Grigory Efimovich Rasputin

Rasputin is a redirect to this article. Further meanings are listed under Rasputin (disambiguation) .

Rasputin around 1916

Grigori Rasputin ( Russian Григорий Ефимович Распутин , scientific. Transliteration Grigory Rasputin Efímovič ; January 9 * ^{. Jul} / 21st January  1869 ^greg. In Pokrovskoye , Tobolsk , † December 17 ^jul. / The 30th December  1916 ^greg. In Petrograd ) was a Russian traveling preacher who was said to have achieved success as a spiritual healer . He was friends with the family of Tsar Nicholas II , the last Russian monarch, and gained significant influence in the final years of the Russian Empire .

Meaning of rasputin

Rasputin is one of the most recognizable names in Russian history . There is a large number of biographies, novels, feature films and documentaries, as well as plays, operas and musicals about him. Countless bars, restaurants and night clubs are named after him. He is the main character in at least two video games and appears in Japanese manga and anime productions. One in the neurosciences used software (acronym for R eal-Time A cquisition S ystem P rograms for U nit T IMing i n N EUR science), a comics series, a film hero and, not least, a brand of vodka named after him.

A century after his death, Rasputin remains in the public eye as a “mad monk” or a “holy devil”, a paradoxical formulation that goes back to the Russian priest Iliodorus , initially a trusted friend of Rasputin who later became his bitter enemy.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia's past was subjected to intensive and at times agonizing scrutiny. The heroes of the Soviet past became villains and the former class enemies became heroes. Tsar Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000. Rasputin was also subjected to a revaluation by a new generation of historians. He was no longer seen as a philandering libertine and drunkard, but as a loyal husband and father, an honest man of God, a pious Orthodox Christian, a humble Russian farmer, gifted with divine visions, who devoted his life to the service of the Tsar's family and his beloved Russia .

Rasputin's story is a tragedy, not just for one man, but for an entire nation, because his life and violent end reflect the entire history of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Rasputin was neither a devil nor a saint, but nevertheless his life was of paramount importance for the final years of the Russian Empire.

Meaning of the name "Rasputin"

The name “Rasputin” gives rise to speculation, as the translation is somewhat “dissolute”. A reference to his personality was therefore suspected in many places. It was suspected that it was a surname or mockery that was received later. However, this name has been attested in the spelling "Rosputin" since 1650, became Rasputin in the 19th century and was then widespread throughout Siberia.

Short biography

Pokrovskoye on the river (1912)

Rasputin was born on January 9th ^. / January 21, 1869 ^greg. Born in the village of Pokrovskoye on the left bank of the Tura , 80 km east of the city of Tyumen in Western Siberia, the son of a farmer. From the age of 17 he went on pilgrimages, sometimes for years . After returning to his home village, he set out for St. Petersburg in 1903.

Rasputin became famous because he was called to the court of the tsars in the hope of stopping the bleeding of the tsar's son and tsarevich Alexei, who suffered from haemophilia, through prayer. Contemporary witnesses, as well as doctors and critics, confirmed that Rasputin had an inexplicable influence on the tsar's son and his life-threatening bleeding. This ability of Rasputin convinced Tsarina Alexandra that Rasputin was a saint who had been sent to her by God to protect her son. For the Tsarina, the arrival of Rasputin was God's answer to her passionate prayers. She explained to the later Minister of the Interior, Alexander Protopopov, that Rasputin had restored her safety with his healing powers and thereby ended her insomnia. Therefore, the Tsarina always strictly rejected any criticism of Rasputin. Despite this high reputation with the tsarina, Rasputin soon entered the tsar's palace after frequent visits.

Rasputin with officers

Since the illness of the Tsar's son was kept a secret, the public remained inexplicable the reputation that the "uneducated farmer Rasputin" enjoyed with the Tsar's family, especially the Tsarina. Together with Rasputin's sometimes very strange behavior, this gave rise to gossip and slander of all kinds. Rasputin was always accused of a very immoral lifestyle with permanent sex orgies. With Rasputin there were escapades, but most of the allegations were fictitious. Contrary to what is often reported, they never concerned women of higher society or even the tsarist court. This “dark” side of Rasputin was never noticed at the Tsar's court.

On June 29, 1914, Rasputin was seriously injured in an attack with a dagger in his native Pokrovskoje. After this attack, Rasputin began to get drunk in public. When he was heavily alcoholized and provoked on March 25, 1915 in the “Jar” pub in Moscow , this was spread across the country by the press.

1916, in the middle of the First World War , which was catastrophic for Russia , was the last year of Rasputin's life, when he foresaw his imminent death and the collapse of the monarchy. In the early morning hours of December 17, 1916, Rasputin was murdered under the leadership of Felix Yusupov .

Rasputin's life

Rasputin before his time in St. Petersburg

The early youth

Rasputin's parents, Jefim Jakowitsch (* 1839 in Pokrowskoje) and Anna Wasiljewna, who was two years older than him, were farmers and owned their own land as well as several cows and horses. The family belonged to the established farmers of the village with some wealth and a respectable reputation. Rasputin had a sister and a brother who died early. His brother died of pneumonia and the sister, who had epilepsy , drowned in a seizure in the river where she was doing laundry. The mother also died very early. Practically nothing is known about the first 30 years of Rasputin's life. What is certain is that, as at that time, the majority of the population in Siberia had no school education and could neither read nor write into early adulthood. By 1900 the literacy rate in Siberia was around four percent, compared to 20 percent across Russia.

Reports that Rasputin is said to have stolen hay, wood or horses in his youth have turned out to be unproven. However, a 1909 police report from Tyumen found that Pokrovskoye residents referred to Rasputin as an "occasional drinker" who had committed a series of "petty thefts" before changing his way of life.

Time as a pilgrim

Verkhoturye (1910), a small town. Rasputin stayed there for three months in the monastery in 1898.

From 1886 to 1901, Rasputin was mostly on pilgrimages that sometimes lasted years. It is possible that it reached Mount Athos in Greece around 1900 . Even further, as far as Jerusalem , Rasputin did not make a pilgrimage until 1911 during his time in St. Petersburg.

On February 22, 1887 he married Praskovia Fyodorovna Dubrowina, whom he had met the previous summer in Abalak. During his travels, she stayed on her parents' farm. His son Dimitrij was born in 1895, his daughter Matrjona (Maria) in 1898 and his daughter Varvara in 1900.

Maria Rasputin recounted her father's stories after his last pilgrimage as follows: “He had visited many large monasteries, where he earned a living by looking after the cattle and teaching religion. He had heard hundreds of sermons and taken part in all kinds of religious conversations. Great masters had initiated him into the secrets of the divine healing power. Now he felt ready to teach and heal. He proudly announced: Now I'm a star . "

Willingness to leave

Rasputin planned to set up a prayer room in his house and preach the word of God as he understood it. This often resulted in disputes with the village pastor Pyotr Ostroumow.

In any case, it is true that Rasputin renounced the kind of services held by the official church. It is also claimed that he had his first healing successes as early as 1903. As a result, he gained a considerable number of followers in Pokrovskoye. Already at this time the accusation of immoral conduct was raised. Rasputin became a controversial person in his hometown.

Soon it became too tight for the pilgrim Rasputin in his hometown. In 1903 he embarked on a long journey and first came to Kazan , where he was invited by a wealthy widow named Bashmakova and introduced to wealthy merchants and prominent clergy, including Gavriil, abbot of a monastery in Kazan. Initially against the will of this abbot, who warned him of the dangers of the big city, he continued on his way to St. Petersburg.

Rasputin in St. Petersburg

Rapid social advancement (1903–1905)

Saint Petersburg at the end of the 19th century

From Kazan Rasputin came to St. Petersburg. Here he felt "like a blind man on the street." His first way in the capital led Rasputin to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery , where he was able to present a letter of recommendation from a clergyman from Kiev to Bishop Theophan , who received him personally was very impressed and encouraged him.

It is reported that on the occasion of a major religious event by church representatives from all over Russia in 1903 in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, there was an encounter between Johann von Kronstadt , the most famous "healer" of the Tsarist empire at the time, and Rasputin, whereupon Rasputin was invited to salons of the Petersburg society and various political circles and soon became famous as a "miracle healer" at the tsar's court. But apparently the two men never met. John could, however, have heard stories about the then well-known miracle worker from a clergyman known to him by the name of Roman Medved, who had visited Rasputin in his hometown of Pokrovskoye in Siberia.

Soon Rasputin was invited to salons of the Petersburg society and political circles and became famous as a "miracle healer". Boris Almasoff writes about it in his book “Rasputin and Russia”: “The reputation of the sanctity of the newly baked miracle worker… spread ever further. Whole legends were formed about the 'miracles' of Rasputin. "

On November 1, 1905, Rasputin was introduced to the Tsar by the Grand Duchesses Militza and Anastasia . The tsar noted the encounter with one sentence in his diary: "Got to know a man of God - Grigori from Tobolsk Governorate ..."

A few days later, on November 5th, Rasputin wrote his first letter to the tsar. It starts like this:

“Great emperor, tsar and ruler of all of Russia! Greetings! May God give you wise advice. When advice comes from God the soul rejoices, our joy is sincere, but when the advice is rigid and formal the soul becomes oppressed and our mind is confused. All of Russia worries, the country is embroiled in a terrible conflict, and God sends us mercy and terrifies our enemies with awesome threats. "

This letter is of outstanding importance because it shows that Rasputin did not shy away from addressing the tsar on matters of state importance from the start. In the letter, however, there is no mention of the Tsar's son or his health. The relationship between Rasputin and the tsarist family was about much more than the health of the heir to the throne - namely the state of the whole of Russia.

