The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, November 8, 1935, Page 12

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE, FRIDAY, NOV. 8, 1935. 3 ™ ) s p Discussed by‘ PRINCESS RADZIWILL ICHOES of old Russia, of Rasputin, the mystery of the last regime of the Czars, are resounding throughout America following the arrival of tha daughter of - this so-called monk who wielded an uncanny influence on the late Czarina. a Rasputin is to be a circus ani- mal trainer. She ady hard at work with her cl by th nds of circusgoers this Sum- mer, is @ Why people are still eager to hear about Rasputin is a thing which I have never been able to understand, because there certainly was nothing ig this com- mon and brutal mujik that was inter- esting, and there wasn’t even much that was evil in him, in spite of the legend which represents him as a debauched monk, ready to poison little boys like the Czarevitch and to attack the purity of innocence of small girls. To begin with, Rasputin was not a monk and never had been one. He was one of the many pilgrims that wandered over old Russia, who spent their time roaming from one church to the other and from one monastery to another, preaching as they journeyed along and invariably ready to give advice. They were supposed to have studied the Scriptures, although in the case of Ras- putin, it is a question how he could ever have done it, considering the fact that he could barely read or write. Anyhow, he acquired the reputation of being a holy man, and as such he was for the first time brought before the r and his wife, with the belief his ayers might cure the incurable dis- ease with which their only son had been born afflicted. This was the beginning of one of the saddest and most incom-* prehensible chapters of Russian history, ASPUTIN, introduced in the impe- rial palace, soon became the target of many adventurers, men who realized very quickly the use they could make of him and who really succeeded through him in making colossal finan- cial gains It must not be forgotten that the Em- press believed implicitly in Rasputin’s words and recommendations and fa- vored all those whom he recommended to her. Soon she was surrounded by shady adventurers or fortune grabbers, who sought vors, the importance of which she either did not suspect or to which she attached no weight. To Alexandra the world was divided into two kinds of human creatures, those who were in favor of Rasputin and those who were against him, She was persuaded he had been sent to her by God and nothing could sheke this con- viction. With her Rasputin became a mania, and a dangerous one, born as it was ou’ of her dislike for the best peo- ple in Russian society whom she accused of conspiring against her husband’s throne because they would not bow to her judgments or accept as truth every word she spoke. Few women have been hated to the extent Alexandra was hated. From the first day of her arrival in Russia she had antagonized the best elements in 8t. Petersburg and Moscow society. When this antagonism was brought to her notice she did not make the slightest efforts to overcome her unpopularity, The result of all this misunderstanding ges and will be seen - Kasputin, who became known as the “mad monk,” goes down in history as being the most influential man in the life of the last Czarina of Russia was deplorable. It brought Rasputin with his followers into power, the dis- credit of the dynasty and finally its overthrow. But during the days of his regime Rasputin really was a power in the land and quite a legend was woven around his name., He continued to live quite simply in a very modest apartment in St. Petersburg, where all his followers used to gather, No one succeeded in persuading him to move to more luxuri- ous quarters, Rasputin’s wife was a simple peasant woman of Siberia, whence he also ‘orig- inated. She continued to wear the peas- ant clothes she had always used in her youth. They had three children—one son whose fate is unknown to me, and two daughters. The elder daughter was, according to her sister’s assertions, killed by the Bolshevists. Now the younger, after many tribula- tions, arrived in America the other day to join a circus as an animal trainer. T IS the sad story of this daughter of the favorite of the last Czarina of Russia that I am going to relate here. First of all, I must say that accord- ing to what has been told to me, Ma- trena, or Maria as she now calls herself, is a really good woman who was a victim of her father’s ill-fame and unpopular- ity. She has honestly tried ever since she was driven into exile to earn her living in the best way she could under most adverse circumstances and to edu- cate her two children, One of her greatest misfortunes was to fall into the hands of one of the worst adventurers and crooks that the corrupt Russia under Nicholas II ever knew. He was a man called Solovieff, who began his career as an officer and was nearly compelled to leave the regi- ment in which he served on account of his debts. Thinking it might better his future career, he gained an introduction to Rasputin and immediately ~found favor. Solovieffl finally induced Ras- putin to consent to his marriage to Mzria, the ‘pretty daughter, who was about 18 years old at the time. Maria fell in love with Solovieff, which was not surprising, conbidering he had the reputation of being a pleas- ant, handsome man, but their marriage did not take place during Rasputin's life. After his murder it seems that their engagement was very nearly broken off. It was only after the imperial fam- ily had ‘been sent into exile to Tobolsk that Solovieff reappeared upon the scene, and this time claimed the hand of Maria Rasputin, who had returned with her mother, brother and sister to their native village of Pokrovskoie in the Provinee of Tobolsk, No one knows what really lay behind this scheme of Solovieff to take to him- self as wife the daughter of the famous \)\ “'BRASPUTIN' -DAUGHTER o s B “Hello, America!” cried Maria Rasputin as she arrived in Aew York recently to begin her new work favorite o1 wue Czarina Alexandra, after he had practically abandoned her. He told