown number. British Navy help in rescuing Russian aristocracy was never fully appreciated and never given proper credit for their courageous actions in saving helpless victims of revolution. Without the battleship numerous of innocent person would have perished.
Maria Vladimirovna denies Nicolas Romanov Romanovich primacy on the ground of his parent’s mesaliance since his father had married Countess Praskovia Sheremeteva who was not of royal family. They had two children, Nicolas and Dimitri Romanovich Later she was bestowed title of Princess.
The claim of birthright came from Rurik. On June 1 2009 Grand Prince of All Russia Dr. Valery Viktorovich Kubarev issued proclamation to Russia: “By this declaration Russian people and citizens of Russia are apprized that since this day in the Russian Federation dynasty of Ruriks is officially restored.” Imperial House of Rurik under the Spanish Crown confirmed him as Grand Prince of All Russia. He has established Princes’ Foundation for the Advancement of Religious and National Consensus which has sued the Federal Agency for State Property Management, the Ministry for Culture and the Russian Federatopm for return of Rurik lands, Kremlin and other buildings his ancestors had built. The Foundation requested usage rights in perpetuity. To the astonishment of legal circles, the court not only accepted the case, but in discovery stages of the lawsuit he expressly supported the plaintiff’s request for architectural plans of Kremlin and ordered the defendants to put at the Foundation’s disposal the complex drawings of Kremlin. The purpose of the stipulation was to enable Valery Kubarev use them as exhibits. He lost on formality. Judge Andrei Grechishkin ruled that according to Russian law a person has to file the claim within three months since he first learned of existence of the property he believes he has rights to. The unanswerable question is why the court did not say it at the outset of the proceedings and close the case instead of lengthy trial. The court could not deny the patent fact that Kremlin was built by doctor Kubarev’s ancestors of whom he was descendant, ipso facto heir apparent whose rights are indefeasible. About 25% of Moscow belongs to Rurik dynasty. Although the residence of president even the defense has not been able to answer the Foundation question who is legal owner of the building, the less to offer evidence that it is Russia and her government.
Kubarev is not pirate Anastasia. He has immaculate evidence he is descendant of Rurik and so have their branches in Spain and Argentina. His ultimate goal is to restore in Russia monarchy with Rurik on throne. His followers call him His Royal Highness. Hugo Norberto Valery Viktorovich Cabrera Kubarev Great Kubensky Rurikovich was born December 1962 in Moscow. He had worked as scientist at Engineering and Mathematical Institute. Later he would receive doctorate in history. He is member of Union of Russian Writers.
Kubensky was Ruriks dynasty second name from time immemorial. Later they accepted the name Kubarev while they still were using Kubensky. Rurik, originally Rorik means “famous ruler.”
In his position as Grand Prince he bestowed on four people the title of Count of Grand Ducal August House of Rurikovich: Dr. Madhu Krishan identified as ecological scientist, German national Andreas Stephan von Wagner, no biographic data, Samuele Lovato, no data and Count Mathias Friedrich Bork, Canadian painter. By the right of succession he feels is natural successor of Nicholas and is entitled to call himself all royal epithets the previous Tzar was granted by tradition. By this fact he can promote commoners to counts even though the title of count in this case does not made any practical sense. All four new nobles are rather anonymous individuals and question is whether they can add to Kubarev credentials or to damage them. The act of enrolling them among nobility is doubtful for it is certain that restoration of monarchy in Russia is chimera although Bulgarian Prime Minister after fall of communism became former King Simeon who returned to his country from exile. The same path followed former King on Romania whose visit to his country nearly caused a rhapsodic turbulence.
One wonders that a person of Kubarev’s erudition believes he will once rule Russia. Even though the courts recognize his right to the Kremlin and the throne he will never neither get the former nor ascend to the later. He might be legitimate pretender but without any chances to actualize his ambitions. If by a miracle Russia would return to monarchy it will by Romanovs since they are more vivid in her memory and it will be Nicolas Romanov Romanovich or another Romanov and by long shot Maria Vladimirovna Romanovna but not Kubarev.
Unlike him, Archduke Otto Habsburg from Lorraine branch of the dynasty during interwar years appeared often in public but did not indicated claim to his ancestors throne for he was intelligent man not to realize that his chances are nil although from the vieille noblesse he was the most important factor. And unlike Kubarev he was well known in Europe and respected in monarchic circles. In 1939 after occupation of Austria Otto Habsburg with passport issued in fictious name escaped to safety and later the sentence of death became a stamped worthless paper; Otto was out of reach of the best of hangmen. So was Charles de Gaule sentenced to death in absentia during the war.
As long resident of Spain Otto was offered the Spanish crown which he refused. He died 98 years old in 2011. In several countries was declared 13 days of mourning. His funeral in Vienna was attended by monarchs and more than 100,000 people and many streets in First District were blocked. The procession was about kilometer long. He was buried in Kapuzinergruft, the Habsburg royalty burial crypt in Vienna where among others rest Maria Theresa, Francis Joseph and another 28 emperors and empresses. Altogether 145 Habsburgs are entombed under the Capuchin Church. His heart was buried in Hungary in Benedictine Pannonhalma Abbey not far from Gyor. The monastery is more than 1000 years old and UNESCO designated World Heritage Site.