The time until the call to the court of the tsars (1905–1907)

Winter Palace (taken from the Neva)

Rasputin quickly established himself in the salons of the various societies in St. Petersburg, and soon all the many other faith healers and mystical preachers lost their influence there, first and foremost the French Monsieur Philippe , who had been introduced at the court of the tsars through the mediation of Papus and was hailed by the press as the " Cagliostro of our age". Rasputin became the star and darling of influential women who expected miracles from him. But important people in society and politics soon became part of his circle of friends. On October 15, 1906, Rasputin was received by Tsar Nicholas II in his palace in Peterhof .

A declared opponent of Rasputin, the chaplain Georgi Schawelski, described Rasputin as follows: “Rasputin was indeed able to make a strong impression on exalted people who had no powers of observation. There was something mysterious about his whole personality, his words, his idioms. He had deep-set, piercing, almost frightening eyes, a narrow forehead, tangled hair, an unkempt beard, his speech was choppy, indistinct, enigmatic with incessant allusions and references to God; he moved briskly; in his judgments he was bold, courageous and tolerated no contradiction. In doing so, he spoke in an authoritarian manner and took no account of the other person. All of this surprised some, but cast a spell over others. Without a doubt, Rasputin stood out from the crowd. You couldn't miss him. "

Rasputin also disliked the writer Nadezhda A. Teffi (known by the name of Butschinskaya) and described his undoubtedly striking appearance as follows: “He was dressed in a black Russian cloth caftan and stood there in high boots, constantly stepping uneasily on one leg others, nudged his neighbors with his shoulder ... He was quite tall, muscular, looked somehow stern, his beard hung down in thin strands [...] The look that met one of his closely spaced eyes, shining under strands of dripping hair, was stabbing; but he did not rest, but wandered unsteadily to and fro. The eyes were probably gray, but they were so shiny that their color could not be clearly determined. They were restless. When he said something, he immediately let his gaze wander over the audience, as if to fathom their reaction - do they think about it, do they satisfy his words, or are you amazed? "

Meeting with Anna Vyrubova (1907)

Anna Vyrubova

His meeting with the lady-in-waiting Anna Taneyeva in the spring of 1907 was significant for the future. The composer's daughter Taneyev was a close confidante of the Tsarina and, at her request, was to marry the naval officer Alexander Vyrubow. Anna Taneyeva later wrote that Rasputin had predicted an unhappy marriage for her. However, his letters to her from this period prove the opposite. He complimented her and called her future husband "a golden cross". The marriage took place on April 30, 1907, but the marriage lasted only one month. When, shortly after the wedding, the marital problems could no longer be ignored, Rasputin advised the unhappy wife in writing to be patient and promised her a happy ending. But it turned out differently. Anna Vyrubova, who later accused her husband of sexual impotence and a tendency towards sadism, was brutally beaten by him and the marriage ended in divorce after a year. Rasputin now offered consolation to the divorced woman and promised her in a letter dated July 1, 1908 that she, the “sufferer” whose husband she had “slandered”, would find peace when she “found her torments before the throne of the Almighty will pour out ". The painful divorce strengthened her religious passion and brought her even closer to the Tsarina and Rasputin.

The Tsarevich's Bleeding in 1907

In the autumn of 1907 the tsarevich had a minor accident, which, however, became threatening due to the boy's hemophilia. The first accident occurred in 1906 and had no problems , but now the doctors could not stop the internal bleeding, only relieve the pain with morphine .

After the doctors of the Tsarist family had declared that there was nothing more they could do for the Tsar's son, the Grand Duchess Anastasia recommended that the last chance to get Rasputin, about whom so many miraculous things were said, were recommended. The tsarist couple agreed, and therefore Rasputin was brought into the palace through a back entrance - when entering through the front entrance, many security service forms would have to be filled out first. There are many interpretations of what happened in the Tsar's palace back then. In any case, the tsar's son's bleeding quickly stopped after Rasputin's arrival, and the complications disappeared in a short time incomprehensible to the doctors.

The palace commander, Major General Wojejkow, described the matter as follows: “From the first moment that Rasputin appeared at the bedside of the heir to the throne, his condition improved; apparently it was enough that Rasputin mumbled a few prayers and talked to Alexei… ”. The situation was described similarly by the lady-in-waiting Lili Dehn.

For the tsarina, who had prayed daily since the first bleeding, Rasputin was the saint and helper sent to her by God. She believed in his statement - which was also expressed elsewhere - “Trust in my prayers; trust in my help and your son will live. "

Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna (left) with her husband Peter Friedrich Georg von Holstein-Gottorp, 1901

About the healing of the Tsarevich in 1907, the Tsar's sister Olga Alexandrovna , who was in the palace at the time, wrote the following:

“Aleksey was almost three years old and fell while playing in the park in Tsarskoye Selo . He didn't even cry, his leg didn't show a major wound, but the fall had started internal bleeding and within a few hours he was in great pain ... It was the first crisis of so many to follow. The poor child lay there, her little body hunched over with pain, her leg horribly swollen, her eyes dark around the edges. The doctors were simply useless. They looked more afraid than we did and kept whispering to one another. There seemed to be nothing they could do and hours went by before they gave up hope. Now Alicky (the tsarina) sent a message to Rasputin in Petersburg. He came to the palace after midnight. In the morning I couldn't believe my eyes: the little one was not only alive, but healthy. He was sitting upright in bed, the fever was gone, his eyes were clear and bright - and no longer a trace of the swelling on his leg! The horror of the previous evening turned into an incredible distant nightmare. I learned from Alicky that Rasputin hadn't even touched the child, just stood at the foot of the bed and prayed. Of course, it immediately occurred to some people that Rasputin's prayers would simply have coincided with my nephew's recovery. For one thing, any doctor would tell you that such a serious condition cannot be cured within a few hours. That being said, chance would suffice as an explanation, say, once or twice, but I couldn't count how often this happened. "

Guest at the Tsar's Court (1907)

After the Tsarevich had been healed, Rasputin was invited to the courtyard every evening. The children in particular liked this very different person. First he came through the back entrance of the palace to avoid a stir; then, when rumors of these visits surfaced, it came through the front door. But the rumors got louder and more daring. In court gossip, Rasputin was already given the title of "imperial lamp cleaner" and the reputation that Rasputin enjoyed at court was attributed to an intimate relationship with the tsarina.

The Winter Palace with Hermitage

It was then decided that Rasputin should only enter the palace in exceptional cases, for example if the tsar's son was bleeding, and this bleeding also occurred often. The tsar kept meetings with Rasputin to a minimum, and the tsarina met with Rasputin in the house of the lady-in-waiting Anna Vyrubova. However, this also gave impetus to other rumors.

Social decline (1908–1912)

Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo

Soon after, public accusations of Rasputin's sexual derailment began. The tsar wanted certainty and in the spring of 1908 commissioned his palace commandant, General Djadjulin, to investigate the matter. This passed the order on to the State Security Service , which came to the conclusion that Rasputin could not keep his sexual urges in check. In his homeland he seduced women, and in St. Petersburg he hung around with light girls. The results of the investigation were forwarded to Prime Minister Stolypin , who presented the results to the Tsar. The Tsar refused to draw any conclusions because he needed him because of his son. Stolypin let the investigation continue. When more details were added to the charges, Stolypin was determined to deport Rasputin back to Siberia. The situation became uncomfortable for Rasputin, and in mid-1908 he left for his homeland in Pokrovskoye.

Rasputin spent the year 1909 partly in Pokrovskoye and partly with the well-known monk Iliodor (bourgeois Sergei Trufanow, 1880–1952) in his monastery in Tsaritsyn (now Volgograd), which he visited several times. In the summer of 1909 Iliodor paid a return visit of several days in Pokrovskoye and appears to have secretly searched Rasputin's house; In any case, he stole a letter from the tsarina to Rasputin, the contents of which could be used for arbitrary insinuations, because Rasputin's reputation as a miracle healer at court was not allowed to become known. But Iliodorus still kept the contents of this letter to himself.

Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo

After his return to St. Petersburg in early 1910, Rasputin soon faced accusations and lawsuits again. For example , two women spoke to Bishop Theophan, the Tsar's confessor and a supporter of Rasputin, at the Theological Academy , who claimed to have been sexually molested by Rasputin. One of them, Chionija Berladskaya, stated that Rasputin sexually abused her in a train carriage after praying with him.

Rasputin was summoned by the bishop, and since Rasputin could not provide him with an explanation, Theophan requested an audience with the tsar. However, he was not received by the tsar, but by the tsarina. He explained to her that in his opinion Rasputin was in a state of mental confusion. The tsarina did not want to hear anything about the matter and expelled the bishop from the palace. As a result of this dispute over the person of Rasputin, Anna Vyrubova reports that the tsarina ordered Bishop Theophan, her previous confessor, to leave or she would forget that he was her priest; and she doesn't want to forget that. Soon after, Bishop Theophan left St. Petersburg.

