The Tsar and His Family Are Killed

Eighty-five years ago, on the night of July 16-17, 1918, the Russian tsar and his family were told to get down to the cellar in order to have their picture taken. They had been held under house arrest since March 1917 and they were told the photo was to prove that they were still alive. Once in the cellar, the family was surprised by the entrance of a Bolshevik firing squad. Tsar Nicholas II, Alexandra, and their five children were all shot. After the murder, the bodies were buried in a location that was kept secret for decades, leaving rumors that one daughter (Anastasia) had survived the execution. In 1991, bodies were found and after seven years of scientific testing, it was concluded that they were the Romanovs. However, the bodies of two of the children remain missing. In 2003, a church was consecrated on the location of the shooting.