The Unknown Tsesarevitch. Reminiscences and Considerations on V. K. Filatov’s Life and Times
Radish, which I planted in January, will grow soon. In April I will plant out strawberries. In my room there are already seedlings of pepper, and tomatoes. The tomatoes have started blooming. The cucumbers have sprouted. Please, write and tell us how things are with you. The apricots will ripen from the 15th to 20th of July. It would be better if Oleg went on holiday in the fall. My love to Nasten’ka
Anzhela, send me your measurements
I kiss everybody. Your mother.”
The next time we went to Ikrianoe, it was in May of 1985. There was much work in the garden. Akimenko, a friend of my husband, gave us his car and we went to buy a wire mesh for a fence. Every year we spoke about substituting the reed fence with wire mesh. So, at last, the wire mesh was bought and the work began. We put in new wooden posts, made a new wicket-gate, mowed the grass in the garden, and put up the new fencing. The garden became more spacious. We graveled the walks and put down concrete. The garden was indeed changed. After work we would go to bathe in the river. We would buy fruit and other products and, in the evening, when the heat abated, we would eat supper with pleasure. One day, they brought the firewood for winter. Only Vasily Ksenofontovich and I were at home. And we had to unload the truck and then to roll the big blocks in to the garden. Vasily Ksenofontovich limped, and groaned but worked quickly
In 1987 we came to granny and grandad with two granddaughters – Nastia and Yaroslavna. Anton (Ira’s son), was also there. The 3 grandchildren played merrily in the garden, amusing the grown-ups
Vasily Ksenofontovich was ill, he would lie on his small plank-bed for hours. I recalled how the people cured themselves in the salt caverns on Lake Seliger. During the war there was a hospital there. Many people were cured in these caverns. My grandmother had told me about it. Vasily Ksenofontovich recollected his youth and said that he had also been there. Oleg and I went to Astrakhan to search for some necessary medicines. In spite of being seriously ill, Vasily Ksenofontovich was always an optimist. Constant sufferings during his youth had not broken him. Throughout his life he had had faith in a great and a strong Russia. He would say: “She will return to her centuries-old traditions. People will learn not to destroy but to create.” Vasily Ksenofontovich, within his powers as a teacher, tried to influence all young minds and introduce them to the richest cultural and historical traditions. He taught this to everybody: pupils, his children, and his grandchildren. Naturally, special attention was paid to his son. He cultivated generosity and dignity in him. During the upbringing of his family he gave to his son the professional knowledge and skills required to govern the State. This book as presented to the reader consists of several parts. Oleg Filatov’s reminiscences make up the main part of the book. This is normal. Owing to the special history of Russia and the life of Tsesarevich’s family in the period of the Soviet power, under which name he may have lived, what he may have been, he could only have passed this experience on to his son. Apart from a description of the way of life, the book contains also a review of press, reports, archived materials, assessments of forensic medical men and lawyers. The position of the General Prosecutor’s Department of Russia is given, which rejects the results of the examinations made, without denying, however, the effectiveness of the applied techniques in all cases. Such a position of the General Prosecutor’s Department may be reasonable and understood only in one single case: to acknowledge the identity of V.K. Filatov and Tsesarevich Alexei, the results of examinations made by qualified criminalists on their initiative, making use of techniques effective in all other cases, are quite enough for the Prosecutor-General. But if the identity of V.K. Filatov and A.N. Romanov when examined by methods of genetics is confirmed, it will make the results of the examinations carried out before incontrovertible. And this does not coincide with the political order executed by the officials of the prosecutor’s office, since it utterly changes a lot of monarchical scenarios: then would appear one more monarchical scenario, most unsuitable for the ruling “élite’
Having read this book, the reader will hopefully ponder over his life, the life of his generation and of the previous ones. We hope for it. Anzhelika Petrovna.
Chapter I
SOURCE
Мысли у дома Ипатьева
Дорога длинная, пустая была так долго без огня
И вот пришла пора святая, которая спасла меня
Отцы и деды, поколенья восстали мигом
Рядом в ряд
И мы, как воины России, должны спасти её опять
Благая вера, где ты в людях?
Восстань, воспрянь и воскреси
В Россию веру вековую в народе нашем укрепи
Заветы предков поминая
Нельзя России изменять
О Русь!
Воскресни, созидая
Чтоб, созидая, побеждать
Oleg Filatov
October 1995
Thoughts near the Ipatiev House
A long road has long been dark
But one day the Holy Dawn has saved me. Fathers, grandfather, generations
Have risen, row upon row
We, the Warriors of Russia
Must save our land once more
Oh, good Faith, where are you?
Help the Russian people rise, liven up, resurrect
Remembering the behests of ancestors
One cannot betray one’s motherland
Oh, Russia! Resurrect and create
Through creation you will win the whole world
Когда приходит час судьбы
Когда приходит час судьбы
Мы поминаем всех усопших
И на останках тишины
Мы мысkи наши поверяем
Мы помним всё, всё, кроме снов, – История, судьба, Россия
Когда приходит час судьбы
Мы поминаем всех героев
И день и ночь, и тьма и свет
Борьба, смятение души
И горе, счастье и любовь
Нас посещают в час единый
Приходят новые огни – Огни, которых ожидали
Мы все, конечно, сплетены
И нашем горем, и печалью
Судьба и Бог, и мы – России верные сыны
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