Probably because of the constant stress caused by concern for the health of her son, the tsarina was repeatedly ravaged by nervous disorders. The doctors were powerless, and she had to spend the time in a wheelchair until the condition subsided. The tsarina had other worries than Rasputin's antics in a railroad car.

Rasputin (early 1914) with admirers, u. a. his father fourth from the right. Photographer Karl Bulla

In the spring and summer of 1910 a few newspapers began to shoot down Rasputin and published entire series about him, not least to combat his supposed influence. The Bolsheviks also tried to undermine the image of the tsarist family through the person of Rasputin. At an audience, Prime Minister Stolypin once again asked the Tsar to deport Rasputin.

Meanwhile, affairs from around the throne stirred up further dust. A request from the lady-in-waiting, Sophia Tyucheva, as to whether it was not unworthy of the tsar's daughters that Rasputin supposedly visits them regularly in their room in the evenings while they were already in their nightgowns initially remained inconclusive with the tsarina, whereupon Tjucheva spoke to the tsar. After her testimony, the tsar replied: “And what would you say if I confessed that I survived these difficult years only thanks to his prayers?” However, Tyucheva stuck to her objections to Rasputin, whom she had never seen at court herself .

After a regular campaign against what they believed to be the pernicious activities of Rasputin at the court, Tjucheva was given leave of absence by the tsar for two months from service at the tsar's court. Thereupon the lady-in-waiting resigned and publicly put the blame on Rasputin. With reference to Sophia Tjutschewa, the assertion was soon passed on that Rasputin was the spiritual leader of the tsarist family, that he was a constant visitor to the tsar's court and that he baths the tsar's daughters.

Anna Vyrubova described her experience with the general gossip as follows: “... When I was in Moscow once, I heard from my relatives ... that Rasputin spent almost every day in the palace, bathed the Grand Duchesses and the like, with Miss Tjucheva always being the chief witness for All of these events were named. ”The charges were also given particular weight by the fact that Sophia Tjucheva came from a very respected and influential family. In response to these public allegations, the Tsar decided that Rasputin should no longer enter the palace. Further meetings took place in Anna Vyrubova's house.

In August 1910, shortly after Rasputin returned from his homeland, the first attempted murder took place. Five men tried to run a car over Rasputin. The incident was never resolved.

Prime Minister Stolypin finally wanted Rasputin away from St. Petersburg and went to see the Tsar. He suggested a conversation between Stolypin and Rasputin, which then took place. Stolypin described Rasputin to Duma President Rodzjanko as a person who would quote the Bible at every opportunity, grunt his beard, wring his hands, and declare that he had not been guilty of any of the atrocities that he was accused of. Stolypin continued: “I felt an insurmountable aversion to it. This man had tremendous magnetic power and aroused strong emotions in me, even if it was just one of disgust. I controlled myself, raised my voice and told him that his fate with the documents I have was in my hand. "

In order to gain time, it was agreed with Rasputin that at the beginning of 1911 he would start his earlier trip to Jerusalem. He wrote a little book about this trip entitled My Thoughts and Reflections , which was published and financed by the Tsarina in 1915. It was never sold, but Rasputin gave it as a gift to his admirers. He writes in it:

“I ended my journey by arriving in the Holy City of Jerusalem via the main road. […]
How can I describe the minute when I approached the Holy Sepulcher !
So I felt that this is a grave of love, and it was such a strong feeling that I was ready to hug everyone and felt such philanthropy that everyone seemed to be a saint because love does not allow the human To see weaknesses. […]
What a great impression Golgotha makes ! […] If you take a look at the place where the Mother of God stood, the tears start to flow by themselves and you see everything with the spiritual eye . "

He visited Gethsemane , the Jordan River , Jericho and Bethlehem . The Orthodox Easter Mass in the Holy Land, which was celebrated on April 10 this year, was also fraught with disappointments for him. He felt repulsed by the overflowing pilgrimage and by the kitschy trinkets offered for sale, and was reinforced in his conviction that the devil was everywhere. He did not like the Catholic Easter Mass either, and on his return he asked the government to persuade the Russians to make pilgrimages to the Holy Land so that they could serve as ambassadors for the Orthodox Church and Tsarism when they returned.

On June 4th he returned to St. Petersburg, brought gifts to the royal family and moved into quarters with a friend, the journalist Georgi Sasonov. Rasputin still did not have an apartment of his own.

In the autumn of 1911 the position of Bishop of Tobolsk had to be filled again. This was an important position and connected with power and influence in the Holy Synod . The Holy Synod named the famous monk Iliodorus, Rasputin's former acquaintance, as a candidate and expected the Tsar - as head of the Russian Church - to formally approve this proposal as usual. There are various representations of the rest, including one by Maria Rasputin. What is certain is that the Tsar asked Rasputin about the matter. Iliodorus was suspicious to him because of previous events, and Rasputin, who came from this area, recommended Barnabas, a former acquaintance of the Tsar, who was a gardener in a monastery where Rasputin had looked after the horses. The tsar had Barnabas fetched, was convinced of him and appointed him bishop instead of the proposed Iliodors. This decision by the Tsar was received with incredulous astonishment by the Holy Synod. The church leadership and the political forces involved saw this decision as the result of an intrigue by Rasputin, and from then on the monk Iliodorus became his bitter enemy.

Rasputin, Hermogen and Iliodor

Because of the ongoing allegations, Rasputin was invited to the episcopal palace in St. Petersburg. The meeting took place in Bishop Hermogen's official residence in the presence of other clergymen. Among others, Mitja Koljaba, who had once appeared to the Tsarina as a clairvoyant and healer and now felt himself to be outdone by Rasputin, and the now hostile Iliodor were present. Rasputin was to be presented to the bishop for his atrocities, including an alleged sexual relationship with the tsarina and offenses against women who had sought spiritual assistance from him. If the bishop could not offer any excuses, he wanted to oblige him by virtue of his office to leave St. Petersburg.

However, a violent fight developed in the bishop's apartment. Rasputin managed to escape thanks to his great physical strength, bleeding heavily from his head. Because of this incident, the tsar banished Bishop Hermogen to the province of Grodno by order of January 3, 1912, Iliodor was stripped of the rank of abbot and was supposed to move to a distant monastery in the Vladimir region.

The case resulted in serious resentment within the church and triggered a public scandal. The Tsar was denied the right to take such rigorous action against a bishop on his own initiative, because according to canonical custom this case should have been dealt with by a council. Even the German Kaiser Wilhelm II wrote in a letter to the Tsar: “... But this inclination of yours puts you on a level with the mob. Be on your guard ... The name of the tsarina is mentioned in the same breath as that of some suspicious upstart! That's impossible."

In January 1912 Iliodor now published the letter that he had stolen from Rasputin's house in 1909, and derived from it, among other things, a sexual relationship between Rasputin and the tsarina, which was allegedly a slave to him. The contents of the letter were copied at will in the St. Petersburg salons, further embellished and displayed along with other, increasingly invented letters. The situation was made even worse by the fact that the tsarina, like the tsar, lived very withdrawn and that, as Germans, many people in Russian society were already hostile towards her.

The Tsarina suffered a heart attack and demanded an account of Rasputin, who was staying in Pokrovskoye. Rasputin replied with a telegram: “Dearest mom! What a dog, that Iliodorus! A thief! Steals letters! Mess! Must have stolen it from the closet. He wants to call himself Pope - and serves the devil in the process. Remember He has long teeth, the thief. Grigori. "

Return to Pokrovskoye (February 1912)

The "Rasputin affair" threatened to boil over. Both Prime Minister Kokovtsov and Duma President Rodzyanko went to the Tsar in February, and the Duma received a request, supported by 49 signatories, to Interior Minister Makarov regarding an illegitimate confiscation of the anti-Rasputin press organs ordered by the Tsar. The tsar had temporarily forbidden reporting on Rasputin and closed offending newspapers.

After a conversation between the Tsar and Kokovtsov, it was decided that Rasputin should leave St. Petersburg and not enter it again. According to a report by the Okhrana , Rasputin left St. Petersburg on February 18, 1912 and reached Pokrovskoye on February 22.

The bleeding of the Tsarevich in October 1912

In October 1912 the tsarist family went hunting in the Białowieża Forest and Spała (now in Poland). While getting out of a rowboat, the Tsarevich fell on October 2nd. The bleeding did not seem severe at first, no different from other minor bleeds, but this time all of the doctors' measures to stop the bleeding were unsuccessful. Other doctors, the surgeon Ostrowskij and the pediatrician Rauchfuss, were called in from Russia, but they too could not help. The Tsarevich's condition continued to deteriorate. The fever rose to 39.5 degrees, the pulse rose to 144 beats, attempts were made to reduce the pain with morphine, and the leg continued to swell.

The lady-in-waiting, Anna Vyrubova, described the situation in the weeks that followed as an endless ordeal for the boy and for everyone who had to hear his constant cries of pain. On October 10, the doctors declared the situation from a medical point of view to be hopeless, and the czarevich was given the sacraments of the Orthodox Church. Completely contrary to the customs of the court, a report was published about the poor health of the tsar's son.

In this situation, the tsarina Anna Vyrubova instructed Rasputin, whom the tsar had broken off contact, for help. According to statements by Maria Rasputin, who read it to her father, the telegram of October 11th read as follows: “Doctors hopeless. Our only hope are your prayers. "

Rasputin telegraphed the following reply to the Tsarina: “Do not be afraid. God saw your tears and answered your prayers. Your son will live. The doctors shouldn't torture him any further. "

What exactly happened afterwards remains unclear, at least Rasputin never commented on it. At the beginning of the 20th century, hemophilia was an incurable condition. The only hope at that time for someone with this disease was that the bleeding would stop on its own.

