Ipatiev House
Ekaterinburg, Russia Morning,
July 16, 1918
Stephen Morrison assembled all of the guards in the small guesthouse on the grounds of the Ipatiev House. He had instructed Yurovsky to make sure that they reported sober, as he had critically important news for them. They filed into the sitting room of the house and as instructed, they all appeared sober. Morrison instructed them to all sit down as he stood in the front of the room.
“Comrades, you don’t have to be a weatherman to know that the thunder of gunfire that we’re hearing is getting closer. Our intelligence is telling us that the White Army is converging on Ekaterinburg. It is anticipated that they will arrive the day after tomorrow.” A murmur of excitement swept over the men as he continued on. “I have been instructed that we must evacuate these premises tomorrow and retreat eastward to link up with Bolshevik forces near Tobolsk. The biggest concern that the party masters in the Kremlin have is that the Romanovs must not, I repeat, must not, fall into the hands of the enemy. Accordingly, the entire entourage must be eliminated before we evacuate.” The men began to cheer at that point. Sadistic bastards, Morrison thought to himself with disgust.
Yurovsky shouted to the men to quiet down, and they promptly complied. “Sorry, Comrade Moryak,” he said, motioning for him to continue. Morrison thanked him and continued.
“The plan is already designed, and there must be no deviations from it, do you understand? No deviations! Including Comrade Yurovsky and myself, I will need nine other shooters. I’ll need two of you to stand guard at the doors. In addition, I need a driver who will drive with me to the site where we will dispose of the bodies.”
“Where will we execute them, comrade?” asked one.
“We will bring them down to the middle room of the basement where the executions will take place.”
“When will we do this?”
“Sometime tonight, probably after midnight. Comrade Yurovsky will awaken them and inform them that they will be moved to a safer location. We’ll tell them that we will be having them wait in the basement room for cars to arrive.” Immediately, the room began buzzing with comments from the guards, each claiming that he would be the one to execute the Tsar and laughing at his individual boast. After about thirty seconds of the banter, Morrison ordered them to be silent.
“Shut up!” he shouted. “Now listen up! This is the plan, and there will be no deviations at all, is that understood?” When there was nothing but silence in response, he shouted, “Is that understood, you maggots?” The sudden outburst both startled and scared them, and they all meekly replied affirmatively. “Good then, now keep your mouths shut and pay attention. I will be the one to execute both the Tsar and the Tsarevitch. Is that clear? I will be the sole executioner of these two. If any of you fire at them, I will kill you on the spot. If any of you doubt that, then you haven’t been listening to all of the exploits of the legendary Moryak. Believe me, I will have no qualms whatsoever about firing a bullet into any of your disgusting faces. Is that understood?" Again, the assembled men nodded their heads. Yurovsky was smiling. He had to admit, Moryak certainly knew how to communicate a point.
“Good! I can see we’re all going to work together just fine on this assignment. Next, it is Comrade Yurovksy, and only Comrade Yurovsky, who will execute the Tsarina. That instruction, I trust, is crystal clear. Now for the good news. There are nine other people left in the Romanov entourage. You each can pick who you want to kill. I don’t give a damn whom you choose. Just work it out amongst yourselves and inform Comrade Yurovsky within the hour.” Immediately the room buzzed with excitement as the men bantered over whom they wanted to execute. Morrison and Yurovsky smiled at each other as they headed for the door. Before departing, Morrison turned back toward the men who had quieted down.
“There is one more thing,” he began. “None of you are to speak at all with any of the prisoners today. Not a word. If even a glimmer of the plan gets out, if any of the prisoners suspect what is going to happen to them tonight as a result of interacting with any of you, I will shoot every one of you myself! Make no mistake, I will kill every one of you and don’t doubt me. I haven’t killed anyone this week, and it’s really starting to bother me.” He and Yurovsky walked out the door.
“You certainly have a way with words, comrade,” quipped Yurovsky.
“Yes, I do, don’t I? You know, Moscow wanted me to grill the former Tsar one more time. Something about overseas accounts and money that he may have stashed all over the world. Have him brought to my room in about a half-hour.”
“Certainly, comrade, with pleasure!”
* * *
Morrison sat on the edge of the sofa when the knock on the door occurred. Ordering him to enter, he stood as Nicholas Romanov entered the room. Morrison thanked the guard who had escorted him and dismissed him, locking the door behind him. He motioned for the former Tsar to be seated and pulled his chair up next to him.
“Listen carefully, Citizen Romanov. It is on for tonight. The White Army will be in Ekaterinburg within two days, and Moscow has ordered that we evacuate. We have been given instructions to execute all of you before we leave. I have met with my Allied contacts, and they have given me instructions. Let me start by saying that I’m sorry but we won’t be able to get most of you out.”
