more details and all updates were innocent fifteen minutes from the mean time it's ninety two years to the day since the bolsheviks executed the last russians are nicholas the second and his family the death sentence three centuries of rule by the roman of dynasty and r.t. has been talking to historian helen rappaport about her book the last days of the romanovs on the tragedy and also its mark on the country's history our special interview next on r.t. . today i'm in oxford with helen rappaport she's an expert on the russian imperial family particularly the last days of that arm on us who were assassinated in a cattery boat during the bolshevik revolution helen rappaport thanks very much for talking to r.t. now you focus on the last thirteen days of that are moneths lives in your pattern but why did you choose that period well when i looked at the stories of. the end of the dentistry i suddenly realized that although we knew the broad span of

nicholas's reign in the overall story no one had looked at any great detail in those final few days particularly new culture in berg and the main reason for that was because until the collapse of communism there was no access to some of the important eyewitness testimonies by the guards and your coffee or ski who was in charge of the party of so we didn't have enough evidence to look at that really closely and when i did start looking at it closely i found it absolutely fascinating and gripping and it was the story i wanted to tell the city was in a terrible state of panic the bolsheviks were basically taking everything they could out of your culture and work that was worth anything because it was the center of the mining industry so it was gold semi precious minerals and they wanted to get that all out before the city fell so in terms of taking the imperial family the. where what do you think the saw for example must've felt when

he knew they were going to catch him but he cautioned berg had a large factory and industrial population a very heavily politicized workers who were very loyal bolsheviks and the sars heart sank when he was told that he was going to be taken there he said i would go anywhere but if you catch him but because the people there are so against me i once the family arrived in a pattern back they lived in increasingly horrible circumstances they were actually told the minute they arrived you are now entering a prison regime and there was a big difference between how things were in some polls square they had a rare relative degree of freedom to move about to go to church to go outside to see people in the outside world the awful thing that happened when they arrived that you can't remember they're immediately greeted by a place surrounded by an enormous stockade a wooden stockade was but built right around the house the windows were painted

white so the family once they're inside that house could not see the outside world they were denied newspapers they were denied letters and parcels no visitors so they were effectively cut off and what kind of family were they at that stage well they were incredibly close knit family very devoted to each other and i think the thing that one of the fundamental things that held them so closely together was they had this very deep very profound orthodox faith and they did take a rather fatalistic attitude to god's will and what would happen happened to to them also the girls in many ways were very immature for their age very on worldly they lived such a cuckoo life that the alexander palace in outside some petersburg once alexei was born found to be hemophiliac everyone closed in to protect him to protect the family. so in that way they managed to survive better i think than other families

would because there was so so used to being only in each other's company but it wasn't just the family who were in their pattern of house was that they were also accompanied by some of their old retainers while the retainers were intensely loyal they volunteered to go with the romanovs to your culture and it was very uncertain what was going to happen to them they might must have had some sense that it might all end horribly so there intensely loyal particularly dr port king who i think of all of them had a sense that this might end in something dreadful he was very pragmatic very realistic and one of the last letters he wrote from the house an unfinished letter said basically i don't expect to get out of here alive but what was interesting was that when the romanovs first arrived it was obviously an intensely hostile attitude to them from the guards many very young local fact she workers who volunteered what

they considered was an on or to guard units bloodthirsty tsar and his family and as time went on a strange thing happened some of these young guards began to develop a sympathy for the family especially the girls and especially aleksei who was very very sick but interestingly although they could empathize with the children especially and came to like the girls actually and even thought the cell was a perfectly decent chap they never liked that sorry they always found a very. stuck up and still demanding people bow and scrape to even in that situation but as time went on the guards began to fraternize a bit too much became a bit too friendly with the girls especially and that was when there was a massive clampdown and yaakov furore skee was brought in and the whole thing changed and so it's made it more about yakov little ski he is often portrayed. sort

of maniac all murderer but in fact you sort of bring out a slightly more complex side to his personality well he was an absolutely ruthless cope blooded pragmatic dedicated bolshevik he was also a local checker man was the precursor of what became the k.g.b. the the russian political secret service so he was there for a purpose he was sent in to enforce clamp down on the press nice ation to really make the route regime there a very strict prison regime and effectively to prepare for what was now an increasing venture as he was that they might have to kill the family because the white and the counter-revolutionary forces were working their way east from blood of our stock right in far the far west of russia working their way back to walk along a trance iberian rare way towards a culture which was then a focal point on the railway line amongst the gods was there anything that they

weren't going to go through with it yes absolutely just before they came to kill the family you're asking was issuing orders about who was supposed to kill whom they were all given an individual target and some of the guards immediately said we will not kill the girls and the number of killers in the end was reduced because of that and in fact the ultimate solution was putting all in a room and and killing them all together but that turned into a bloodbath didn't it and you've spoken to a forensic expert tell me what you what his opinion of what happened was well what concerned me was the terrible inefficiency with which they murdered them i mean some some people think they were just lined up in a row bang bang bang you're dead it was not like that it was a dreadful ill conceived ill executed murder you can't say it was an execution it was brutal because you know you're also didn't plan it he didn't check out what why . whether they were these guys were good shots they didn't check the guns they had