Indeed, the Tsarevich's condition stabilized and slowly improved in the days that followed. The internal bleeding was over. But it took several months for the tsarevich to recover from the hardships. From now on it was absolutely certain for the tsarina as well as for her confidante Anna Vyrubova that only Grigory Rasputin with his God-given healing powers could control the tsarevich's illness. Grigory Rasputin was allowed to return to St. Petersburg out of gratitude and also to continue to accompany the healing of the Tsarevich. In December 1912, the entire Rasputin family was received by the Tsarina in Anna Vyrubova's house. The Tsar was absent from this encounter.

The time up to the start of the war (1913–1914)

After the Tsarevich had recovered from an illness kept secret from the population, the alleged involvement of the miracle healer Rasputin and his return to St. Petersburg, the rumor mill boiled over again. Precisely because there was no clear explanation, every story could be embellished in all directions.

In the spring of 1913 the royal family made a trip to the Livadija Palace in Yalta . The Tsarevich was still unable to walk properly due to his seizure from the previous year and fell again. There was another painful bruise on the knee that expanded. Since Rasputin was not far away, the parents did not ask any more about the doctors, but immediately fetched Rasputin. Rasputin sank into a prayer and then explained that the Tsarevich should stay in bed for a few days, then the bruise would disappear again, the doctors would not need it. In fact, the bruise receded. The doctors claimed that this was actually normal with such a bruise, while the tsarina felt once again confirmed by the divine healing powers of Rasputin.

First political interference (1913)

In the spring of 1913, Rasputin publicly interfered in political affairs for the first time. As a result of the Austrian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, the question arose whether this was a reason for war for Russia. The commander-in-chief of the Russian army , Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich Romanov , a supporter of Pan-Slavism , pushed for a war while Rasputin tried to convince the Tsar to hold back. He told the journalist Razumovsky in an interview: “The war is a bad thing…. May the Germans and the Turks tear each other apart: they are blind, for it is to their misfortune. ”The Tsar traveled to Berlin in May 1913, and the matter was postponed for the time being.

Rasputin's beginning political utterances happened in a very sensitive political constellation. There was always a dispute between the Tsar, who saw himself as the decisive authority, and the Duma , which insisted on greater responsibilities. Although the ministers shaped the policy, they were dependent on the tsar's confidence. The fact that the obscure Rasputin, who was not legitimized by anything, went directly to the tsar bypassing the politicians was a very worrying event for the Russian politicians.

The assassination attempt in June 1914

During the attack on Sunday June 29th, ^July / July 12, 1914 ^greg. Rasputin was in his home from which Sysran derived and from Zarizyn to Pokrovskoe coming in small citizen stabbed critically injured Chinija Guseva (1881 *) and. The intestine was ripped open in the attack. Rasputin had an operation at home, and it was considered a stroke of luck that he survived the attack. Rasputin stayed in the Tyumen hospital from July 3 to August 18 or 20, while in Europe on July 19 July ^. / August 1, 1914 ^greg. the First World War began.

Rasputin accused the monk Iliodorus of instructing Guseva, but could not provide any evidence. The two actually knew each other: after 1908 Iliodor had lived for a time in the Gussews house in Tsaritsyn and was later visited twice at his place of residence from 1912 at Stanitsa Mariinskaya (today Rostov Oblast ). Gusewa was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Tomsk . After the February Revolution of 1917 , she was dismissed at the personal instigation of the head of the transitional government, Alexander Kerensky ; nothing is known about her further life. Before a possible investigation, Iliodor first fled to Christiania , in 1916 to the United States, where he died in 1952. In 1917 he published a book about Rasputin ( Swjatoi chort, "The Holy Devil") under his real name Sergei Trufanow .

Rasputin sent about 20 telegrams to the tsar to warn him about the war, which - according to Anna Vyrubova - made the tsar very angry. The tsar tore up the last telegram, believing that it had violated the rule of non-interference in his political affairs. The telegram was quite chaotic and read: "I think I hope for peace, you are preparing a great outrage, we are not the guilty, I know all your torments, it is very hard that we do not see each other, the environment has Secretly profited from it in the heart, could you help us? ”In any case, the letter was ineffective.

Rasputin never really recovered from the consequences of this attack, while the pressure on him continued to increase in the next period. There was also repeated physical pain after the attack. Rasputin, who did not drink alcohol in his first years in St. Petersburg, increasingly sought refuge in alcohol and often got drunk in public to the point of unconsciousness. According to his daughter Maria and the State Security Service, alcohol increasingly became an outlet for him against the increasing pressure from the public. His visits to prostitutes also became more and more frequent, which was recorded by the State Security Service and then trodden and decorated in the salons.

Rasputin during the war (1914-1916)

Jar restaurant, around 1910

Rasputin was in the hospital in Tyumen until the end of August 1914 and then came to St. Petersburg as quickly as possible. Disappointed that his warnings about the war were not well received - even the Tsar did not want to hear about his warnings, and the Tsarina took the beginning of the war fatalistically - he returned to his homeland at the beginning of November 1914. But on December 15, 1914, he returned to St. Petersburg.

On January 2, 1915, Anna Vyrubova was seriously injured in a train accident. It took several hours to get them out of the wreck; Legs and spine were injured. Vyrubova passed out and was taken to the Tsar's residence in Tsarskoye Sjelo. There she received the sacraments of death. Once again Rasputin was called and after a long prayer he spoke to Vyrubova, and she woke up. For his part, Rasputin immediately hurried into an adjoining room and passed out there himself. Since the assassination attempt in June 1914, he himself was and remained weakened. Vyrubova was slowly recovering, but it was six months before she could get out of bed. She could never walk without crutches again.

On January 10th, Rasputin wrote the following telegram to Anna Vyrubova: “Although I was not present in your body, I was still spiritually happy with you (English: In spirit I rejoiced with you ). My feelings are the feelings of God ... "

In the first half of 1915, Rasputin was noticed by public scandals. He used to drink secretly, now he got drunk in public. His failures reached a high point on March 25, 1915 in the feudal Jar restaurant in Moscow, which had been converted into a luxurious Art Nouveau establishment in 1910 by the architect Adolf Wilhelm Erichson . Rasputin, completely drunk, molested the singers, climbed on the table to join in the dance, made fun of the tsarina and did all the stupid things of a drunkard. The State Security Service and the press wrote everything down, and the scandal was nationwide.

Rasputin was asked about his behavior by the tsar and the tsarina, and he promised improvement. Nevertheless, it was no longer possible to stay in St. Petersburg. In June 1915 Rasputin traveled back to Pokrovskoye in his homeland.

The tsar travels to the troops headquarters (August 1915)

Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich

After initial war successes, catastrophic defeats for the Russian army followed . The German war industry was far superior to the Russian, and the “ strategy ” of overrun the German army by Russian soldiers turned out to be an illusion of the generals in the face of the new weapons. As the war went on, the catastrophic shortage of ammunition and weapons became increasingly apparent. From 1915 onwards the supply situation for the population - too many farmers had moved in - deteriorated. A search was made for those responsible. The internal political situation came to a head, and from August 28, 1915, the tsar himself took over the command of the Russian troops and then lived mainly in Mogilev at the army headquarters . The deposed Grand Duke Nikolai , an uncle of the tsar and chairman of the "Union of Genuine Russian People", intrigued against the tsar and the tsarina full of bitterness from that time on.

Rasputin's return to St. Petersburg (September 1915)

After three months in his homeland, Rasputin was again allowed to return to St. Petersburg and returned to the capital on September 28, 1915.

The Tsarina met Rasputin very rarely at the beginning of the war, when the Tsar's son was in stable health. She was engaged in charitable activities and only through the subsequent crisis of the Tsar's son came to the conclusion that it was Rasputin who could lead Russia out of its grave crisis.

At the end of 1915, the Tsar had his son come to his headquarters. On December 3rd, however, the tsarevich got a nosebleed from heavy sneezing, which could not be stopped. In any case, nosebleeds were particularly dangerous in hemophiliacs. Other open hemorrhages were treated with mud baths, which was not possible with nosebleeds. On December 5th, the tsarevich was brought back to the tsar's palace.

Anna Vyrubova described the situation as follows: “I can never forget how the anxious, poor mother awaited the arrival of her sick, perhaps dying, son. Nor can I forget the waxy, deathly pale little face of the child when it was carried into the palace with infinite care and laid on its little white bed…. It seemed to all of us who were gathered around the bed that the last hour had struck for the unhappy child. "

The doctors at the Tsar's court tried to stop the bleeding, but were unsuccessful. Once again Rasputin was fetched. He came into the palace, made a big sign of the cross, prayed, after a short time declared that there was nothing to worry about, and left. Shortly afterwards the tsar's son fell asleep. The next morning he had no more problems.

Anna Vyrubova wrote about this "cure" that the treating physicians Derewenko and Fedoroff described it to her as a fact that they could not explain.

In April 1916 the tsar's son suffered a bruise in his arm for several days. The tsarina telegraphed Rasputin, who was currently in his homeland, and the answer was: “He will recover.” And sure enough, the bruise soon disappeared and the tsarina thanked her friend for his support.