Otto did not created counts and did not go to court to get Burg or Schonbrunn but worked on unification of Europe and reached his goal. Whether European Union survives or the current economical threat will weaken it: whether it falls apart his merit will stay with history. No matter that Kubarev might have as legitimate rights to throne as Otto Habsburg, the difference between two pretenders is no less than devastating. There are two former Kings who have more meritorious, though assumedly not canonical eminence to rule their own dominion than he. As proved by their multifaceted education they have absorbed as much education as the Russian pretender and are at least as impressively intelligent as he.
Michael
Former Romanian King Michael /Mihai/ descendant from more than 1000 years old Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty is cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria. Michael suddenly abdicated on December 30, 1947. There were rumors that he was forced to sign the resignation document with pistol of communist Premier Dr. Petru Groza or Gheorghe Gheorgiu–Dej, first secretary of communist party, or both against his head. And maybe Ana Pauker of comintern shame whom Times magazine in 1948 called “the most powerful woman alive”. Not Rita Hayworth? It became fact only after Enver Hoxa, Albanian Prime minister and first secretary of communist party confirmed the incident. After 45 years, when the communist rule collapsed he was allowed in 1992 visit the country for the celebration of Easter. For the regime the visit turned to be a disaster. 100 000 Romanians greeted Michael with such enthusiasm that there was feeling the government would be overthrown. Surprised by the cordial attitude of population towards former King Romania would grant him permission to return only after another 5 years. It was remarkable how the red rule after decades of dictature disappeared under wand of one single man the nation has been daily taught to hate. “There are more things in heaven and earth, Pauker…”
In 2011 the King celebrated his 90 birthday. Now the government joined the people in celebration in style approaching Nurnberg Reichsparteitag 1934 and in spirit of masses Bucharest virtually equaled the Nurnberg rally. Some monarchist politician ordered to mint a jubilee medal “King Michael”. The first recipients were Princess Margareta and her husband prince Radu. They published CD with King’s favorite songs. Prince Radu with prince Nicholas wrote the book “The Kings Years”. At the Pelisor castle opened exhibition “King Michael-90.” Another exhibition “Stella Maris-Imina Reginei” /”Star of the Sea-“Soul of the Queen”/ honoring Michael’s grandmother Maria. At the more than 100 years old Romanian Atheneum the country oldest George Enescu Romanian Philharmonic Orchestra honored King Michael with a concert.
Besides 7 members of Romanian royalty 47 members of highest aristocracy from 16 countries attended. Among them 6 from Germany and four from Austria. Beyond protocol took part in celebration 6 princesses and princes and 1 Furst from various countries. In attendance were 1 queen,1 king, 11 princes, 9 princesses, 2 Crown Princes, 1 Crown Princess 2 archdukes, 3 archduchesses, 2 dukes, 2 duchesses, 1 hereditary duke, 1 hereditary duchess, 1 markgraff, 1 markgraffin, 1 count, and 1 baron. King Carl Gustav and Queen Silvia of Sweden were not able to attend. Conspicuously, but not surprisingly, Hungary was missing, although it was monarchy till the end of WW II. Maybe they were not invited or ignored the overture. The country has territorial pretensions against all her neighbors except Austria: Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia, and former Yugoslavia which is now divided in Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia. They consider Ukrainian Subcarpatia and Southern Slovakia kind of Hungarian kultarrs, a suburb.
Hungary irredentist effort lasts for nearly hundred years, but she is confined to approximately the same borders as after WWI. When they will abandon their efforts is answered by popular Hungarian slogan well known by surrounding states: “nem, nem soha” – “no, no never” or “Pozsony vissza, Kassa vissza, minden vissza”, “Bratislava back, Kosice back, everything back.” “Everything” is Slovakia, Transylvania, Carpathian Ruthenia, and the rest of the two thirds of territory Hungarian Kingdom have lost after WWII by Treaty of Saint Germain and Treaty of Trianon. “Everything plus might include Austria, Germany, Alaska and Burkina Faso. It is puzzling that a nation who in 1956 exploded against mighty Russians in revolution that has not equal in anticommunist revolts in Eastern Europe cannot come to terms with nations that had suffered the same Soviet terror.
Contorting UNO charter enables Hungary to interfere into internal affairs of countries that have Hungarian minority; nevertheless, the same UNO teaches there are no internal affairs, only one worldwide affair.
When a Danish national robs an American bank in Italy and can be tried in, USA, Italy, and Denmark and theoretically in any of the 27 European Union countries the sovereignty is a chimaera breathing not fire but inanity and it is not a composite from lion, goat, and serpent but from donkeys and chimpanzees that resist domestication. No apology.
After 64 years the King Mihai addressed the parliament. There were more activities honoring him, yet this was the cardinal moment and monarchist triumph of the festivities. Two generations who never have lived under monarchy, most of people who were born after Kings expulsion were jubilating with unlimited joy wherever he appeared.
Canonization of Martyrs.
First efforts to glorify Romanovs began in 1922 by ROCOR or ROCA, Russian Orthodox Church outside Russia and Russian Orthodox Church in America. Despite Nicholas’s and his family tragic death there appeared opposition to the beatification.