a mixture of some efficient guns browning's and coats and also old army issue not guns which probably didn't work they didn't count the fact they were killing eleven people in a small dark basement room which rapidly became full of acrid smoke noise panic hysteria people screaming and running around it was an absolute catastrophe because they then had to brutally finish them off the only one of them the family really who had a quick death was actually nicholas because the minute they the order came to fire they all want to take pot pot shot at the cellar of course so they could say well i shot nicholas so he died immediately but the others suffered horribly particularly the children and then the burial also. total. total mismanaged from the sub worst of it was that the man in charge of the detail to take the bodies out into the forests in a truck of

a very rapidly old fear truck arrived dead drunk and late so with one shovel. one shovel to bury some people it was it was just silly and the other thing was they hadn't properly checked out the site they'd chosen which was a mine working in the forest and when they got there they discovered first of all it was too shallow and secondly it was full of water and that to get throw eleven bodies down there they'd almost immediately be found by the local presence so they had to go back the next morning hold the bodies out and go in dump them somewhere else it was just dreadful now the day that the murder of them on a family is often attributed to a sort of maverick branch of the caster and by the bolsheviks but you believe that the order can be traced directly to leonard well lennon was very careful to always cover his tracks and he he never ever took responsibility for anything as controversial as the merger of the wrongness but he said categorically we must not

have a living banner we must not have anyone surviving from the family around whom the counter-revolution could could gather and gain a you know gain gain power so the decision was made in moscow during meetings with gul a short in a man from the book soviet who went back and forth quite a few times to moscow now got a shock and was very good friends with the arc of spirit love who was lennon's right hand man said lapham had worked as opposed to tater new country but he knew the city he knew the bolsheviks there and i think fundamentally a tacit agreement was given by lenin that when the time came and the judgment of when that time came was left to the culture and bolsheviks when they knew that the game was up and the city was going to fall to go in and kill them all and me. going forward to the present day what would you say is the abiding legacy that i'm on a family to me the most interesting thing i found when i went to russia when i went to catch

a bug was this incredible developing this this sense of identification of the romanov's with off the sea and specifically with everything of mother russia of nationhood of a united country but everything that russia lost under the depredations of seventy years of communism this is terrible nostalgia for the roman also because nicolas wasn't a good saw he was a terrible terrible incompetent in many respects but the biting thing is this terrible sense of the merger of innocence and the roman also represent for ordinary russians for believe as a sense of nationhood an orthodoxy that they feel they've lost thanks very much i think you.

train carries away the russian empires gold reserve. to save it from the. five hundred tons of gold. dozens of. six hundred fifty million dollars ruble. that is still awaiting the arrival of safe. sentry long the way. ministry of the. wealthy british style the stock. market. has come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy

with my far no holds barred global financial headlines kaiser reports. from feinstein. whose friends don't talk t.v. dot com. top

stories this hour naughty skeptics challenge traditional theories behind aids as thousands of scientists and politicians gather in vienna to discuss how to prevent the spread of the disease. russian security services broke up a suspected terrorists in the southern republic of dagestan this week that included the man linked to the deadly moscow metro attacks. an iranian nuclear scientist who claims he was kidnapped and held by the cia in the u.s. for more than a year returns home but the still an air of mystery but reports in america that he was spoiling for washington. and his brush remains in the sweltering grip of a heat wave celebration suffering a severe drought have left without a harvest. will be back with more in their stories and more than fifteen minutes from now in the meantime dimitris next with all the sports news for you.

you know this is what to do things for joining us this first let's take a quick look at what's going on in the world of sports. and how the tasing dominated the british open to win his thirst major title. russia's first formula one driver and defending champ and jenson button competed in moscow. and jennifer draw so wins the german moto g.p. while ross is finished his fourth on his return from the leg. and will start with golf africa and has won the british open by seven strokes the twenty seven year old shot a one under seventy one in the fourth and final round for a sixteen under total local favorite lee westwood settles for a runner up finish world number one tiger woods managed only three and it's their first major win for. the defies the old to dominate the field from the early

stages. now to football with more action in the russian premier league today where lokomotiv moved into fifth sport's that's after beating along a three nil goal from a late double from six sealed the victory for the muscovites in the meantime terakhir to. four ninth sports following a one million that. i still dire from tiger three minutes before the break. gave the parson home crowd few reasons to celebrate as they were threshed by new boys for one. had put the visitors in front eighteen minutes into the game and one shot to go into the interval. to get a break and prove costly for the siberian side left to go mouth but failed to collect the ball and fouled it survive an attempt to make up for his mistake yellow card and pounce

a followed make no mistake from the spot in first half injury time another defensive blips all the way side make it free email me do it for the second half. which is back earth cue to finish off a neat cross did pull one go back with a powerful trick for a minute but survive the final nail tossed coffin for ten minutes from time selling the final result for one. in the case sent pittsburgh have received another big boost in their bit to lay their hands on the cover to go to cup after their veteran forward alexei yashin signed one gay extension on his deal with the northern side the thirty six year old is going nowhere despite previous reports he could be on the move to another team in the continental. who's a former world champion and double olympic medalist for russia joint scott last season but failed to help them go into further than their opening playoff round

scarred iraq to do better than that last sixteen exits and certain role just want to spend handle and. as well as experienced russia goalkeeper you've got in the bucket to help them make title dream come true the new season faces off on the eighth of september. in cycling denise mitchell faced finish second in the fourteenth stage of the two difference the russian wanted to finish with spent some of sanchez who finished third to victory and went to christophe for long as the frenchman won the first stage in the pyrenees but it's still and held together. it's finished for ten seconds behind the winner and then shelf sits fourth overall . for a one hits moscow an f one exhibition of and has been held in the russian capital the very moscow city of racing event fans a chance to say all sort of fast cars up close up of once along. was.