“What do you mean?” asked the startled Nicholas. “I thought, well, you said — ”
“I know what I said. The situation here is untenable. I am the only agent on scene. If I wasn’t here, all of you would be murdered tonight. As it turns out, I can probably get only one of you out alive, and that’s being a bit optimistic. There are over twenty guards here, and one slightly suspicious move will result in my liquidation. Then all of you will die for sure. The Allied command has instructed me to attempt to get the Tsarevitch, your son Alexei, out. It is felt that there is a great value in spiriting the heir to the throne out of Bolshevik hands. It would be a great rallying point. I believe we can certainly attempt it.”
Nicholas just stared at Morrison. He sat there expressionless, taking in what he had just been told, that he would die tonight. He began to tremble and his eyes glassed over, but he soon composed himself. “There isn’t any other way? You’re sure of it?”
“I’m afraid so. You realize what I’m saying to you, don’t you?”
“Yes, yes, of course I do.” After pondering a moment, Nicholas looked at Morrison and said, “It looks like you won’t be able to work your magic like you did back in Japan some thirty years ago, will you?”
“No, I won’t be able to, Nicholas Romanov.”
Sitting upright in a most aristocratic manner, Nicholas asked, “So tell me, what is the plan? What is going to happen?”
Morrison stood up and began pacing the room as he spoke. “Sometime after midnight you will all be awakened and told to get dressed, that you are being moved to a safer location so that the White Army won’t capture you and that the local Reds won’t kill you. They will have you all assemble in one of the basement rooms and wait.”
“And then?”
“An execution squad, led by me, will enter the room and the killing will begin.”
“How is it possible to save even Alexei? Remember, I told you he can barely walk.”
Returning to his seat, Morrison leaned forward toward the former Tsar and began explaining in a low voice. “I have assigned different executioners to different people. I am the only one with the authority to shoot both you and your son, no one else. I promise you that your death will be clean and instantaneous. You will not suffer. When I shoot Alexei, it will be with a blank cartridge.” Nicholas appeared to be confused, so Morrison continued on. “Once I shoot Alexei, it will be the signal for the rest of the guards to begin firing. It will be over quickly.”
“I still don’t understand. I mean, Alexei — ”
“He will be virtually unconscious,” interrupted Morrison. Pulling the vial of medicine from his pocket, he held it up and said, “About midnight, have him drink this. It’s a sedative provided by my contact agent, and it will sedate him to the point of unconsciousness. He won’t be aware of anything after that. You’ll have to carry him down to the basement, and you must hold him in your lap close to you. Do you understand that? You must hold his head close to your chest. That is critical for the plan to work.
“When it is all over, I will personally carry him out. The rest of the guards will assume he’s dead. When we transport all of your remains, I will be delivering Alexei to an Allied agent who will be waiting en route. I know this sounds cold as hell, but it is the best I can come up with under the circumstances and given the very short fuse.”
With a forlorn look on his face, Nicholas asked, “Do you really think you can save my son? It sounds very tenuous.”
“All I can say is that if I don’t succeed, I will die trying. I will follow my orders to the letter, and my orders are to get your son out of the hands of the Bolsheviks.” For the next few minutes, they said nothing. Morrison wanted to make sure that Nicholas had absorbed all of the information. It pleased him that the man seemed relatively calm, considering he had just heard his own death sentence.
Morrison considered the improbability of the entire situation. Here I am, the son of a rabbi, forced out of Russia to the United States of America, who once participated in the rescue of the Tsar of Russia’s life, and now thirty years later, after serving ten years in a Tsarist prison camp, I will once again attempt to rescue a member of the Romanov family. He was pondering the irony when Nicholas began to speak.
“You know, my wife and daughters, they brought a lot of their jewelry with them on our exile. They have sewn most of the diamonds and gems into their stays and corsets to keep them hidden. Do you think that this may protect them?”
It seemed like an absurd thought, considering the caliber of the assassins. Out of compassion, he offered, “That probably may help somewhat.”
“Tell me sir, it there anything else we need to discuss?” asked Nicholas.
“I believe we have covered it all.” Morrison handed the vial of sedative medicine to Nicholas and told him to be careful with it. “Remember, he must take it about midnight.” As he stood up, he turned to Nicholas and said, “I implore you to keep what I’ve told you a secret, even from your wife. No one must know, as it will result in all of your immediate executions. If any of this plan leaks out, you will all die. Of course, I will be killed along with you. You have to act as calm and as normal as possible. Nothing must be leaked. I know that I’m almost asking the impossible, but you must try. If not, your son will die.”
Nicholas looked up. Morrison noticed his eyes had glazed over again. “It’s time for you to leave,” Morrison informed him, walking to the door. As he did, Nicholas asked, “May I say something?”
“Of course.”
Nicholas stood up and faced him. “I don’t even know your name. I only know that you are an American and that you saved my life years ago. I want to thank you again for that. Thank you for what you are about to attempt to do. You are a brave and honorable man.” He then made the sign of the cross and said, “May Jesus Christ protect you and Alexei tonight, and may He watch over you and protect you for the rest of your life.”