Once, when studying the bloodier parts of English history with her tutor as a young girl, the Grand Duchess Olga expressed gratitude that she lived in gentler times. “I really think people are much better now than they used to be. I’m very glad I live now when people are so kind,” she said. Obviously, she had no premonition of how her life would end.
The Grand Duchess Olga was the oldest child of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, the Empress Alexandra. She was born on November 16, 1895. Naturally, as was the case with most royal families, her parents had hoped for a boy, but they were thrilled with their darling daughter all the same. After all, the imperial couple had been married only a year; there was still plenty of time to produce a son.
Olga’s birth was followed in 1897 by another girl, Tatiana. In 1899, Maria was born, and in 1901 Anastasia. The boy would come eventually, but it would be 1904 before Alexei would be born. Nicholas and Alexandra were doting parents, although Alexandra was plagued with frequent headaches and the girls — Olga especially — seemed to be a little closer to their father. Olga was a sturdy child; “fat and healthy” were the terms most often used to describe her.
She was well aware of her imperial position. Once, when visiting a museum displaying ornate state carriages, she ordered the largest and most elaborate to be prepared for her to drive. (Her orders were not obeyed.) She believed in the rights of oldest children, sympathizing with Joseph’s brothers when she learned the Bible story. She loved reading and school work, and did well at both. As she grew older, she became more interested in politics and news, and may have understood her family’s precarious position better than even her parents did.
Olga’s first close experience with death came in 1903, when she was eight years old. A cousin, Ella, only eight months older than Olga, became ill while staying with the Imperial Family on a trip to Poland. What had started out as a sore throat was soon diagnosed as typhoid, and the girl died within 24 hours of her first signs of illness. Fearing for their children’s health, Nicholas and Alexandra had them removed immediately, while they stayed behind for Ella’s funeral. Olga must have felt confused and bereft, suddenly deprived on both her little friend and both her parents. It was explained to her that God had taken Ella’s spirit, and that later he would come and claim her body, as well. She expected it to happen on Christmas eve, and was surprised when she learned that God had not come for Ella’s body yet. “I though He would have sent for her to keep Christmas with Him.”
As Olga entered her teen years, she became a little harder for her mother to handle. She was opinionated and stubborn. Her mother expected her to behave properly, set a good example for her younger sisters, and control her brother — a task that was beyond many older, more experienced caretakers.
By the time Olga was 17, the search for a suitable husband was on. She had been promised by her father that she would never be forced to marry someone she didn’t like, and she preferred to marry a fellow-countryman so that she would never have to leave Russia. The Grand Duke Boris, a cousin, had applied for her hand, but Alexandra had flatly refused to consider him. The man was much older than Olga, and had a long history of mistresses and illegitimate children — certainly not a proper mate for her eldest daughter. A childhood friend, Dmitri Pavlovich, also seemed to be a contender, but Olga wasn’t interested in him, especially since she believed that he had been involved in the brutal murder of Rasputin. (She was right.) Crown Prince Carol of Romania was considered, but Olga didn’t like him, and Carol’s mother didn’t like Olga.
Meanwhile, Olga fell in love. The object of her affection was Pavel Alexeyevich Voronov, a junior officer on the imperial yacht. Their stations were absolutely incompatible, of course — such a marriage would have been unthinkable. Before long, Voronov was engaged to someone else. “Lord, send happiness to him, to my beloved,” she wrote in her diary. A few months later she, along with her family, attended his wedding.
When World War I broke out, Alexandra and her two oldest daughters took nurses’ training. Alexandra and Tatiana both showed a strong aptitude for the work, but Olga was unable to cope with the more gruesome aspects of nursing, and after awhile was relegated to administrative duties. Still, she worked hard, and kept busy, displaying contempt for those who did not contribute to the war effort.
About this time Olga seems to have fallen in love again, with someone she called “Mitya” in her diary. He may have been a young cavalry officer who was wounded in battle, but the facts are not certain. Whoever he was, Olga did not seem to have much expectation of the relationship developing, and after a time, she ceased writing about him.
The Romanov family was arrested in 1917 and confined to their home. About that time, the children contracted measles, first Alexei and Olga, and then the other girls. It wasn’t until Olga began to recover that she learned that her father had been deposed, and that the family was now under arrest. She grew much closer to her family during this time, perhaps sensing that their time together was limited. Those who saw her said she appeared sad and tired.
Later, the family was moved, first to Tobolsk and later to Yekaterinburg, Siberia. The girls did their own laundry, and learned to make bread. When cleaning women were brought in to scrub the floors the girls helped them, telling the women that they liked physical activity and wished they had more opportunity for it.
Late on the night of July 16, 1918, the family was brought to the lower level of the house. They were told that there was trouble in the town and that it was easier to protect them there. They, along with their servants and the family doctor, were taken to a room and told where to stand, much as a photographer might direct his subjects. After being left alone for about half an hour, the head of the security force came in and read them their order of execution. Olga and her mother attempted to make the sign of the cross. The guards began shooting.
In the first round of gunfire, only Nicholas and Alexandra and two male servants were killed, Maria, the doctor, and a maidservant were injured. The shooters then had to leave the room to escape the smoke, fumes, and plaster dust that filled the room. When they returned, they fired again. The doctor was killed this time, and Alexei was shot several times, but was protected by the jewels which had been sewn into his clothes. The gems also protected him from several bayonet thrusts, but finally, he was killed by a shot to the head. Olga and Tatiana were crouched together in the rear of the room, clinging to each other and screaming. Bayonet thrusts to them were also deflected by hidden jewels, but both girls were killed by gunshots — Tatiana in the back of the head, and Olga in the jaw.
Over the years, various claimants have come forward, claiming to be one or another of the Romanov children. DNA testing on the bodies found at Yekaterinburg, however, have proven that the entire family died on that day in 1918.
sources: “Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia”, Wikipedia; Janet Whitcomb, “Grand Duchess Olga Nicholaievna”, Alexander Palace Time Machine; “H.I.H. Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna”, Romanov Sisters; “Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna (1895-1918)”, The Sword and the Sea: Tales of Scandinavia and the Baltic”; “Olishka’s Jounral”, Livadia.org.