And he begins to worry about how to protect them from the more extreme elements, the Bolsheviks and others who might threaten their lives.
[thud] [Montefiore] The position of the Romanovs has changed beyond imagination, one incident really sums this up, as they sit as prisoners in their old home, the Alexander Palace, soldiers actually dig up the remains of Rasputin, the Empress Alexandra's most beloved advisor, and mutilate the body in full view of the palace.
[stabbing sounds] The Romanov family rely on Kerensky for their protection.
But by the middle of the summer, Kerensky's own position becomes increasingly tenuous.
It does not look like Kerensky will actually be able to convince the Russian population to stay in the war and to sacrifice for it, and his political power is under serious threat.
So, we have to leave? It is no longer safe here.
And not just for you.
My officers will escort you.
I trust them.
If you say we must leave now, we will.
[Montefiore] Just in time, Kerensky moved them in great secrecy to Tobolsk, far away in Siberia where they'll be safe from the extremists, fanatics, and revolutionaries who threaten them in Petrograd.
[angry shouting] [Prof Fedyashin] Three months after the Romanov family leaves Petrograd, Kerensky's government itself is overthrown in a coup d'état by Lenin and the Bolsheviks.
[hubbub] [Dr de Orellana] As the Bolsheviks are taking over, during a period of only twenty hours, Kerensky is forced to flee.
At one point, he's almost shot at a checkpoint as he tries to leave Petrograd.
[roar of fire] [Montefiore] Suddenly we're in a more merciless, more flint-hearted, more ruthless era.
[Prof Fedyashin] Lenin had spent 20 years calling for the violent overthrow of the monarchy, even for the execution of the Czar.
[Dr de Orellana] Now, the Bolsheviks are in charge of the royal family.
The fate of the imperial family is in Bolshevik hands.
[Montefiore] And those hands happen to include former army medic, Yakov Yurovsky.
I'm the Military Commissar from the Ural Soviet.
Honored to meet you, Comrade Goloschekin.
Your work for the secret police has been noticed.
But I need your diligence for a little more delicateoperation.
Top secret.
Straight from Moscow.
From Comrade Lenin.
A house is being prepared here in Ekaterinberg for some high-profile guests.
They will arrive in secrecy and need to be kept under maximum security.
How many? It's a family of seven and their servants.
[Dr de Orellana] By the Spring of 1919, the imperial family are in huge danger.
They are split into two groups, Nicholas, Alexandra and one of the girls are taken to their new safe-house deep in Bolshevik territory.
- [engine starts] - [door shuts] [sound of car engine] [Dr de Orellana] A few weeks later, the Romanov children are sent to join their parents in Ekaterinburg.
[sound of train] [man shouts] Let's move, the truck is waiting.
[whistle blows] Move! Move! [Mr.
Gilliard] Where are you taking us? [guard] Not you, just the children.
No, no, I am their teacher! Then you understand my words.
I promised their father I would stay with them.
You have no right to stop me from doing my duty.
We are no good to them dead.
[Mr.
Gilliard] Look after each other.
Stay safe.
Anastasia! [screams] No! Please! Anastasia! [bang] Let's go.
[engine starts] My poor niece.
Hoping desperately that someone would come and rescue her.
She's waited long enough.
Shall we? [nurse] I am so sorry.
She asked to come out to meet you.
[Olga] Please.
Just a moment.
I am so happy to meet you.
Is the hospital treating you well? If there's anything you need you must let us know.
Aren't you lovely, my dear.
[girl] Please, I'm your little Pixie.
What did you say? Say it again.
Pixie.
I am the only person in the world that called her that.
At last the mystery was beginning to unravel.
I've just got off the phone to the Von Kleist family, who looked after her.
They have some new information.
It should help us know once and for all, if she is who she says she is.
Of course.
Did Anastasia really escape one of the most tragic events of recent times? We were about to find out.
In May 1918 a year after the revolution the Bolsheviks sent Anastasia, Alexei, Tatiana and Olga to join the rest of the family in Ekaterinburg.
The city was a communist stronghold in the Urals, surrounded by vast forests.
The kind of place political prisoners could easily disappear.
Come on.
Down.
In Ekaterinburg, they're put in the Ipatiev mansion.
Move it! And it's chosen because it's separate, it's guardable, it's fortifiable.
Come on, faster! And It's given the name "The House of Special Purpose.
" Can you imagine a more sinister name for a house than "The House of Special Purpose?" They should be here by now.
Where are they? They must be through here.
They're here, they're here.
Come here.
Alexei! Where is Mother? She's not well, but she is desperate to see you.
- Now you must be tired after the journey.
- Why are the windows like that? This is a prison.
Not a hotel.
What does he mean? Let's go and see your mother.
Mm? Okay.
Come on, come on.
Come here and give me a proper hug.
Ah! Look at you.
Maria, could you close the door, please? You must be so tired.
Mm no, not at all.
Now.
Remember, we are being watched all the time, so be very careful what you say.
Don't provoke them, and they'll leave you alone if you stick to the rules.
What rules? Roll call every morning.
One hour's exercise in the yard a day.
What? No matter how hard things get, we must keep our dignity.
Don't forget you're Grand Duchesses.
And this is temporary.
We won't be here long.
Maria, why don't you show your sisters their room? Yes.
Up to this moment, they had kept their spirits relatively high, that they were either going to be secretly sent abroad, or rescued, essentially.
The room is along here.
Forget what Papa said.
The guards aren't that bad.
Actually, some are quite nice.
This is where we sleep.
Comrade Goloshchyokin, we can't keep them here any longer.
The whole town seems to know who we have got locked up.
I can't do anything without the go-ahead from Moscow.
There are rumors they have allies planning to free them.
I'll make it very clear to Comrade Lenin.
The imperial family is in the power of the Ural Soviet Bolsheviks.
They're quite radical, even by Leninist standards and they want to execute the royal family.
Keep a close eye on them.
Check up all security.
We cannot afford any fuck-up.
But there are different views about what to do with the Romanovs.
Lenin is concerned that executing the imperial family would make him look bad, that it would be a very unpopular move.
It is not that easy to overcome imperial tradition overnight and just kill the Czar.
By the spring of 1918, the Bolshevik hold on power in Russia is becoming very shaky.
There is a major famine, and the Bolshevik solution is to requisition food from farmers, which becomes very unpopular.
The Bolsheviks have signed the Brest-Litovsk treaty with Germany.
A lot of European Russia is lost and Lenin starts losing support for his betrayal of Russia.
Revolution changes into civil war.
White armies are formed by former Czarist officers and generals, and challenge the Bolshevik hold on power.
And furthermore, foreign interventions start.
Britain and France send substantial armies to fight against the Bolsheviks, to try to restore the republican and/or Imperial regime, and bring Russia back into World War One.