At that time close to elimination by the atheist regime in communist Russia ROC, the Russian Orthodox Church could not join the effort.
From the beginning the process had to face mighty antithetical views. Namely in USA the individual Orthodox ecclesiastics went as far as to threaten the unity of their Church which had existed since the Great Schism of 1054. Nicholas, ruler of Russia was presented as detached, insensitive and insolent to poor. The crowned head was blamed for all Russian misery. Some of the accusations were true, but for some predicaments he could not be held responsible. By opposing their sainthood the activists made the Tzarevna and her children indirectly partakers of Nicholas’s guilt if not abettors. Providing he was proscribed as tyrant they still could not be connected to his dereliction, not even with intent to support his policies.
The supporters of canonization persisted the monarch was unable to stop communist revolution. The personal life of a candidate for canonization has secondary impact; most important is the fact that he had died for Christ. The strongest argument was that Russian ruler had paid for his mistakes with his life. Christianity teaches that sincere penitence guarantees absolution to the worst sinners. Any person who dies in state of mortal sin cannot be saved. In Catholic Memorial Litany For The Suffering Souls In Purgatory is reference “for those who died on the battle field” and “for those who died of stroke or heart attack’’ as well as few other situation when the faithful had no time to forgive their enemies and for atonement that is an unforgivable sine qua non for salvation. Tzar murder falls in this class.
The case for the tzar was reinforced by bringing up the ancient but in modern monarchies discarded “divine right of kings” which implied kings are anointed by God: “A Deo Rex, A Rege Lex”, “King Is From God, Law Is From King” is only one of several definitions of divine rights of kings. From theological point of view, the opponents argued that only people killed for their faith can be glorified and that the Tzar was slain from political and not religious motives. The controversy nearly split the Orthodox Church.
Various Christian denominations exert various degree of evidential rigor and the requirement might be different for particular candidate. Martyrs had choice between rejecting Christ and offered their life for him, but many confessors suffering was equivalent to martyr’s death. In such cases the process of beatification can be complicated.
One of the most powerful arguments for sanctification was the guards’ description of the attempt of Tzarina and her daughter Olga in their last moment to cross themselves while several other started pray but were cut down after few words. Some of the guards testified that all princesses tried to cross themselves and uttered words of prayers. In eyes of the Church teaching this was an incontrovertible sign of penitence and consummate appeal to God for forgiveness and mercy and thus fulfilled condition for sanctification. Although no evidence was therefore required, several miracles following prayer to Romanovs for intercession was reported. In one of the most persuasive submission a witness testified he had seen ikona / icon/ weep. In confirmed miracles it is usually Mother of God who cries.
In 1981 ROCOR Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and little different ROCA, Russian Orthodox Church Abroad canonized the family, doctor Botkin, Trupp, Kharitonov and Demidova. In addition, Anastasia Hendrikova, lady in waiting and tutor Catherine Adolphovna Schneider who were murdered two months after Tzar were beatified together with Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna, her permanent companion Sister Varvara Yakovleva, secretary Fyodor Remez, Princes Vladimir, Igor, Konstatine, Ioan, and Grand Duke Sergei who had died with them in the same massacre. All of them were proclaimed New Martyrs. ROC, Russian Orthodox Church glorified the same victims as ROCA with exception of Trupp who was Lutheran and Schneider who was Catholic. It is peculiar that ROC omitted Trupp and Schneider because ROCA and ROCOR BOTH proclaimed both of them Neomartyrs. Probably inhuman circumstances of their death and the fact they both died in service of Orthodox ruler negated the difference of their religion when the bishops were considering whether to enroll them into the Roll of Saints.
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna and nun Varvara Yakovleva were beatified in 1981 by ROCOR. In 1992 they were canonized also by Moscow Patriarchate of the ROC as New Martyrs. In the same year ROC in Moscow appointed a committee to assay the canonization of the family. The committee was presided over by Patriarch Alexis of Moscow Patriarchate.
After eight years lasting inquest between 13 and 16 of August 2000 under the authority of Patriarch Kiril I in Moscow assembled Synod of 150 bishops, the highest organ of the Orthodox Church. The Synod discussed results of the investigation concerning the apothetization of the sovereign and his family.
Maxim Kozlov is rector of chapel of Saint Tatiana at Moscow State University in Moscow. It seems to be a low function in the campus that has 40 000 graduate and doctorate students, 70 000 undergraduate, and 6 000 faculty. In eight dormitories live 12 000 thousand disciples. The university admits to its 1 000 buildings 4 000 freshmen. Kozlov’s office is religious mission. In laical bailiwick he is author, professor of theology and Dean of the university.
In connection with the Tzar he wrote:”The emperor, his wife and children were a beautiful example of the purity of relationship within the family, which is the smallest community of God. This example is so vital in our era, when the very institute of the family is the bastion most attacked by Satan.” There was suggestion the family should be beatified as Passion Bearers. The distinction between martyr and Passion Bearer is artificial and in its core illogical. This classification makes the latter minor Martyrs; there is no minor death, though. As paramount example of Passion Bearers the Church offers Kieran Princes Saint Gelb and his brother Saint Boris. In order to prevent shedding blood in battle for the throne against their half-brother Vladimir Svyatopolk they refused to fight and were murdered. Gleb was 20 and Boris 15. In Catholic Church which has no rank of Passion Bearers they would be enunciated martyrs.
