We are all familiar with the extraordinary tragedy of the Romanovs. Are we not? Remarkably, the story goes deeper. There were three dogs who played prominently as Romanov family members. They were: "Ortino"*, a Frenchie who belonged to Tatiana; Anastasia's Cavalier/Chin, "Jimmy"** (also referred to as "Jemmy"); and Alexei’s Spaniel, the ironically named: "Joy". Whilst Jimmy & Joy accompanied the family from England, it was in the autumn of 1914, after the Romanovs had made their home in Russia, that an officer known as Dmitri Malama, gifted Tatiana with Ortino. Malama had encountered Tatiana en hospital, while he was convalescing (see photo in slideshow)... Of Ortino, Tatiana writes: 30 September, 1914:" – Tsarskoe Selo. Mama darling mine, forgive me about the little dog. To say the truth, when he asked should I like to have it if he gave it me, I at once said yes. You remember, I always wanted to have one, and only afterwards when we came home I thought that suddenly you might not like me having one. But I really was so pleased at the idea that I forgot about everything. Please, darling angel, forgive me. Tell Papa about it. I hope he won’t have anything against it…” 12 Oct. 1914: "...Anya brought me from Malama (she refers to Dmitri Malama-officer of the Life-Guards, Uhlan Regiment) a small French bulldog (Ortino). It's a very cute little thing. I am so happy..." 15 Oct. 1914: "...We had dinner with Father, Mother and N.P. (Sablin). The dog was sitting with me..." 30 Nov, 1914: "...Now we've got a charming French puppy Bille. She is so sweet. She is so charming when she plays with Aleksey's dog..." 07 Mar., 1915: "... Thanks a lot for your permission to bathe in your bathroom. It was awfully nice and funny. I swam a lot and enjoyed myself. We are sitting in Mother's room after dinner. Olga and Mother are playing "Colorito", Ortino is running about the room like a mad dog." 11 Jun., 1915: "...I'm sitting in the garden opposite the Children's Island and enjoying myself. Ortino is lying at my feet and sleeping. We've just returned from the Grand Palace where we went to see the wounded... How silly I was not to take a cigarette with me. So, those damned mosquitoes are literally eating me." Joy was strictly Alexei's companion & very rarely left his side, with Joy & Alexei accompanying Czar Nicholas to the front during WW1. Imagine: Alexei, a hemophiliac, afflicted with persistent pain, heir to the throne, not yet a teenager...& living on the frontlines-his congenital illness hidden from the masses-his fragility a constant worry to his mother. Here are 3 excerpts from Alexei's journals of the time: August 19, 1916 -Mogilev: 'This morning had 2 lessons. Wrote mama before breakfast and walked. Was eating breakfast with everyone in the tent. Afternoon was a walk along the Dnepr river. Joy is in hospital. Has worms'. November 5, 1916-'Since yesterday, there is no pain. Remained still in bed. Before breakfast wrote mama. Spent the day the way I did yesterday: played the sea game and cards, listened to the French and English reading. Joy is constantly with me'. November 9, 1916 - 'Finally, I was allowed to leave the bed. Woke up early and drunk coffee at a common table. Wrote a letter to mama. Rode to the station and back, taking Joy with me...'. After the Czar's abdication, the family was held somewhat politely, yet imprisoned, in a compound in the Russian settlement of Tobolsk. On November 23, 1917, Olga wrote from Tobolsk (Western Siberia), in a letter to Pyotr Petrov:..."Papa usually saws and stacks firewood, while Mama goes out when it is not too cold, otherwise it's difficult for her to breathe. Joy, Ortino and Jimmy are flourishing. We have to spend the whole day chasing the first two out of the yard, where they have a wonderful time in the rubbish tip and eat all sorts of filth."