Assassination attempt in 1915

To end the problems with Rasputin, a murder was planned in the fall of 1915. After several unsuccessful attempts at murder, its client, Interior Minister Alexei Chwostow, had to resign on March 3, 1916. After this resignation, one of Chwostov's helpers, his former subordinate Bjeljetskij, published a report with all of Chwostov's attempted murder on Rasputin in the stock exchange newspaper, which seriously discredited the government. The assassinations were reported extensively in many European newspapers.

The captain of the Preobrazhensky regiment A. S. Suchotin, one of Rasputin's later murderers, roused himself over Rasputin during a guest round in the house of the Tsar's son's doctor and described his life as a permanent scandal.

The French ambassador at the Tsar's court, Maurice Paléologue , reported the following “findings” about Rasputin: “… In Zarazin he desecrated a nun whom he had attempted to conjure up. In Kazan, on a bright June evening, he was drunk and left a public house, driving a naked girl in front of him, whom he whipped with his belt, which caused a most unpleasant sensation in the city. - In Tobolsk he seduced the very pious wife of an engineer…. ”So it went on in the style of a soap opera, something new every day. The French ambassador wrote of the Siberian people: “Through the deeds which Rasputin repeated incessantly, the reputation of His Holiness grew day by day. In the streets people knelt on their way; you kissed his hands, you touched the edge of his tulupa. "

Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna

In Rasputin's last 15 months from September 1915, the tsar was mostly at the army headquarters in Mogilev, while the tsarina and Rasputin, who soon returned from Siberia, stayed in St. Petersburg. This fueled the rumor mill to the extent that the Tsarina, as a German during the war against Germany, was always subject to the assumption that she was secretly on the other side, while Rasputin had never made a secret of his deep rejection of this war and was trusted to do everything in any case . Only the Tsar could make decisions, but he remained in extensive correspondence with the Tsarina.

From the renewed "healing" of the tsar's son by Rasputin in December 1915, the tsarina began to encourage Rasputin to take a position on all political questions.

According to the Tsarina, it was only Rasputin who could lead Russia to victory. Rasputin had told her many years ago that her son would be fine, and his condition had now really developed splendidly. The Tsarina believed that now, in the current Russian catastrophe, Rasputin was responsible for all of Russia. For the tsar, however, Rasputin was a person he needed for his son because of his healing powers, but the tsar did not want to see Rasputin in politics, and the tsar was very aware of the problems that Rasputin created for him. Therefore, he ordered Rasputin several times to return to his homeland.

Regarding Rasputin's proposals for ministerial posts, the Tsar wrote in October 1916: “You have to admit that our friend's ideas are sometimes strange ...” And in a later letter he wrote: “All these names burst my head ... Our opinions Friends are sometimes very strange ... "In November, a month before the murder of Rasputin, the Tsar wrote:" It is dangerous to have Protopopov in the Ministry of the Interior ... I beg you, do not involve our friend in this matter. The responsibility lies with me. "

When the Tsar dismissed Prime Minister Stürmer in the autumn of 1916 , the Tsarina wrote to him that it was tightening her throat, Stürmer was such a loyal, reliable, upright man. At least Stürmer was recommended to her by Rasputin, but the Tsar, who saw some things more neutral, ignored these objections.

On December 13th, four days before Rasputin's death, the tsarina wrote to the tsar: "Why don't you rely more on our friend who shows us the way through God?"

It was these last 15 months with the absent Tsar and a Rasputin, who often no longer had himself under control and was always asked by the Tsarina for his opinion, that decisively shaped the image of Rasputin in posterity.

Rasputin becomes the scapegoat for the catastrophe of war

Antimonarchist caricature, around 1916: The tsarist couple in the power of the "devilish" Rasputin.

In 1916 the war disaster escalated. The country was not up to the demands of war. Military defeats increased: two million dead, four million injured, no prospects. In their initial enthusiasm for the war, this was not what the politicians had imagined. The defeats were never justified with the real transport problems, the poor equipment of the army and a lack of armaments industry, but the blame was sought with dark forces and spies. The supply situation in the cities also deteriorated more and more. The workers in St. Petersburg suffered from hunger and demonstrated against high bread prices and further troop levies. A guilty party was searched for, and in the autumn of 1916 the political class was largely in agreement: Rasputin was guilty with his influence on the Tsarina and the Tsar. Not only Rasputin had to go, no matter how, Mikhail Rodsjanko, Georgi Evgenjewitsch Lwow and Michail Wassiljewitsch Alexejew wanted to send the Tsarina to the Crimea, England or an insane asylum.

In this situation the members of the imperial family agreed to convince the tsar, under the leadership of the tsar's mother Maria Feodorovna, that Rasputin had to return to Siberia. The Tsar's mother drove to her son's headquarters, but could not achieve anything, as did the Tsar's brother-in-law, Alexander Michajlowitsch . The tsar did not want to account to anyone for Rasputin. Whether he follows anyone's recommendations or not, that is entirely up to him.

He explained his point of view to Count Fredericks as follows: “Rasputin is a simple Russian monk, very religious and pious. The tsarina likes his sincerity, she believes in the power of his prayers ... for Alexei, but that's our private matter. It's amazing how much people like to interfere in things that are none of their business. "

Protests against Rasputin in the Duma (November 1916)

The Duma in Saint Petersburg

In November 1916 tumultuous scenes took place in the Duma. For the Russian parliament at that time there was only the subject of “Rasputin”. Notes were distributed with alleged orders from Rasputin to the tsar, who was also massively attacked. The chairman of the city council, Prince Lvov, even asked the Duma to take the fate of the country into its own hands, since the Tsar, who was dependent on Rasputin, was obviously no longer capable of doing so. This was actually the call for a coup.

The “monarchist” MP Vladimir Purishkevich , a loyal supporter of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich, who was deposed as Commander-in-Chief by the Tsar, railed in a fiery speech: “It is dark forces that rule the country and shackle the will of the ruler ... This everything starts from Rasputin. The existence of the empire is threatened. ”Two months later, Vladimir Purishkevich was one of Rasputin's murderers.

The Tsarina then dissolved the Duma meeting, which was legally dubious. The Tsarina relied on the acute danger of a coup. The parliament continued the sessions in Moscow, while the planning for the murder of Rasputin was already beginning in the background.

The murder of Rasputin

Prince Felix Yusupov and his wife Irina

History of the murder

The police knew that an attack was imminent. Advice came from various quarters, and Rasputin himself was warned by telephone on the day of the attack. As it turned out later, in addition to the assassins, there was also a whole group of people who knew about St. Petersburg's higher society, including several members of the extended Romanov family. The British secret service also knew exactly. The imminent assassination was a topic of conversation for large parts of St. Petersburg society.

Rasputin was strongly advised not to leave his home and personal protection for him was further strengthened. Rasputin hardly dared to leave the house, but then accepted an invitation from Felix Yusupov . Felix Yusupov was the husband of a niece of the Tsar and one of the few people in St. Petersburg's higher society whom Rasputin still trusted. Yusupov was a constant visitor to Rasputin for a long time, and Rasputin considered him his friend.

The murder

Basement of the Yusupov Palace where Rasputin was murdered

Rasputin was born on December 17th ^. / December 30, 1916 ^greg. murdered. The main culprits were

• Prince Felix Felixowitsch Jussupow , in whose palace the murder also took place, married to Princess Irina Alexandrovna (a person with "tsarist blood", which is why the police had no access to the palace),
• the extreme right-wing Duma deputy Vladimir Purishkevich
• and the “favorite nephew” of the tsarist family, Grand Duke Dimitri Pavlovich .

In addition, the captain A. S. Suchotin of the Preobrazhensky regiment and the medical doctor Dr. S. S. Lasowert involved. The assassins were also supported by Oswald Rayner from the British secret service, who feared Rasputin's aversion to the war.

Usually the murder is described as the assassin Yusupov portrayed the act. Rasputin, for example, devoured vast quantities of cyanide-poisoned cakes and Madeira wine without poisoning himself. He was then shot three times in the chest and left behind to die or because he was believed to be dead. However, when he dragged himself into the courtyard of the palace despite his serious injuries, as a last resort he was sunk in the ice-cold water of a river, where he finally died.

The representation of Yusupov, however, contradicts the results of the autopsy on Rasputin's corpse. No potassium cyanide could be found in his stomach. In addition, he had not eaten or drunk anything sweet since the assassination attempt in 1914 because of stomach problems. Apparently, by describing how difficult it was to kill Rasputin, Yusupov wanted to underline his mystical and sinister person, and thereby make the murder appear as a great patriotic act. A police investigation into the crime was only rudimentary; it was stopped by the tsar.

The autopsy of Rasputin, however, revealed the consequences of severe physical abuse. It can be assumed that the perpetrators tried to extract confessions from Rasputin and perhaps also details of a presumed intimate relationship with the Tsarina through this mistreatment, which increased to torture.

The situation after the murder

Great Petrovsky Bridge to Krestovsky Island, where Rasputin's body was sunk in the Little Nevka and reappeared

Rasputin's killers were quickly found; However, after massive pressure from substantial parts of the Romanov extended family, they were largely unpunished. Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich had called on the Tsar. He presented him with a letter demanding the impunity of the attackers from the Romanov family. This demand was signed by almost all members of the Romanov family. Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich threatened the Tsar with deposition by his own family if his demands were not granted.

