THE LAST OF THE TSARS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19216, 4 January 1926, Page 7

THE LAST OF THE TSARS.

FATE OF ROYAL FAMILY. SHOOTING WITHOUT TRIAL. TRICKERY AND TRAGEDY. ADMISSIONS BY THE SOVIET. By Teletfraph—Press Association —Copyrieht. (Received 5.5 p.m.) Times. LONDON, Jan. 1. The Riga correspondent of the Times says tho Soviet authorities at Leningrad for tho first time have published details of the murder of the Russian Imperial family in 1918. Hitherto only the shooting of tho Tsar, Nicholas IT., has been officially admitted. The Soviet account states that during the imprisonment at Ekaterinburg the Tsar was strictly guarded and forbidden to approach tho windows, lest ho exchange signals with people outside. The Central Government originally intended that the Tsar should have a public trial, with Trotzky as prosecutor, but on July 12 it was decided to shoot him immediately, without trial. Trusted Communists were instructed to assist the guards in the shooting. At midnight the members of tho Royal family and four attendants were told to dress and proceed to the basement, because the White Army intended to bombard the house. None of them suspected treachery. On reaching the basement the commandant read out the Soviet's sentence. All seemed stunned; only the Tsar spoke. He said: "So you are not taking us anywhere." The shooting of the victims then commenced, and further speech was thus prevented. The bodies were destroyed next day, and a week later the White Army arrived.