Martyrs die for exclusively for their faith, Passion Bearers do not die explicitly for their faith which would be the case of Romanovs. If the predominant reason for the family sacrifice was not the creed what is it? The operating word in examining causality is “because.” What for died Alexei or Tatiana? Because of what? There is no death without adjective. The law of causality, one of the most important laws outranks the sensual laws, Newton, physics and biology: What was the cardinal essence of Romanovs’ death? There is nothing above belief in God and if they sacrificed their lives for something beyond it, what the “it” is? What it means? Romanovs did not die for God but in God, not for themselves but because of themselves. Because. Because they were Romanovs.
There were numerous arguments for declaring Nicholas’ family Saints. They met death humbly and with resignation: by praying and crossing themselves in their last seconds on this temporary world before appearing in their first moments in eternal amaranthine sanctuary; they confessed Jesus Christ: in the captivity all of them prayed for Russia: The Tzar bewailed his demission. The family death was closer to martyrdom than that of many official martyrs: they discouraged a plot to liberate them. Any details of the attempt to rescue the prisoners are missing. Whites approach was considered as a plot to free Tzar but their advance towards the city was just a tactical move of the army and the rescue of the regal family although possible was not the commissioned design. If Romanovs did not die like true martyrs who did? They were as much victims of same violence as Prince Michael of Chernigov, Abraham of Bulgaria or Mauritius, leader of the completely Christian Theban Legion which was decimated on order of Maximus for refusing to persecute Christians. 6600 legionaries were slayed. The Legion consisted of wholehearted Egyptian Christian Copts and was garrisoned in Thebais. After only easy perlustration all different types of evil are as identical in substance as is probity.
The White Army conspiracy was not real. Another was. The hallucination of intrigues to free Nicholas brings to mind. Axel von Fersen, Jean-Baptiste Druet, and Louis XVI. Von Fersen’ vastly imperfect or more precisely calamitous plan would still have brought the king to Montmedy, his destination but he seemed suspicious to postmaster Druet. Serious historians blame for his recognition assignats. Assignats were 5% bonds that had been issued in Spring 1789 to relieve economic catastrophe. They bore the picture of the sovereign which the postmaster compared with man in the slow and cumbersome Berlin coach. Man’s face was remarkably similar to the picture. The rest was fatal and would culminate on Place de la Concorde.
Nicholas never had his chance and in the end his family was eliminated as was Louis’. Their life ended violently, nonetheless, that of Tzar in front of his beloved and with his son in his arms; Carpets followed incongruous royal couple path; some of them to them to the same end.
For God’s sake, let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the death of kings;
How some have been deposed; some slain in war,
Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed;
Some poison’d by their wives; some sleeping kill’d;
All murder’d….” /”He is a ghost that will not stay in grave”-Hamsun.
On second day of the dissertating on August 14 the synod announced the beatification of the New Martyrs. On August 19 the Council worked on details of the solemn mass celebrating the event. Next day, on the Orthodox Great Feast of our Lord Holy Transfiguration the canonization took place. The decision was made unanimously.
Confessors category includes people who were persecuted for their faith, performed miracles of wrote religious tracts. They suffered for their beliefs but were not killed. Canonization of a confessor requires evidence he performed miracles. In martyr’s case evidence need not be present. Martyr by sacrificing his life for Christ gave demonstrable witness to Jesus and this was sufficient he was accepted into heave. In Middle Ages chapels dedicated to confessors were called martyria. Many confessors suffered more than martyrs, but it is the sacrifice of life that separates both categories. Saint Apollinaire said about confessors: “Sed confessorem virtutum signa sequntur”- “But signs of power follow the confessor.”
The solemn ceremony followed Holy Canonization. On the Vigil of Lord’s Transfiguration at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was offered the mass with Vespers and Matins. During mass the icon of the Tzar, his family, the Neomartyrs, Confessors and Saints was unveiled in the central part of the church while the faithful were singing tropar, the dismissal hymn of tzar and his family canonization:
“Most noble and sublime was your life and death, O Sovereigns,
Wise Nicholas and blest Alexandra, we praise you,
Acclaiming your piety, meekness, faith, and humility,
Whereby ye attained the crowns of glory in Christ our God
With your five renowned and godly children of blest fame.
Martyrs decked in
purple, intercede for us.”
Hemophilia
Hemophilia is the most common hereditary bleeding disorder yet it could develop also by mutation in genes. One person in 50 000 is mutant. Hemophilia is called Regal Disease, a cozen rubric. In “Queen Victoria’s Descendants,” study by Marlene A. Eilers Koenig, from the Queen’s 44 male descendants the author identified no more than 10 males as hemophiliacs, too few to justify generally accepted view that hemophilia is endemically affecting dynasties. The malady affects only males. It may well be that more of them have suffered from diabetes, cancer, angina pectoris or arthritis.