However, the tsar insisted that Felix Yusupov at least had to return to his estate, and Grand Duke Dimitri had to switch to a regiment on the Persian border. The other assassins were not bothered. Vladimir Purishkevich, whose participation in the assassination of Rasputin was well known, even retained his seat in the Russian Duma.

The events following the assassination of Rasputin favored the overthrow of the tsar less than three months after the murder. For the peasants, who made up more than three quarters of the population, Rasputin was one of their own, who had now been murdered by the nobles without the tsar punishing the guilty. They no longer saw the tsar as their father, but rather as a representative of the Russian nobility who had murdered one of their own.

Even for Rasputin's opponents, be it large parts of the Romanov family as well as large parts of the political class in Russia, a tsar earned who had Rasputin murdered without punishing the guilty in a draconian way, and even accepted that one of the murderers, Vladimir Purishkevich , continued to give speeches in Parliament, no more respect. For her he was now a toothless tiger that no intriguer had to fear any more. And finally, in mystical Russia, the warning that Rasputin had often uttered to the tsarist family and which was known in larger circles made the rounds: “If I die or if you drop me, you will lose your son and the crown before six Months have passed. "

Rasputin and the Imperial Family

Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna with Rasputin, their children and a governess, 1908

After the fall of the tsar, an investigation into Rasputin was carried out on behalf of the government under the direction of Vladimir Mikhailovich Rudnev. When it came to the relationship between the royal family and Rasputin, she came to the following conclusion:

“The investigation into the influence of Rasputin on the royal family was intensive. … The royal family believed that they saw evidence of Rasputin's holiness in his psychic power over some persons in the court of the tsars. So when bringing back to life the unconscious and hopelessly wounded Ms. Vyrubova, whose case was described; also in the undoubtedly healing influence on the health of the heir to the throne. The tsarist family also regarded a number of fulfilled predictions as evidence of Rasputin's sanctity. "

According to current knowledge, this statement applies to the Tsarina, not to the Tsar. The tsar needed Rasputin because of his son, he reacted angrily to political interference and he did not consider Rasputin a saint either. So the mood between the two at the beginning of the war, against which Rasputin was storming, cooled down at times.

Accusations against Rasputin by his opponents

Rasputin was accused of the most serious personal misconduct not only by his opponents in politics but also by large parts of the press. At times whole series of articles were written about him in the newspapers. These allegations were made against Rasputin not only since the Tsar's absence during the First World War, but as early as 1907 after the first spiritual healing on the Tsarevich. There were few wrongdoings that Rasputin was not believed to be capable of.

The reason for this lay in the problematic relationship between the tsarist family and the public: The tsarevich's hemophilia was treated as a state secret, so that Rasputin's presence at court could hardly be explained. So he rarely appeared in the Tsar's palace, mostly he met with the Tsarina in Anna Vyrubova's house. However, since both the Tsarina and Rasputin were under constant surveillance, these meetings did not remain secret, but were picked up by the media and formed the basis for rumors in all political camps. Conservative newspapers were indignant, while left-wing newspapers made the Tsarina a target of scorn and ridicule.

Since the tsar's son's illness was unknown to the public, the tsarina's veneration of Rasputin as a “saint sent by God” appeared questionable.

Because of these permanent allegations, Rasputin had to leave St. Petersburg several times on the instructions of the Tsar and return to his home village Pokrovskoye. But when he returned at the request of the tsarist family, the court was exposed to massive criticism, which could not be countered without making the tsarevich's illness public.

The main allegations can be summarized as follows:

Sectarianism

In the Russia of Rasputin's time, sect membership was judged to be grave misconduct, and Rasputin was repeatedly accused of belonging to the Chlysten sect .

This accusation was already raised against him in his homeland in Pokrovskoye and officially brought before the responsible bishop in Tyumen. Rasputin's later opponents in Petersburg often relied on these allegations.

The assumption of belonging to the sect of the Chlysten was a serious accusation, as the Chlysten allegedly ended their services with sex orgies. Rasputin himself and his followers always denied belonging to a sect. However, he publicly expressed his rejection of the rites of the Orthodox Church:

“In my soul I felt the need to find something that could bring real salvation to people. I looked for examples from our priests, but none of that was enough for me. Just singing and praying loudly like someone who chops wood regularly - that couldn't be all. "

Binge drinking

Rasputin did not drink alcohol until the time of the first attack. However, after the attack in June 1914, he began and slipped into alcoholism . In the last year of Rasputin's life, his excesses of alcohol were also provoked by his opponents in order to stage scandals. It is also alleged that many of the scandals were not attended by himself, but by a doppelganger paid to act as a provocateur by Rasputin's enemies.

According to his daughter Maria and the observing State Security Service, alcohol became an outlet for Rasputin from the pressure of constant public accusations, his health problems since the 1914 assassination attempt and fears of further attacks.

Women around Rasputin

In connection with his alleged membership in the chlystic sect, Rasputin was repeatedly accused of sexual orgies. Various reports referred to his supposed powers of suggestion, which he used to make women compliant and to abuse them.

The women around Rasputin often suffered from emotional emptiness. They were married to men who betrayed or neglected them. One of his followers reported to the state commission of inquiry that all these women suffered from broken souls and were looking for spiritual comfort that the official church representatives could not offer them, but which Rasputin willingly granted them. In earlier years these consolations were limited to conversations, later there were also sexual debauchery.

Among Rasputin's most ardent admirers was Olga Lochtina, who was born in 1867 as the daughter of a Kazan nobleman . She had already visited Rasputin in Pokrovskoye and had an unhappy marriage to an engineer in Petersburg. It is reported that in a state of confusion, she stole Rasputin's spoon and cloak and worshiped them as if they were sacred relics. A report by the security service dated October 26, 1910 states that Rasputin, after visiting Lochtina, with whom he was living at the time, although she was still married, probably drove to his follower, the lady-in-waiting Anna Vyrubova.

An anonymous follower of Rasputin described her feelings in a letter as follows:

“Dear Grigory Efimovich!
I feel, feel so painfully , that I am not worthy of your sacred words of comfort and joy. I was endlessly overjoyed with your letter. […] You found me, a lost lamb, and I will never find my way if you do not guide me, if you do not prepare my soul for Christ. […] I cannot have the minutes forgot that I spent talking to you, even if our Lord God would like it to take away from me because of my sins, for I am not worthy of them. Forgive me, Grigory Efimovich, I suffer so terribly and I feel terribly because I have not yet found the true light.
Your eternally sinful and unworthy sister Alexandra. "

As early as 1910, Bishop Theophan called the tsarist family about Rasputin's misconduct. Most allegations, however, were not substantiated and did not stand up to scrutiny. After the overthrow of the tsarist family, the commission government initiated an investigation into Rasputin's sexual life. Its head, Vladimir Mikhailovich Rudnew, came to the conclusion that Rasputin had by no means had intimate relationships with “ladies of society”, but with prostitutes, dancers and “supplicants”.

His daughter Maria Rasputina in no way denied the allegations. She wrote:

“No doubt they drank and danced a little extravagantly. My father, with his great vitality and the spontaneity of a man who grew up in the country, and his absolute freedom of movement in this as in all other things, used to allow himself, with the freedom he was accustomed, to be carried away by pleasure with the same passion as by prayer. "

Elsewhere she admits the following: “I by no means deny that my father had mistresses during his life in St. Petersburg and led a very eventful life at certain times. Father was ... a strong person in his prime. Constantly swarmed by adorers, he would not have been a man if he had not succumbed to the charms of this or that. "

Political influence

The accusation of political influence was raised from September 1915, during the catastrophic war. At that time, the tsar was not in Petersburg, but at the front. The Tsarina, however, passed Rasputin's suggestions on to her husband, so that the impression arose that he was adopting the position of the miracle healer. In any case, the tsar remained closed to most of Rasputin's proposals.

Treason in war

The wildest rumors grew around Rasputin's betrayal of secrets to the German enemy. One of them was that Rasputin maintained a dedicated line to Germany to reveal war secrets on a daily basis.

The French ambassador Maurice Paléologue, who had Rasputin shadowed himself, however, came to the conclusion that Rasputin had nothing of a spy in him. He described him as “a peasant booby, a rude nature boy of blatant ignorance”, who undermined the authority of the government through his thoughtless remarks.

More allegations

His attitude towards Jews was also the subject of rumors and accusations. After indulging in the anti-Semitic prejudices widespread in the Russian ruling class in earlier years, since his break with Iliodorus and especially after his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he has taken the position that all people are equal before God. Since his secretary Aron Sinimowitsch was Jewish, he was often referred to as a “Jew friend”.

Occasionally he was also accused of being hostile to war. He considered the First World War a crime that would lead to the ruin of Russia. Rasputin wrote telegrams to the Tsar, which have survived, in which he warned in a drastic form about the war. However, a resulting influence cannot be proven.

