After the death of the family, many speculations were made as to whether or not there were any survivors. As of today, there have been many claims to be the "missing" child of Nicholas and Alexandra. Probably one of the most famous being Anna Anderson, who claimed until the day of her death that she was in fact HIH Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaievna Romanova. In February of 1920, Anna Anderson was found after having jumped fom a bridge in Berlin, Germany. She was then taken to a police station where she refused to give out her identity and spoke poor German with an obvious accent. The girl had been badly injured and thus was taken to a local asylum. According to one of Anna's nurses, the girl (Anna) would speak beautiful Russian with her inmate, Clara Peuthert, who was a Russian seamstress. Clara was convinced that Anna had the eyes of the late Tsar Nicholas II and believed her to be Tatiana. It was later discovered that Anna had confided to Clara that she was not Tatiana, but that she was in fact Anastasia ("Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Anastasia Historical Society" 16-17).
When Anna was questioned about events that had happened before the death of the family, she would recall in bits and pieces, only in fragments of what actually had happened. She never gave a cohesive story, which made it hard to believe. However, a list of scars and birthmarks that Anastasia had had, was compiled so that they could be compared to those that Anna had by a woman named Harriet, a sculptress and painter who was given Anna to take care of. Anna did in fact share a scar on her forehead that Anastasia was supposed to have had as well. With this, Harriet wrote to any remaining Romanov family member throughout Europe in an attempt to see whether or not she would be recognized as the Grand Duchess Anastasia. One, Grand Duke of Hesse, the brother of the late Tsaritsa Alexandra and uncle to Anastasia confirmed that Anna was not Grand Duchess Anastasia and fom that point on, he was determined to prove that Anna Anderson was a fraud. However, the Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, sister to the late Tsar and aunt and godmother to Anastasia thought differently. She agreed that the girl (Anna) had Anastasia's deep blue eyes, but concluded that she looked incredibly like Anastasia's older sister, Tatiana. Olga stated that: "If I were told that the girl was Tatiana, I would have believed it immediately" ("Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Anastasia Historical Society" 18-19).
Upon hearing of this, Tatiana Blotkin, a very good childhood friend to the Romanov girls came to visit Anna to see for herself whether or not the rumors that she was Anastasia were true. Sure enough, and without a doubt, Tatiana stated that she "recognized Anna fully as the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaievna Romanova," her dear childhood friend. Immediately after this, she contacted her brother, Gleb Blotkin, who had also been a good friend to Anastasia, to come recognize her for himself. And as soon as Anna stepped out to see him, it was true; someone who he had 'known' to be dead was very much alive and standing right in front of him. Tatiana and Gleb would be Anna's greatest supporters up until their deaths ("Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Anastasia Historical Society" 22-23).
This case brought about animosity in which death threats were made to Anna and it was during this time it was discovered that Anna had been recognized as a missing Polish factory worker by the name of Franziska Shantskovska. However, plans had been made for Anna to move to America. Grand Duke Andreii Romanov, a cousin to the late Tsar who had been following this case for several months at the time, insisted on meeting the girl and immediately recognized her as "Nicky's daughter!" Although Anna had a lot of support in her case, the jury concluded that the verdict was 'non-liquet'-non satisfactory on either side. Thus Anna would die in America in 1984, just short of her eighty-third birthday ("Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Anastasia" 25-26, 31).
Anastasia in 1909 and Anna circa 1959
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Where Anastasia Lived (St. Petersburg in Particular)
Anastasia'a Brother and Sisters
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last update: 24 April 2003