Name of the disease is derived from Greek haima ‘blood’ and philia ‘love’. It is incurable but the sick person can lead normal life, if fear of scratching himself when shaving or nightmares of going to dentist and daily injection is normal. For hemophiliac any traumatic injury could result in uncontrollable bleeding and in the past and sometimes now, death. With hemophiliac inevitable surgery, tooth extraction and wounds are challenge for doctors and risk for the patient while in healthy persons bleeding from small bruises and lesions stops after 6-7 minutes. Often bleeding occurs in nose. Sometimes the hemophiliac bleeds internally which is hard to detect not only in hemophilic cases but always. High fever accompanies visceral bleeding but too many maladies start with temperature raised and without supporting symptoms rational diagnosis is difficult. Often only presence of blood in excrements or urine indicates internal bleeding. In mild case of hemophilia clotting times are normal, in severe the person bleeds spontaneously. With major wound bleeding can last hours, days, and longer. The hemophiliac would suffer acute pain and swelling of joints and muscles.
Blood contains factors which cause it to coagulate. Coagulation is process of transforming solid or liquid into soft, semi liquid mass. When factor VIII or IX is missing blood would not coagulate. In newborn blood with factor VIII absent occurs approximately in ratio 1:4000 or 1:5000. This is called classic or type hemophilia. Blood with factor IX missing is called Christmas, von Leyden or type B hemophilia and occurs in one of 20, 000 babies. It has got the name after Stephen Christmas, hemophiliac who was in 1952 the first sufferer identified to have new kind of hemophilia, the type B. The missing factor IX was originally named after him. He died of AIDS. There exists also type C hemophilia caused by lack of factor XI.
Hemophilia is gender-specific pathosis. It attacks only males. Females with negligible exceptions do not suffer from it; nonetheless the carriers are only women. Such sui generis unorthodoxy can be satisfactory explained by the biological difference between males and females. Males have only one X chromosome while females have two. This biological anarchy is carried on the X chromosome and thus males become victim. If the degenerated gene is passed down on one of the female X chromosomes she has a saving substitute in the second X chromosome while males with only one have no alternative.
The treatment consists of replacing the missing or corrupted factor with AHF ‘Antihemophilic Factor’ through intravenous infusion. Lack of factor VIII is replaced with Helixate FS or Cogenate FS. There are available several other concentrated clotting factors but at present there is no medicine to heal hemophilia. The existing medicines are able only to ease the consequences of the disease but no more.
There is evidence that the plague started with British Queen Victoria of Hanoverian dynasty. She was born on May 24 1819 and died on January 22 1901. The best way to understand the spread of hemophilia among royals is to trace it through Victoria’s descendants.
Her father was Prince Edward Duke of Kent, her mother Princes Maria Louise Victoire of Saxe-Coburg. None of her ancestor is known to have suffered from hemophilia. There are three possibilities she became career: first, her family had in fact hemophilia but it remained pseudonymous: two, in her genes materialized a unique mutation: three, Prince Edward Duke of Kent was not her true father and she got the disease from an unidentified hemophiliac. De novo mutation remains the most inspired guess.
Victoria had 820 descendants of who 470 were alive in year 2000. Hemophilia running in her pedigree is the type B when factor IX is missing. The Queen’s immediate descendants included 9 children, 40 grandchildren and 88 great-grandchildren. Ten of the males were born with hemophilia and six females were born carriers. Of her sons only Leopold, Duke of Albany suffered from the disease. Leopold had one son and one daughter. Neither his son Charles nor Charles’ descendants had hemophilia. His daughter Alice, Countess of Athlone inherited the disease. She had three children, one girl and two boys. The girl was healthy but both her brothers, Prince Ruppert of Teck who died young in a car accident and Prince Maurice who died as baby were infected.
From Victoria’s five daughters two were carriers while one, Louise did not have children so it is impossible to find out whether she was carrier. Alice was carrier and passed the malady down; she passed hemophilia down to two girls and one son, Friedrich. Before age of three after fall from window Friedrich died from bleeding in the brain; the fall would have been fatal even if he had not hemophilia.
Alice’s hemophiliac daughter Irene had three sons. Two of them, Henry and Waldemar inherited the disease and both died without issues. Alix, her second infected daughter, wife of Nicholas II had four daughters and one son, the Tzarevich Alexei who suffered from painful hemophilia and profuse bleeding. None of Alexei’s sisters was married. In July 1918 on direct Lenin’s order Alexei together with his four sisters and parents was lynched on Lenin’s direct order by Cheka agents in Ekaterinburg.
Beatrice was the other Queen’s daughter who was born carrier. She passed down the disease to three of her children, Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Prince Leopold of Battenberg and Prince Maurice of Battenberg. Leopold died at the age 32 during knee surgery and Maurice was killed in battle in World War I in 1914. Numerous authors question his hemophilia: is doubtful that a person identified as hemophiliac would be permitted to do battle duty.
Beatrice’s daughter Victoria Eugenie had seven children and passed the malady on to two boys: Infante Alfonso of Spain who at the age of 31 bled to death from injuries suffered in a car accident and his brother Infante who at the age of 19 bled to death after another car accident. Victoria Eugenia transferred hemophilia to the House of Austria through her sons Alfonso and Gonzalo. Victoria Eugenie’s other five children were not affected.
After four generation from Victoria the disease appeared to be extinguished. None of her great granddaughters, potential carries, inherited it. In Prussia were living only her great grandsons who as males are not carriers. In Russia her great-granddaughters were assassinated before having children.