for the third time miscues roads were transformed into real racing track in the kremlin walls trembled as formula one course went past with the roof it was this the most go public it turned out in droves to hear as thousands attended the vans in the very center of the capital in spite of the tropical heat this here reigning world champion jenson button joined the ranks of famous f one drivers who have come to moscow the russian fans were pleased to see him i've always been excited about coming to moscow and i think you know i'm very lucky to have this opportunity and i feel very privileged to have this opportunity to drive a former long around the kremlin and i mean not many people get better opportunities so i'm very much looking forward to today this is not a day of work for me this is it for enjoyment there were other stories too including the first ever russian driver to compete in formula one through off for the local crowd he was the main story of this exhibition race the twenty five year

old driver hopes that very soon he will be able to drive his racing car on a home track fossil force i want to have a russian grand prix fear this is a way of maybe i can help something that will bring the more one here versus cross-country but i don't know with all winnable be my hopes and i want to be like i'm one of them but i wouldn't put all the countries you know all i swore on the formula one chorus but there were plenty more research on four wheels into driving round the kremlin to entertain enemies a crowd of. drivers. there drifting skew is causing quite a spectacle. i am going to make sure again in his commercials also for in the first two. minutes it's a very exciting event even though these cars are not for driving on the roads they're supposed to be driven in deserves but we want to enter to the audience to show the power and potential cause the success of such events has grown year to

year in mourners who are fans across the country hoping grand prix will soon be hosted in russia one of them is a said project to build a trade by two thousand and twelve isn't the point where the plan would be to produce the first city a track on the f one circuit continue but out of. another motor sport knows jennifer just has won the john one grand prix but the honda rider had to do i restart to the race following a three by crash involving ray dippin air alexis pokhara and. the race was reduced to twenty one left as a result and took full advantage edging out fellow span if you're going to rent who started on pearl runs or finishing over three seconds behind the winner to see his three race winning streak come to an end cases turn a complete at the podium on his ticket after peping defending moto g.p. champ and violent in the rossi in an intense deal they tell on will but plays with

fourth first race in structuring his leg six weeks ago and the draw so was happy with his first victory of the six. and the first race i was i was riding good then they were saying they would also we were both going away from their group in when they when they start the race and the feeling is late. and then when we restart their race for us most are the same you know because i start first and then hear it big and by the end i feel i'm being a lot but i can still fast so they call him and try to do the early. then finally i get a good result here so it's amazing. tennis now and french open runner ups we drop in sword ning seemed on the verge of tears as sith shots of another clay court title the world number five was felled by a nickel and margot in the final of his hometown went. for a sort of top seed and defending champion when it made sense to clinch the match

seven five six six two era prone sword link crumbled in the decider and charted for the twenty sixth title and first seventeen months. and finally y'all to give and has been held just outside moscow to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the country's first ever limpid gold in the discipline to me was the men behind this service unit success in this class competition at the games spec in one nine hundred sixty now eighty three is still active in the sport having a foundation aimed at reviving yachting in russia r.t. caught up with him and his old friend and rival who spoke about the times and the sports future. but i remember a very weird race of the crew the i remember to me in a game when he won the race our we won the race because he was a very very technique out if. all he knew if. you read

only we put the show on the shave they said use it only be called by us and when he become press the movement that there was a shift doing exactly that silly game today but even the race of six weeks might add up or so well nowadays your two clubs are brimming with life but it's not so much about sports but mostly about tree creation the romal to boats and water skiing but this is just a way to spend your free time well to sports told with a few and far between and the russian guy has become a world champion i haven't seen any good results recently as far as olympics are concerned. ok that's all from me and this was enticed on handouts a guy. so. ninety nine p. the train carries away the russian empires gold reserve.

to save it from the soviets. five hundred tons of gold. dozens of coverage. six hundred fifty millions in czarist rule. the frame but is still a way to have the arrival station. a century long the way. the mystery of the golden drain on the. wealthy british style holds. markets. scandal find out what's really happening to the global economy for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines to name two cars

a report on. sales called it's the same canary due to its high pitched with. the small amount of the selling communicate. what's it trying to sell me. the secrets of.

beatrice. photos. to leave the. church. collection.

challenge traditional theories behind a. politician in vienna to discuss how to prevent the spread of the. russian security. she was kidnapped and held in the u.s. for more than a year returned home. america media reported he was spying for washington. russia.