Rasputin's intrusiveness is often described. The revolutionary Vladimir Bontsch-Brujewitsch describes a situation in the salon in the aristocratic family Ixkuel: “When he was introduced to other guests, he immediately asked the question: 'Married? - And your husband? Why did you come alone If you were together, I could see how you are doing. '"

The Tsar's sister Olga Alexandrovna was often in the residence of the Tsar's family. In her report on Rasputin, she explicitly acknowledged his sincerity. Even so, she wrote, she could never bring herself to like Rasputin. One reason for this was his curiosity. She wrote about it on the occasion of a meeting in the tsar's residence:

“It was his curiosity - unbridled and embarrassing. … Rasputin began to bother me with the most impertinent questions. Was i happy Did i love my husband Why didn't I have children? He had no right to ask me such questions, so I didn't answer him. I'm afraid Nicki and Alicki were feeling pretty uncomfortable. I still remember how relieved I was when I left the palace that evening and I said, 'Thank God he didn't follow me to the train station' as I got into my private car on the train to St. Petersburg. ”Another encounter described her like this: “Rasputin got up, put his arm around my shoulders and began to stroke my arm. I walked away from him immediately without saying anything. ... I've had enough of the man. I hated him more than ever. "

Rasputin's letters

There are several letters from Rasputin. In some he warns the tsar about the war, others are “farewell letters” shortly before his murder. You are very instructive about Rasputin as a person, which is why some letters are included here.

Warning to the Tsar of War (August 1914)

According to his own account, Rasputin sent about 20 telegrams to the tsar to warn him about the war. One was:

“Don't worry too much about the war. The moment to give him (probably meant Germany) a beating is yet to come. Now is not the right time. The suffering will be rewarded. "

When that didn't work, he tried again: “My friend, I repeat to you once more: A terrible danger threatens Russia. A disaster, an endless suffering. It's night. No more stars in the sky. An ocean of tears! An ocean of blood! What else can i say I can not find any words. A horror without end. I know they all want you to go to war, even the most loyal. They don't realize that they are racing towards the abyss.
You are the tsar, the father of our people. Don't let madness triumph. Don't let those who have become great fall into the abyss and carry us away. Maybe we will conquer Germany. But what should become of Russia? When I think about it, I know that our country has never suffered martyrdom like what awaits us. Russia will drown in its own blood. Infinite suffering and grief. Grigori. "

Farewell letter to his daughters

Shortly before his death, Rasputin gave his secretary Aron Simonowitsch a handwritten transcript of a vision that Simonowitsch gave to Maria Rasputin after Rasputin's death according to Rasputin's orders. Rasputin wrote:

“Dear ones, dear ones: doom is imminent. Great misfortune is approaching. The face of the merciful Mother of God has darkened and the spirit is excited in the silence of the night. And the silence is gone. But anger is terrible; and where to flee? It is written: stay awake, knowing neither the day nor the hour. The time has come for our country. The blood freezes with horror. There is so much blood and cries of pain. Dark is the night of severe suffering. I can not see anything. My hour will soon strike. I'm not afraid, but I know this hour will be bitter. I will endure great tortures. People will be forgiven. But I will inherit the kingdom. You will feel sorry for me in your nest. The boys will see a lot. But you don't have to pray for long and God will give you strength.
I mourn you and our loved ones. Your path of suffering is known to God. People without number will perish. Many martyrs will die, brothers of brothers will die. Great misfortune will come. The earth will tremble. Hunger, epidemics will come and signs will appear all over the world. Pray, this will bring you salvation, and through the grace of the Savior and the protection of the Intercessor , joy will return to you. Grigori. "

Farewell letter to the tsar

Nicholas II

In a letter to the tsar dated November 24, 1916, a few weeks before his death, Rasputin anticipated his assassination and the assassination of the tsarist family , and announced that noble boyars would have to leave Russia:

“Brothers will murder brothers. They will kill each other and they will hate each other. There will be no nobles in the country for 25 years.
Tsar of Russia, if you hear the bell that tells you that Grigory was murdered, then you need to know this: If it was your relatives who caused my death, then no one in your family will be a child of your relatives yet remain alive for more than two years. They are being killed by the Russian people.
I leave and I feel the divine mandate to tell the Russian tsar how he must live when I have disappeared. You have to think and act wisely. Think about your safety and tell your relatives that I paid for them with my blood. I will be killed. I am no longer among the living. Pray, pray, be strong and think of your blessed family - Grigori. "

Quote from his daughter Maria

“Rasputin has been given all sorts of nicknames. He was accused of being a 'horse thief', the 'son of a convict', a 'drunkard', 'dirty muschik ', 'traitor', 'spy', 'molester', 'hypnotist', a 'mad monk' and a 'saint' Devil'. In reality he was nothing but a whipping boy for others, that would have been the only suitable nickname. "

- Maria Rasputin

literature

• Boris Almasoff: Rasputin and Russia . Amalthea, Zurich / Vienna / Leipzig 1924, DNB  571699901 , OCLC 632730830 (Russian: Rasputin i Rossija . Translated by Emil Reich).
• Otto Antrick: Rasputin and the political background to his murder . 1938, DNB 571764053 (Dissertation Technical University Braunschweig, 1938, 184 pages).
• Theophile of Bodisco: Rasputin. A physiognomic study , In: Zeitschrift für Menschenkunde, Schriftpsychologie und Schriftvergleichung , Vienna 7. 1931/32, 6, pp. 183–187
• Elisabeth Heresch: Rasputin: the secret of his power, with unpublished documents . Langen Müller, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-7844-2506-2 .
• Felix Yusupov : Rasputin's end. Memories. Insel Taschenbuch, Frankfurt am Main 1990, ISBN 3-458-32982-X .
• Klaus Mailahn: The Russian Oedipus. The erotic devotion to Mary of Grigory Efimowitsch Rasputin . GRIN Verlag , Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-638-92366-8 .
• Max Pulver : Rasputin (About the handwriting of Grigori Rasputin) , In: Trieb und Verbrechen in handwriting. Expressive images of anti-social personalities . Zurich 1934, pp. 202-213
• Aron Simanowitch: Rasputin, the almighty farmer . Hensel, Berlin 1928.
• Edward Stanislawowitsch Radsinski : The Rasputin secret files. News about the demon at the Tsar's court . Knaus, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-8135-0173-6 .
• Douglas Smith: Rasputin . Macmillan, London 2016. ISBN 978-1-4472-4584-1 .
• Frank N. Stein: Rasputin - the devil in a monk's robe? Ehrenwirth, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-431-03486-1 .
• Henri Troyat : Rasputin: a biography . Translated from the French by Yla Margrit von Dach. Patmos, Düsseldorf 2002, ISBN 3-491-69058-7 .

Film adaptations

• Raspoutine , France, Russia 2011, directed by Josée Dayan with Gérard Depardieu and Fanny Ardant
• Anastasia , USA 1997, directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman
• Rasputin , USA 1996, directed by Uli Edel , with Alan Rickman
• Rasputin - Orgies at the Zarenhof , Germany 1983, directed by Ernst Hofbauer
• Agonia (Rasputin, God and Satan) , (Agonie) , USSR 1974–82, directed by Elem Klimow
• Rasputin - The Mad Monk , (Rasputin: The Mad Monk) , GB 1966, directed by Don Sharp with Christopher Lee
• I killed Rasputin , France / Italy 1966, directed by Robert Hossein with Gert Fröbe
• Rasputin, the demon of Petersburg , Italy / France 1959, directed by Pierre Chenal
• Rasputin (1954) , Italy / France 1954, directed by Georges Combret
• Rasputin (1938) , France 1938, directed by Marcel L'Herbier
• Rasputin, the demon of women , Germany 1932, directed by Adolflik
• Rasputin: The Demon of Russia ( Rasputin and the Empress , USA 1932)

music

Rasputin was sung in 1978 by Boney M. as "Lover of the Russian Queen", which was covered by the Finnish metal band Turisas . The German version of the Boney-M. hit Rasputin, Cavalier of the Queen was interpreted by Gilla . The Swedish metal band Therion dedicated an entire song to him on the album Sirius B (2004) called The Khlysti Evangelist (see also Chlysten ). The band Samsas Traum also mentions him and takes up the term used by Boney M.: “ Hey hey Rasputin, leader of the Russian Queen! ”(From: A fetus like you , 2003.)

There are at least three operas about Rasputin:

• Karl Amadeus Hartmann , Life and Death of the Holy Devil from the wax museum , 1929–1930
• Nicolas Nabokov , Rasputin's End , 1958
• Einojuhani Rautavaara , Rasputin , 2003

and the musical Rasputin by Michael Rapp and Ozzy Osbourne .

He can also be seen on the cover of the Type-O-Negative album Dead Again from 2007 and the cover of the 1999 album Twisted Tenderness by the group Electronic, as well as on the European editions of the 1989 album " The Headless Children " by WASP.

The rock musician Jon Symon performed mainly in the 1970s under his stage name Rasputin.

Games

In Shadow Hearts: Covenant (Japan 2004 by Nautilus) for the PlayStation 2 , the player must defeat Rasputin, who has won the trust of the Russian tsarist family and who intends to assassinate the tsar in order to rule Russia himself.

Also in Shin Megami Tensei's “Devil Summoner - Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army ”is represented by Rasputin, where he conjures demons through matryoshkas.

Rasputin is represented in Bungie's “Destiny” and “Destiny 2” not as human but as man-made artificial intelligence, although he is assigned a more important role in the second part.