From 10 of Victoria’s descendants who suffered from hemophilia 8 died from it: 1 son, 2 grandsons, and 5 great grandsons. The last of them, Prince Waldemar of Prussia died in 1945 and for many years it appeared that hemophilia like Black Death was extinguished, the last victim having been Infante Gonzalo who died in car crash in 1934 as 19 years old. Over sixty years later Ferdinand Soltmann descendant of Queen Victoria was identified as hemophiliac. He was born in 2005. Like some other diseases hemophilia skips little generation only to reappear no less dangerous than before.
The demise of the supposedly last hemophiliac of Victoria’s progeny was notably lachrymose. When during the war Russians approached Prussia Waldemar, Prince of Prussia with his family evacuated to Tutzing, a tourist and vacation town in Prussia. It is situated on banks of the German fifth largest lake, Starnberger See. As a treatment for the disease he was getting blood transfusions. On May 1, American forces reached the city. They found there liberated inmates from camp and confiscated all medical supplies and implements for their needs. In 24 hours the Prince would die from hemophilia. It is well known how vigorously German aristocracy opposed the regime. Despite the tension between the regime and the prince’s family Waldemar was not refused medication during the 12 years of Hitler regime but was destined to die by his liberators.
It is rude fate to decide who had more right to the filters, pumps and blood transfusion sets. With full understanding of the suffering of prisoners but with no less understanding of the suffering Prince this is one of the question that human feeling for justice will never be able to answer. This is one of the cases where writer of laws lays prostrate.
In Tutzing history are other famous fatalities. In 1896 Ludwig II of Bavaria, a monarch of unconvincing regal capacities was found drowned in the sea; another famous person who had died in the town was WW I Field Marshall Erich von Ludendorff. He had commanded two weeks lasting Second Battle of Somme known as Kaiserschlacht /Kaiser’s Battle/ or Operation Michael. The attack started on March 21. German guns fire covered 150 square miles, the largest area hit in the war. Despite massive concentration of men and material including 6,500 guns and 3,500 mortars 71 German divisions in few days suffered 40,000 casualties and on April 4 Ludendorff halted the offensive. Kaiserschlacht resulted in advance of mere 40 miles and gain of 1,200 square miles of territory. In 1944 the official German history revealed the total casualties amounted to 239,000, 17,000 a day. The sacrifice versus benefit remind of a curious military report from the past: “By retreating we gained territory.”
Bridge of Remagen, a 325 meters long structure was built during the WW I. It was officially named after Marshal Ludendorff. The railroad bridge was built in 1916 and was better known as Bridge of Remagen after the town where it was located. Several months after the 1944 invasion German pyrotechnics failed to blow it and until it collapsed American troops poured over it eastward. It is impossible to estimate the number of lives marshal Von Ludendorff Bridge saved but experts agree that many. For Germans its preservation was more tactical then strategic. Before the massive crossings, namely at Oppenheim, the major operations on the east side of the Rhine were limited. Principal German bridges were destroyed by air raids and Wehrmacht managed to destroy the rest of the Rhine 22 road and 25 rail crossings, the only exception having been the Bridge of Remagen. On March 10 1945 Allied bombers destroyed the last significant bridge in Germany. It was two kilometers long and located in Wesel.
Everything was ready for action Plunder, the first crossing of Rhine river since 1805 when Napoleon’s army on September 19, passed effectively the river and 11 days later crossed Danube.
In Oppenheim the Army engineers built three bridges, one 1,280 feet long. The entire Sixth Army took only 17 hours to pass the Rhine river over them. Other American bridges were built in Rees, Wesel and in ten other places. The seventeen hundred years old town has a dubious priority of having been the most destroyed municipality in WW II by air raids and target of the heaviest bombs used in WWII. It was in fact completely eradicated, more than Dresden, Hamburg or Bremen. Wesel is very small town, thus it was not as risky as the big cities. During the WWII Malta was most bombed target. Records offer evidence the island was hit by German and Italian air raids 3000 times and still was less damaged than Wesel; however, was a small city of 25 000, Malta at that time had population close to 300 000 and area of 246 km square.
Saint Apollinaire defined confessor: “Sed confessorem virtutum signa sequntur. / “But signs of power follow the confessor.”/
Simeon
This must have been on queen’s mind when she left within immediately with her daughter Maria Louise and son Simeon.
Giovanna’s marriage to Boris was unusual. Monarchs used to marry spouse of different religion, but one of them regularly converted. Here Bulgarian Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty was Orthodox and Italian Savoy dynasty was Catholics. Neither Boris nor Giovanna was willing to convert. In diplomatic protocol it would seem the Giovanna was the lesser player as bride to the higher ranked King; she should have proselyte. There are no conditions for conversion from Catholic Church even to another Christian Church; it is a simple apostasy with precious exceptions. Each Catholic has duty to receive Eucharist which is body of Christ and to an apostate it cannot be given. From all religions Catholic have the highest punishment for apostasy? It is possible that Giovanna had received profound Catholic education or was naturally religious. The same can be said about Boris and he has to be given the highest credit that he as crowned head agreed to compromise; they received the Sacrament of marriage in both churches which was unique. Another example of interreligious monarchic marriage is that of Albanian muslim King Zogu /or Zog/ and Geraldine Apponyi, a Catholic.
