Searches of Former Members of the Romanov Imperial House in Crimea in April 1917

Abstract

By the end of March 1917, 20 out of 65 members of the Romanov Imperial House gathered on the estates Ai-Todor, Diul’ber, and Chair near Yalta in the Crimea. There were among them: a widow of Alexander III Maria Fedorovna; sisters of Nicholas II Xenia and Olga; Grand Dukes Nicholas Nikolaevich, Alexander Mikhailovich, Peter Nikolaevich. On April 26, 1917, representatives of the Sevastopol Soviet, with the support of the forces of the Black Sea Fleet, conducted massive searches in the places of residence of the relatives of the former tsar in order to identify a possible counter-revolutionary conspiracy. On the basis of the published sources, as well as previously unused materials from the Russian State Archive of the Navy, including inspection protocols, the article reconstructs the circumstances of this only search of the Romanovs in the Crimea. The names of the main participants in the events are restored, the key role of Lieutenant Colonel A. I. Verkhovsky is described, who at that time was a deputy chairman of the Sevastopol Soviet. A. I. Verkhovsky has been underestimated until now as a participant in the revolutionary events in Russia between the February and October revolutions. At the end of August 1917, he became the last Minister of War of the Russian Empire in the rank of Major General. The search in estates on the southern coast ended with the Sevastopol City Council taking charge of the protection of the “Crimean group of the Romanovs”. Afterwards, despite the fact that the Red Terror did not bypass the Crimean peninsula, Sevastopol sailors and representatives of local Councils helped save the lives of the relatives of the former tsar who ended up in the Crimea. All of them emigrated in 1919.