Living in Russia was difficult during that time. Prices, especially those of food rose, and hunger widespread. Citizens were furious and started striking all around the city. I didn’t know what to do, I was just 16 years old. Even my parents didn’t know how they could improve life in Russia anymore. I guess that was the reason why my father abdicated.
As months went by, the situation didn’t change. We weren’t allowed to go out, none of us was. I remember people telling me or my siblings how dangerous walking around St. Petersburg was. We all thought it was because of the revolutionary behaviour citizens were having in those days, but later, I realised it was because we were under house arrest. I hardly remembered how my city looked like and I couldn’t remember the members of my family. Even the people that used to constantly visit us stopped doing it, it was as if we didn’t exist anymore.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t like that. There was a man that even before my father’s abdication was trying to blight our life. And so he did. He used my father’s abdication as an excuse to come back from his exile to St. Petersburg and seize power. He and the current government banded together and started ruling Russia. Without realising it, we were in the middle of a civil war.
One day, my family and I were taken to a basement and from that moment on, I don’t remember anything. I woke up and everything was in complete silence. I tried to wake somebody up but no one did. All the members of the Romanov family had been executed, except myself. That was undoubtedly a turning point in my life. I had no other choice but to escape, but I didn’t know what to do or where to go. The only thing I knew is that I couldn’t be Anastasia Romanov anymore.
Leave a Reply