Nowadays the above described Catholic rules are weakened and some of them virtually abandoned by Holy See. Prevalent trend in contemporary Church is to accept Protestant spirit under guise of ecumenism. One of the indicators of Catholic Church crisis is the number of marriage annulments. In USA live 6% of world Catholics but in America Church grants 68% of all annulments. In America in 1968 there were 600 annulments; in years 1984-1994 there were more than 58 000 a year. Church bulletins and some periodical advertise annulments and openly guarantee the annulment would be bestowed. With current trend Giovanna will be allowed to marry her in Orthodox Church without receiving the Sacrament of Marriage also in her Church; the only problem would be that she, dedicated believer surely would insist in performing the ceremony in Catholic Church also.
Giovanna and Geraldine had similar fate but the latter supposedly lived for period of time in poverty.
There was gossip that after Geraldine’s resources was exhausted she was working as typist and held other manual jobs. This report has to be accepted with a reserve since her American grandfather was a millionaire whose granddaughter was a Queen and could except from his side financial intervention without raising phone. Further, European royalty as close family as possible and first, they would never allow one of them suffer and second, if necessary they have means to support each other. She was on Apponyi dynasty which owned property in Slovakia: palace in Bratislava, castle in Oponice /Slovak derivation of Apponyi/ and other holdings. After she married Zogu Slovakia suddenly became excited for it seemed Geraldine had spent some time in Oponice. owned palace in Bratislava, also had a castle in Slovakia. If the report is true it raises her prestige; wife of King she did not hesitated to work to provide for her family.
One week after Queen Giovanna flight the Bulgaria would become People Republic ergo Soviet satellite.
Descendant on Saxe – Gotha dynasty Romanian kings were relatives of future queen Elizabeth II and future Belgian king Albert II. Simeon began his extensive curriculum on internationally renowned Victoria College in Alexandria. Before the war it was preferred alma mater of aristocracy like Hohenzollern, Habsburgs, Glucksburgs - less known regal House that had nearly as many representatives at the European courts as Queen Victoria - and Saxe-Gotha but since eruption of the European climacteric refugees from occupied countries were sending their young nobles to Victoria where several children of Romanovs were enrolled for years. After the war students from communist occupied countries were entering in increasing numbers. Among the scholars was son of the Albanian king Zogu Prince Leka and Simeon Prince of Romania.
After collapse of Soviet Union Zogu attempted to return to Tirana; after he organized an armed group to help him to regain the throne he was expelled, yet ultimately allowed to visit his country. He died in Paris and Albanian government vowed to bring his remains to Albania.
Leka’s mother Geraldine was highly educated half American and half Hungarian. She went first to Aiglon, a private boarding school in Chesiere, Switzerland, then with her two sisters to Sacre Coeur Catholic school in Pressbaum in Austria and then to Sorbonne. She was most charismatic and most beloved from all queens in her time. Her American equivalent is the endeared Dolley Madison who by her charm dominated Washington as no one else even after her husband’s term expired; in fact until her death.
Geraldine’s son Prince Leka would follow her to Aiglon and Sorbonne. Son
of Prince Leka, Crown Prince Leka went to Methodist allied Saint Stithian Preparatory College in
Johannesburg in South Africa city of his birth, then to St. Peter Preparatory
School in Johannesburg and received BA
degree in International Rrelations and Diplomacy from Royal University of Illyria in Albania. He
took classes on Security and Defense on Albanian Defense College and at
Universitta di Stranieri in Peruggia he studied Italian Language. Prince Leka
received basic military training on Albanian Academy of Skandenberg /also
Skanderberg/ named after a famous general and studied Albanian Language and
Literature. With his monumental credentials the Crown Prince was au faut
stellar candidate for Sandhurst, alma mater of his father Prince Leka, from
which Crown Prince Leka graduated in 2006. He served as second lieutenant in
British Army.
George Kastrioti Skandenberg merits not only a paragraph but an encyclopedia. He was man of two religions and several loyalties. The 15thT Century Albanian warlord from House of Kastrioti he fought 20 years for Turkey and 25 for Albania. He is reputed to have killed personally 3000 men on various battlefields. On October 10, 1444 in the battle on Mokra General Skanderberg defeated Ali Pasha and reduced the power of the Ottoman Empire. Five hundred years after Mokra from Albanian nationals Germans formed 21st SS division and placed it under command of SS Oberfuhrer August Schmidhuber who in the postwar frenzy of justice was hanged two years after the war.
Skandenberg had been national hero of Albania during monarchy, Italian occupation, Enver Hoxa Bolshevik regime and current rulers and remains so.
Nasser did not destroy only Suez Canal, but also Victoria College and other foreign schools in Egypt. He fired all professors and vitiated the school. Simeon transferred to more than hundred years old LFM, Le Lycee Francais in Madrid, another imposing school preferred by European nobility. It has kindergarten, elementary school, and college. The Lycee motto is “Ma calculette est ma tete,” “My head in my calculator.” It is apophthgem not battle cry and Simeon’s future transcendent success confirms its truth.