The dogs accompanied the royal family on their last journey to Yekaterinburg. On 27th April 1918, the Bolsheviks ordered Nickolai Ipatiev to vacate his home (called Ipatiev Mansion) within two days, as it was going to be utilised as housing for the Imperial family, who were being transferred from Tobolsk. As can be seen in the photograph above, Ipatiev was a glorifed prison...with a high, doubled wooden fence...the scale of which is extraordinary...machine guns were purported to be in the attics & upper storeys of neighbouring buildings. A single gate- heavily guarded & two security posts inside, with eight outside, completed the detail of the Romanov's unfortunate domain. Prior to the the Romanov children's move to Ekaterinburg, Olga writes to Anya Virobuva in May 1918:..."Darling, I take the first opportunity to write you the latest news we have had from ours in Ekaterinburg [where her parents and Maria Nikolaievna had already gone]. They wrote on the 23rd of April that the journey over the rough roads was terrible, but that in spite of great weariness they are well. They live in three rooms and eat the same food as the soldiers. The little one is better but is still in bed. As soon as he is well enough to be moved we shall join them. We have had letters from Zina but none from Lili [Dehn, family friends]. Have Alya [Ania's sister] and your brother written? The weather has become milder, the ice is out of the river Irtysh, but nothing is green yet. Darling, you must know how dreadful it all is. We kiss and embrace you. God bless YOU. " The Romanov family was mercilessly executed the night of July 16/17 1918. According to witnesses, Anastasia was holding Jimmy (a later exhumation & subsequent DNA analysis wholly verified Romanov DNA & canine DNA). Ortino was not at the site of execution but is referenced in the following graphic description by one of the marksmen who performed the execution: 'Mikhail Medvedev shot Nicholas II dead with the first bullet;...I also shot into the prisoners'. He recalled 'the dogs barking very loud' and that after the frantic shooting, only Alexei remained alive, though gravely wounded. 'I recommended to kill him with a knife and slay the royal dogs that were barking so much'. One account says that when revolutionary soldiers went into the house where the family had been shot, a small bulldog defending his family’s bodies barked at them angrily, A soldier then stabbed the dog to death, bringing it outside to display it in macabre splendor, impaled on his bayonet to a cheering crowd. A guard at the Ipatiev House described the scene after the execution. 'The door from the hallway to the room where the royal family lived was closed, but the room was empty. Not a single sound was heard from there. Previously, when the royal family lived there, one could hear the life in their rooms: voices, footsteps. Now there was no life. Only the dog stood in the hallway near the door into the room where the royal family lived and waited to be let in these rooms. I remember thinking at the time: 'you're waiting in vain'. It is reported that Joy was not present at the time of the execution. Having been known to roam the yard, this likely saved his life. He was reported to be standing in the hallway where one of the guards took pity on him. Eight days after the execution, the Soviet soldiers withdrew as White forces entered the city. They soon found the poor dog - 'half-starved' - running around the yard. He was seen as 'the sole survivor of the Imperial Family'. Joy then when to the home of Ipatiev House guard, Mikhail Letemin. Colonel Pavel (Paul) Rodzianko, then serving with the British Expeditionary Force in Siberia, assumed care of Joy (who by that time was blind). 'After Joy was rescued, Paul looked after him. The spaniel came, wagging his tail uncertainly, stumbling a little, finally bumping his nose into Rodzianko's leg. He was totally blind. He seemed to be always looking for his master, and this had made him so sad and dejected that he would scarcely touch his food even after he was lovingly cared for,' wrote Marion Wynn in 'The Final Resting Place of Joy', an article in Royalty Digest (2004). Colonel Rodzianko travelled with Joy into Siberia, where a British military mission was stationed. Later, Joy accompanied Rodzianko to Vladivostok after the army retreated. Rodzianko, in his book "Tattered Banners" wrote: ...‘With heavy hearts we sailed away from Vladivostok. Joy, the little ill-named spaniel who had seen his master murdered, that fateful night, travelled with me. I have never seen Russia again.' Crossing half the globe, Joy thusly arrived back in the UK and was given by Rodzianko to King George. Joy lived the remainder of his life at Clewer Hill Rd., Windsor and was buried in the cemetery of the royal dogs at Windsor castle. His tombstone was stated simply: "Here Lies Joy". *"Ortino", is often referred to as "Orpino"...while possible, I have chosen to call him "Ortino" as: 1) Dmitri Malama (the soldier who have Tatiana Ortino) had a favourite horse named "Ortino"....she therefore could have chosen to honour the gift (& the giver) by naming the dog "Ortino"; the Russian alphabet is Cyrillic....when Tatiana wrote about Ortino...a Cyrillic T is easily construed as a Cyrillic P. Then again, who knows? **Anastasia refers to her dog as "Jim" in the following letter to Mashka: 24 Apr., 1918"...My Jim has caught cold, and coughs, so he sits at home and sends regards. There was such incredible weather! One could shout from the pleasantness of it. Strangely enough, I tanned more deeply than anyone else, a regular Arab woman!?" Comments are closed.
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AuthorHowl-O! I'm Julia Jensen- devoted student of dogs & religious sampler of cheesecake, wheat beer, huehuetenango coffee & almost any chocolate out there. I indulge these fancies & more, in the remote silence of the pacific NW. *PLEASE NOTE* The videos selected for bloghism could be construed as "disturbing" to those of certain bents, sensitivities, natures, mind-sets, etc.. I have a distinct interest in relaying footage of dogs doing what they have been doing for centuries....& in some cases, I also include dog show footage just as a matter of interest. If you do not like my selections, by all means, do not view them. Archives
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