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She never believed that she was Anastasia. In an unguarded moment, she said to Miliukoff: You mean who I am, or who I pretend to be?

The problem is that she was rather I'll informed, but the public had no way to verify her memoirs, and she got away with most of her tales. I just read Gilliard's book "The false Anastasia", and it was a real eye opener. In it, he explains how Franzisca obtained much of her information and the...

I just came across this thread, and here is the explanation to why forks and spoons are sometimes placed "upside down": All silverware bears a stamp, and in most countries, you will find the stamp on the backside. In France and Italy, you will find the stamp on the front of forks and spoons...

If you go to Bruun Rasmussen Auctions on the web, you will find several watercolors of Olga for sale right now.

No, there is no proof. Only Felix Schanzkowsky's recollection of it. Obviously, you don't know German "gründlichkeit" very well. There is also no proof that Felix was in Pomerania at the time. No, the identity question is not over. DNA has only established a maternal relationship to the...

And how do you know this? And what about Felix, who stated that his birthday card from Franzisca arrived 8 to 14 days late? His birthday was on February 17th. And Franzisca excused her tardiness with having had too much work.

Then, again, how do you explain Tatiana's letter? And the testimony from the people who said that "they spoke it badly"?

What on earth does AA have to do with this? Several of the guards in the Ipatiev House were Austrian or from the Baltics. Don't tell me they did not know German. Not reading a language does not in any way mean that you cannot identify it. Then how do you explain Tatiana's letter in German?

Yes, she was. And still you have the audacity to write everyone else's testimonies off as "he said, she said" if they happen to disagree with you. A little consistency would be nice here. Again, you are forgetting that several of the bolsheviks were foreigners, some of them even German...

what are you saying? Are you trying to make up stuff that didn't happen and say 'maybe it happened' when there is no evidence whatsoever, just to hold onto your dream that the family used German more than people said? Why are you doing this? The statement is what it is, no need to add fiction...

These quotes come from Wilton's book "The last Days of the Romanovs". The book can be read in its entirety on the net. Just look up the title, and yksi, kaksi, kolme, you have the whole thing at your fingertips.

Then, again, how could Kobylinski and Gibbes state that they spoke it badly?

I think that the reason for defending the "German thing", is because all the Grand Duchesses DID learn German, and spoke it, too, if not too well. Why AA has to be implicated, is a mystery to me.

Pardon me, but if you go back in this thread, you will clearly see that AA was brought into this debate by you and AWF.

But, if they never used it, why would Gibbes say that they "spoke it badly"? And what about Kobylinski's testimony about Olga, saying that she "spoke German badly"? Surely the girls must have used German at one point or another. And if you want to use that old argument that "studying a language...

I found this snippet in FOTR: He (Nicholas) had a passion for history; spoke Russian, French, German, Danish and English. So it would not be unrealistic to assume that his siblings also knew at least some Danish.

From Peter Kurth: ....the Tsar's daughter, although she couldn't spell, was impeccably neat: there was not a mark out of place in her lessons. Still, the workbooks served a valuable and long-overdue purpose, demolishing in one blow the contention of the opposition that the Grand Duchess...

I have never tried to prove that the girls spoke German fluently, only that they took German lessons and to some degree knew the language. Why is this so scary to you?

Of course it is ridiculous. The girls obviously had German lessons, but did not do too well at speaking it. So in other words: Your quotes are valid, mine are not. As Gibbes was saying: They spoke it badly. It seems to me that you are the one who cares about AA. And if you read your...

I started German lessons at 14 for 4 years. I am now 60. You do the math.

I don't think ANYBODY has stated that the girls spoke it fluently.

So, German court records are now nothing more than speculation. What next? Well, then you better read his testimony, reproduced in "The last Days of the Romanovs."

All we are trying to show here, is what languages the IF spoke. It seems that Alexandra spoke German, English, French and Russian. Nicholas spoke Russian, English, French and at least some German. The Grand Duchesses spoke Russian, English, French (good, according to Gibbes, not so good...

My family does not speak any German. We never used it at home. Still I speak German. And as Gibbes said: They spoke good English and French, but bad German.

I am at work, and do not have my books with me. But I do believe this is from the Tobolsk period. I noticed that Peter Kurth mentioned that German lessons in Tobolsk were given by Alexandra or Tatiana. Maybe Alexandra referred to helping Tatiana in giving lessons.