In Madrid alone are 5 French institutions ranking from kindergarten to colleges There are 15 American and British, but only 1 German and one German – Spanish. AFEF – Agency Pour l’Enseigment Francais an l’Etranger / Agency for Teaching French Abroad cultivates rather than maintains 485 schools in 130 countries. The expansion of French lycees started in 1689 with establishment of school in Berlin. Lycee in New York is 75 years old, the lycee in Los Angeles was established in 1964. Its motto is Descartes’ Cogito Ergo Sum. Kindergarten children wearing shirts with the dictum confirm the prerogative of intelligence in shaping civilization. Now it is easy understand that until the end of WWII French was the official language in diplomacy and international contact.
On February 17 2012 AFEF inaugurated Chai Wan Campus in Hong Kong. Among the 130 guests were Consul General of Switzerland, Belgium and France, and Hong Kong Secretary of Education. The school has 387 pupils which mean for three students there was one guest. Chai Wan is institution for primary students. The solemnity of the event shows how seriously France takes her educational programs abroad.
In records of Valley Forge Military Academy and College is listed cadet Simeon Rylsky # 6883. Simeon graduated in 1960 and received commission in the army as second lieutenant.
Later both Albanian princess and Simeon were very successful in business; King Michael was a commercial pilot; they never need financial support of their numerous cousins and other relatives; for one day none of them lived like a parasite. They might have some savings in foreign banks but provided for their families with their paychecks.
It would be interesting to see whether government officials, ministers and politicians expelled from their country would become as independent and auspicious as the anointed.
One such emigrant was Karl Marx, the grandfather of Lenin, Stalin, Bierut, Gero and other descendants.
He was different from Queen Geraldine, King Simeon, King Michael and all expatriate monarchs in many things but the most remarkable among them was his imperial beard which would support a little maintenance and lack of evidence he worked at least one day in his unblessed life. Karl Marx earned nothing and his wife Jenny von Westphalen and 7 children were living in slum; for 16 years Das Kapital did not bring “a penny.” Only after his death the publisher sold some volumes. Marx had also an illegitimate child with their housekeeper whom he could afford after doomed wife hi received sizable inheritance He kept denying he was the father of the maid’s child and indicated the child was product of her relation with Engels. He acknowledged the child when dying. Four of the children died young “murdered by starvation” as one author would have it. Particularly painful was in 1855 death of his child from intestinal tuberculosis whose demise was directly tied to the filthy condition of Marx’s family living quarters. One visitor described his apartment as “pig-sty. Marx quotes his wife: “Every day she wishes she and children were safely in their graves.” Safety of graves?
His acquaintances considered him perfectly lazy. Half of the time he spent in library he was doing nothing or reading newspapers and magazines. Very slowly he was collecting material for his Capital, Communist Manifesto, and other forgotten nonsenses; forgotten but not before having placed for decades Eastern Europe, Russia and other countries in slavery unknown from ancient times.
He was a parasite on Engels who had irrational belief in Marx prophetic capability to change the world. Engels wished to become a writer but joined his fathers Ermen & Engels Victoria Mills Bleaching and Dyeing in Manchester. Under various names the company was extant until 2001. It is suspected that at least a partial reason for dropping his plans for career as journalist was his wish to help financially his friend.
Unlike author of Capital expelled kings were independent. If the stories about the accounts in Credit Suisse and Pictet & Cie are true why émigrés like Michael need to work? European royals were close knit family who could help their fellows in need. It speaks of honor when they worked. They were highly educated and not to make use of their diplomas would be shame. To work is natural, not to work is aberrant. Many rich retires work and so do multimillionaires; not from greed, but from inner urge. After all, some of them did not work
It is hard to assay Simeon’s financial circumstances; let us be satisfied with the fact he administered hotels and worked in high positions in technical field. For long time he was chairman of Spanish subsidiary of Thompson Company which is not closely I dentified. Before he had studied in Spain business and law.
After crash of communism Bulgarian government returned him his property. He chosed to live in his country where he founded political party named after him. In first election after the party was established it received 50% votes, as much as all the other parties together. For few years he served as Prime Minister. Later his party faded away.
King Michael was executive of aircraft related industry with connection in America. He liked flying and became a licensed commercial pilot. He did not organize own party, but he could; in 1992 in Bucharest he was welcomed by million people. It is inconceivable that Gheorghiu-Dej or Stalin would draw hundred thousand.
Crown Prince Leka was successful in investments. After his return to Tirana he was appointed Minister of Interior, later Minister of Foreign Affairs. He also represented Albania as diplomat.
It is not easy to explain why the Kings went to work; had they spent their emigration life in Monte Carlo or Cortina d’Ampezzo each commoner would have an elementary view: idlers. Spanish Queen Sofia is proper representative of the unknown human face of regales; her jumping up and down when Nadal after winning his second Wimbledon and was brought to her sea was impressive; only time she jumped higher was when four minutes before the end of extra time Cesc Fabergas, Fernando Torres, and and Andres Iniesta produced immortal combination that resulted in Iniesta’s goal and Spain soon became World Champion in Soccer.
Nonetheless, to the surprise of republican detractors, including ours the expelled
monarchs were able to flourish without their ancestors’ thrones resulting in gallows.
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