Maria-and others that he was in the service of a monarchist organiza- tion, the aim of which was to try to organize the escape of the imperial fam- ily from Siberia. - It is certain that he was in contact with some of the Emperor’s friends and partisans, and that through some sort of mysterious channél he succeeded in handing over to the captive Empress a sum of 35,000 rubles sent to her by Anna Vyrubova, her favorite and one of the u “loyal, believed in him implicitly, re take .most aevoted disciples of Rasputin. He told Czarina Alexandra that he had ar- rived in Siberia at the head of a de- tachment of soldiers who were only .waiting for a favorable moment to seize the imperial family and lead it to a ‘place of safety. HE Empress, convinced that a son- ¥ in-law of Rasputin could only be She persuaded her husband and children also to believe in this unexpected savior, Wl" () Underwood & Underwood m of the late Czar and his @2 Al e 4 Maria Rasputin as she now appears in the circus ring gone the Jnfrigues. Hardships, Slavery and’ | Deceit That This Offspring of ! Russia's ""Mad Monk" Has ' ' v : 'Had to Face | This was the most terrible thing that could have happened. It settled the fate of the prisoners. At that very mo- ment arrangements had been made to get the family out of Tobolsk with the help of the officer in command of the guard who watched over them, Colonel Kobylinsky, a devoted monarchist, who had only accepted the post to which the revolutionary Government ~ had ap- pointed him in the hope of being of use to his former sovereign and ultimately lead him to a place of safety. Koby- linsky had made all necessary arrange- ments to get the prisoners out of the house where they were confined and, after cutting the telegraph wires as they went along, to take them across Siberia to China, whence they could have reached Europe eventually. Everything was ready when Solovieff appeared upon the scene, and the Empress absolutely refused to trust herself to Kobylinsky, whom she had always disliked. She de- clared that she knew help was coming from another source. In the meanwhile, as it was learned afterward, Solovieff was in the pay of the Bolshevists, who had sent him to Siberia to prevent any possible flight on the part of the impe- rial family. [EN Admiral Kolchak instituted an investigation as to the circum- stances attending and connected with the assassination of the imperial family he put at the head of the investigating commission a Magistrate called Sokoloff, a celebrity of the Russian bar who had also fled to Siberia after the first revo- lutionary outbreak in 1917. This Magistrate published the result of his researches in an exceedingly curious book, which, unfortunately, has not been translated.into English. Among the documents which it mentions is the diary of Maria Rasputin, showing how terribly she was treated by her husband and the part played by the latter in the tragedy which was to culminate in the massacre of the Czar and his family in the cellar of that dreary house in Ekaterinburg. He had married her because through her he could be introduced to the Em- press and perform the abominable mis- sion he had accepted at the hands of the Bolshevists—the mission of keeping the Czarina in Tobolsk until the day when it would become safe to kill her. ‘We find the following entry in Maria's diary dated April 22, 1918: “He got into such a fury with me that he tarew his wedding ring into my face, saying that I was not his wife.” As soon as the murder of the imperial family had taken place Solovieff threw the mask away and declared to his wife that he was going to leave her. She only for the sake of her unborn chiid, but Solovieff was not the sort of man who would listen to such appeals. He had become rich through his treachery. HAT ultimately became of Solovieff I have never heard. Maria made her way to Paris with her two children and there began for her a life of priva- tions and suffering, She was employed in a dressmaking establishment, then in a milliner’s store, worked as cashier in a restaurant, spent some months as a charwoman in offices and private houses and failed everywhere. And then one day quite by chance she found herself in front of a circus just as an outcry arose. A big brown bear had escaped and people were afraid to g0 near it and were screaming for po- lice. Maria had been used to handling animals, and she walked boldly toward the beast. It seemed quite pleased with her advances, allowed her to feed it and finally take it home into its cage. The owner of the circus was quite delighted and offered her a position as a trainer of animals at an excellent salary. Since that day Maria Rasputin’s life has been a relatively easy one—at least her children were fed and clothed, and for a while she did not aspire to any- thing more. Then she was offered the American engagement. One can only admire her courage and energy and wish her success in this new adventure as well as forgetfulness of all the horrors she has had to live through and to endure. What will the new country hold for her? That will depend upon Maria Rasputin herself. The work she is en~ tering upon in the United States is not new to her. She ha$ handled animals in a French circus, but under entirely different, circumstances, Circus life on the Continent does not have the hustle and bustle that the American institution goes through for at least six months each year, But the biggest thing she will have to face will be the circus ballyhoo. Already it is started. Shortly affer she joined her organization stories of threats to kidnap her were issued, and she was immediately placed under guard. All of which was probably a build-up. ‘There will be other press-agent stunts, some imaginary and some real. Now it is up to Maria to overcome all of this. If she does, eventually she van take her place in the life of America and forget most of the things from which she suf- fered in her earlier days, just as hun- dreds of her former countrymen who were driven out of Russia have done before her. Anyhow, Marie evidently has found a real financial haven, and her circus has found another headliner. i Copriom S iy J