Web links

Commons : Rasputin  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Russian page with pictures by Grigory Efimowitsch Rasputin
• Reports of maid of honor Anna Wyrubova (English)
• Leon Trotsky - The History of the Russian Revolution
• Literature by and about Grigori Jefimowitsch Rasputin in the catalog of the German National Library
• Newspaper article about Grigori Jefimowitsch Rasputin in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Douglas Smith: Rasputin . Introduction: The Holy Devil? P. 3 ff.
2. ^ Douglas Smith: Rasputin . Origins p. 13.
3. ^ Demystifying the life of Grigory Rasputin
4. ^ Royal Russia News: Demystifying the life of Grigory Rasputin. Angelfire.com, archived from the original on October 21, 2013 ; accessed on April 28, 2013 . 
5. ↑ Bob Atchison, Alexander Palace Time Machine: Rasputin .
6. ↑ Court lady Lili Dehn reports from the Tsar's court. (PDF) p. 44.
7. ↑ Pierre Guillard: 13 years at the Russian court Chapter 4: The Tsarina .
8. ↑ Court lady Lili Dehn reports from the Tsar's court. (PDF) p. 47.
9. ↑ Elizabeth Heresch: Rasputin . P. 122.
10. ↑ ^{a b} Court Commander Volkov reports in Chapter 11 .
11. ↑ Anna Vyrubowa reports in Chapter XII, p. 1 .
12. ↑ Investigation report from 1917 by V. M. Rudnev, p. 4 .
13. ↑ Court lady Lili Dehn reports from the Tsar's court. (PDF) p. 49.
14. ↑ Court lady Lili Dehn reports from the Tsar's court. (PDF) p. 41.
15. ^ ^{A b} Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 116.
16. ^ E. Radsinski : Nikolaus 2., the last Tsar a. its time . Bertelsmann, 1992, p. 118.
17. ^ Douglas Smith: Rasputin , A Cowardly Crime , p. 590.
18. ^ Douglas Smith: Rasputin , Origins , pp. 15-17.
19. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin , p. 20.
20. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 21.
21. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 14.
22. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 24.
23. ^ Douglas Smith: Rasputin . The Burning Torch , pp. 50-52.
24. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 22.
25. ^ Douglas Smith: Rasputin , Rasputin-Nowy . Pp. 71-72.
26. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 30.
27. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 32.
28. ^ Douglas Smith: Rasputin , To the Throne . Pp. 69-70.
29. ^ Douglas Smith: Rasputin , Monsieur Philippe . P. 35.
30. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 50.
31. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 34.
32. ^ ^{A b} Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 63.
33. ↑ Elizabeth Heresch: Rasputin . P. 77.
34. ^ Douglas Smith: Rasputin . Anna Vyrubova , p. 101.
35. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 38.
36. ↑ Elizabeth Heresch: Rasputin . P. 103.
37. ↑ Court lady Lili Dehn reports from the Tsar's court. (PDF) p. 44.
38. ↑ Pierre Guillard: 13 years at the Russian court Chapter 4: The Tsarina
39. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 206.
40. ↑ Elizabeth Heresch: Rasputin . P. 102.
41. ↑ Gudrun Ziegler: The Secret of the Romanows, Ehrenwirth 1995, p. 284.
42. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 72.
43. ^ ^{A b} Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 202.
44. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 46.
45. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 52.
46. ↑ Elizabeth Heresch: Rasputin . Pp. 79-81.
47. ^ ^{A b} Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 55.
48. ↑ ^{a b} Elisabeth Heresch: Rasputin . P. 71.
49. ^ ^{A b} Gudrun Ziegler: The secret of the Romanovs . P. 287.
50. ↑ Michael v. Greece and F. Venturi: Nikolaus and Alexandra , p. 119.
51. ↑ ^{a b} Court lady Lili Dehn reports from the Tsar's court. (PDF) p. 42.
52. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 128.
53. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P.56.
54. ↑ ^{a b} Anna Vyrubowa reports in Chapter 5, p. 8 .
55. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 85.
56. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 57.
57. ↑ ^{a b} Anna Vyrubowa reports in Chapter 5, p. 7 .
58. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 84.
59. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 91.
60. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 60.
61. ↑ Investigation report from 1917 by VMRudnev, p. 2 .
62. ↑ Douglas Smith: Rasputin , Holy Land . P. 204.
63. ↑ Douglas Smith: Rasputin , Holy Land . P. 205.
64. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 123.
65. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 124.
66. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 68.
67. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 127.
68. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 70.
69. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 112.
70. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 71.
71. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 118.
72. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 72.
73. ^ Douglas Smith: Rasputin , A Time of Miracles: 1912-July 1914 . Pp. 261-262.
74. ↑ ^{a b} Anna Vyrubowa reports in Chapter 7, p. 2 .
75. ^ Frank N. Stein, Rasputin, p. 134.
76. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 77.
77. ↑ Pierre Guillard: 13 years at the Russian court Chapter 2: Alexej
78. ↑ ^{a b c} Alexandra Fyodorovna: A mother's agony. Chapter 15: Rasputin
79. ↑ Elizabeth Heresch: Rasputin . P. 242.
80. ↑ Elizabeth Heresch: Rasputin . P. 244.
81. ^ E. Radsinski: Nikolaus 2., the last Tsar a. its time . P. 118.
82. ^ Douglas Smith: Rasputin , The Miracle at Spała . P. 291.
83. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . 2002, p. 79.
84. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 83.
85. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin. P. 84.
86. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin. P. 90.
87. ↑ Rigasche Rundschau Tuesday, July 1st
88. ↑ blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F20616FF3F5412738DDDAD0994DF405B848DF1D3
89. ↑ Meiden, GW (1991) Raspoetin en de val van het Tsarenrijk, p. 30, 33; Carter (2013) Rasputin. The untold story, p. 126.
90. ↑ alexanderpalace.org Fuhrmann (2013) Rasputin. The untold story, p. 120-121.
91. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin. P. 97.
92. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin. P. 97.
93. ↑ ^{a b} Report of the State Security Service entry from July 20, 1915
94. ^ ^{A b} Henri Troyat: Rasputin. P. 102.
95. ↑ Anna Vyrubowa reports in Chapter 12, p. 4 .
96. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin. P. 87.
97. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 104.
98. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 109.
99. ↑ Anna Vyrubowa reports in Chapter 9, p. 2 .
100. ↑ ^{a b} Investigation report from 1917 by VMRudnev, page 3
101. ↑ Bob Atchison, A Biography of Rasputin
102. ^ Report of the State Security Service entry from January 10th
103. ^ E. Radsinski: Nikolaus 2., the last Tsar a. his time, 1992, p. 122.
104. ^ Prince Roman Romanow: At the court of the last tsar. P. 320.
105. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 124.
106. ↑ ^{a b c} Anna Vyrubowa reports in Chapter 12, p. 3 .
107. ^ E. Radsinski: Nikolaus 2., the last Tsar a. his time, 1992, p. 120
108. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 130.
109. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 138
110. ↑ universal_lexikon.deacademic.com
111. ↑ net.lib.byu.edu
112. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin. P. 91.
113. ↑ Elizabeth Heresch: Rasputin. P. 343
114. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 168.
115. ↑ Anna Vyrubowa reports in Chapter 6, p. 6 .
116. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 207.
117. ^ ^{A b} Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 158.
118. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 135
119. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 151
120. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 131
121. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 149
122. ^ Greg King The Last Empress: The Life and Times of Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress of Russia , 1994, p. 254
123. ^ A. Kerensky Russia and History's turning point , 1965, p. 150
124. ↑ O. Figes A Peoples Tragedy. The Russian Revolution 1891-1924 , 1996, p. 289
125. ↑ A. Spiridovitch Raspoutine (1863-1916) , 1935, pp 359
126. ↑ GW Meiden Raspoetin en de val van het Tsarenrijk , 1991, p. 73.
127. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 152
128. ↑ E. Radsinski: Nikolaus II., The last Tsar and his time, 1992, p. 121
129. ↑ Elizabeth Heresch: Rasputin . P. 368
130. ^ ^{A b} Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 164
131. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 172
132. ↑ Court lady Lili Dehn reports from the Tsar's court. (PDF) p. 53
133. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 176
134. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 216
135. ↑ Documentation: Gerberding, Eva: Rasputin- Mord am Zarenhof, 2016- URL: " Archived copy ( memento of the original dated December 30, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and Archive link according to instructions and then remove this note. ", Last accessed: December 30, 2018 
136. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 218
137. ↑ Anna Vyrubowa reports in Chapter 13, p. 4
138. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 196
139. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 194
140. ↑ Gudrun Ziegler: The secret of the Romanovs. P. 290
141. ↑ Investigation report from 1917 by VM Rudnev, page 5
142. ↑ Anna Vyrubowa reports in Chapter 12, p.
143. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 129
144. ^ Douglas Smith: Rasputin . Rasputin's Women p. 383.
145. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 35
146. ↑ Investigation report from 1917 by VM Rudnev, page 4
147. ^ E. Radsinski: Nikolaus 2., the last Tsar a. its time . 1992, p. 116
148. ^ Douglas Smith: Rasputin . Rasputin's Women pp. 380-381.
149. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 147
150. ↑ Elizabeth Heresch: Rasputin . P. 86
151. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 201
152. ↑ Elizabeth Heresch: Rasputin . P. 112
153. ^ Frank N. Stein: Rasputin . P. 203
154. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 100
155. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 101
156. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 167
157. ^ Henri Troyat: Rasputin . P. 158
158. ↑ Rasputin's farewell letter in English translation  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
159. ↑ Maria Rasputin: My father Rasputin . Engelhorn publishing house, Stuttgart 1968.
160. ↑ also written “Almasov”