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Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 3 - Full Episode

May 23, 2019 / 46:51

This episode covers the stories of Hilda Cron's family separation, the murder of Paula Pesach, and the mystery of Anastasia Romanov's survival.

The episode begins with Hilda Cron's family, who were taken to a jail in Henry County, Illinois, during Christmas 1948. Hilda and her seven children were separated, leading to their adoption. The fate of Hilda and her husband remains unclear.

Next, the episode discusses the tragic murder of Paula Pesach, whose body was discovered under her mother's bed in Kissimmee, Florida. Her boyfriend, Jerry Gerber Sony, became the prime suspect but evaded capture for years.

Finally, the episode explores the enduring mystery of Anastasia Romanov, the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. After the execution of her family in 1918, a woman named Anna Anderson claimed to be Anastasia, sparking debate over her true identity.

The episode concludes with the revelation of the Romanov family's remains in 1991, raising questions about Anastasia's fate and whether she survived the massacre.

TL;DR

Hilda Cron's family was separated, Paula Pesach was murdered, and Anastasia Romanov's survival remains a mystery.

Episode

46:51
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[Music]
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this program is about unsolved mysteries
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whenever possible the actual family
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members and police officials have
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participated in recreating the events
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what you were about to see is not a news
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broadcast
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it was Christmas 45 years ago
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sympathetic deputies transformed the
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jail in Henry County Illinois into a
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sanctuary for a destitute mother hilda
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cron and her family but within weeks the
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simple act of charity would backfire
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seven of Hilda's nine children were
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separated and put up for adoption
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Barbara pesach was thrilled when her
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daughter Paula brought her boyfriend's
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home for a visit
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five days later Paula was dead the
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boyfriend was on the run suspected of
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murder also one of the most fascinating
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mysteries of this century the story of
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Anastasia's youngest daughter of the
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last Tsar of Russia history records that
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she was executed along with the rest of
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her family by Bolshevik revolutionaries
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at 1918 but evidence abounds that
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history may be wrong in the 1920s a
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mysterious woman turned up in Germany
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using the name Anna Anderson and
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claiming that she's Anastasia for more
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than 70 years the secret Amana
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Anderson's true identity has provoked a
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tantalizing and often fiery debate join
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me as we journey to Russia on this very
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special edition unsolved mysteries
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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[Music]
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her name was Anastasia she was more
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royal than a princess she was an
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imperial grand duchess of russia
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daughter of tsar nicholas ii the
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wealthiest men in the world Anastasia
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was born with her father's captivating
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Azure blue eyes but the Tsar already had
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three daughters he along with all of
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Russia wanted a boy an heir to the
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throne
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Anastasia must have sensed that she was
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a disappointment she grew into an
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unrepentant tomboy a jokester the family
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clown even after his son was finally
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born
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Anastasia remained the rebel of the
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Imperial Romanov family her impeached
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nature was irrepressible whether she was
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rollerskating on the decks of the
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imperial yacht or enduring the pomp and
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panoply of the Russian Court
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then on July 17 1918 Anastasia's
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fairytale life came to a horrible end he
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thought that was tomorrow Athena Capano
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she was just 17 when her entire family
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was executed along with their physician
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and three servants their burial site
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remained a dark state secret as far as
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history was concerned that was the end
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of Anastasia and her family 19 months
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later a young woman nameless and alone
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wandered the gloomy damp streets of
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Berlin Germany when she came to bend
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lurid spanning a murky city canal the
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stage was set for one of the world's
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great mysteries
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[Music]
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eventually the young woman would take
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the name Anna Anderson and shocked the
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world by claiming that she was the Grand
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Duchess Anastasia the debate over her
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identity rages to this day there is
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absolutely no question in my mind at all
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that the Grand Duchess Anastasia
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survived the assassination of the
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Romanovs in 1918 made it to the west and
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died in the United States as Anna
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Anderson no question at all despite
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adamant opinions on both sides it seemed
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this was a mystery which would never be
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solved then on July 12th 1991 in this
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remote field near the Siberian city of
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Ekaterinburg Russia the remains of the
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Tsar's family were finally unearthed to
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the astonishment of almost everyone two
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bodies are missing from the grave one
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was Anastasia's now using sophisticated
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DNA technology scientists may finally be
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able to answer once and for all
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the question that is haunted history for
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nearly 75 years was Anna Anderson in
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fact the gramme Duchess Anastasia whose
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name means she who was reborn
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nicholas ii faded to be the last Czar of
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Russia in the beginning his life was the
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envy of the world an adoring wife of
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royal blood Alexander granddaughter of
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Queen Victoria of England four beautiful
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daughters and granddaughters is Olga
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Tatiana Maria and Anastasia and finally
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a son Alexei heir to the throne
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Alexei however was a hemophiliac his
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disease was kept a tightly held family
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secret and the seven Romanovs grew more
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and more into themselves even their
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closest relatives so little but while
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the Romanovs lived in grand and
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increasingly isolated opulence most of
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their subjects were starving but
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Nicholas involved his country in World
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War one hundreds of thousands of his
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soldiers had neither shoes nor rifles
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more than a million men were killed or
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wounded finally the people rebelled in
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1917 Nicholas abdicated to a provisional
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democratic government but soon after
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that government fell to the radical
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Bolsheviks the Tsar's mother and sisters
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made it safely out of the country but
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the Tsar his wife and children were
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virtual prisoners and their own palace
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on August 13th 1917 the Romanovs were
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banished in the dead of night and the
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summer palace just outside st.
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Petersburg 11 months later the entire
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family was executed or so it was thought
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until the mysterious young woman
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appeared in Germany on February 18 1920
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after her suicide attempt police
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committed the young woman to Dahl Dorf
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asylum a mental institution just outside
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Berlin she gave no information about
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herself and was dubbed miss unknowns
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only much later which he take the name
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Anna Anderson this is a doll door if she
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underwent her first physical examination
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doctors discovered that her body was
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covered with scars from which they could
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find no explanation she began to reveal
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her own personality very slowly for many
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many months she virtually never left her
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bed and James Blair loves you author of
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Anastasia the lost princess Lou Anna
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Anderson personally she was in her mind
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in hiding and the best place to hide was
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this Asylum where no one would come
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looking for her or suspect that she was
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who she was the patient hid her identity
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successfully until a woman named Clara
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puth art was admitted to the same warded
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Dorf in December of 1921 Clara good
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morning what is I know you I don't
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what you're talking about is all right
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my daughter you know it is such a
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miracle that you're alive
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Clara pew Thoth was a devotee as were so
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many people think of the of royalty
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magazines yesterday and she began to
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look at pictures of the Romanovs and she
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began to believe the miss unknown bore a
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striking uncanny resemblance to the
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Grand Duchess of tatianna miss alone
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neither confirmed nor denied clear up
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youth arts claim I can see the
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resemblance
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soon word reached several members of the
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Russian nobility exiled in Paris they
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sent an official representative a Madame
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Tolstoy to daughter
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we're just here to tune
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there's someone coming through - Newt
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please go away
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I don't want to say anyone
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don't be afraid child
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[Music]
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it just that I spoke with your friend
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Clara and she has told me so much about
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you I wanted to meet you for myself
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[Music]
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serious bias over Nicholas
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later Tolstoy told people that when she
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saw those eyes in the context of the
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rest of the face she knew she was
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looking at one of the daughters of the
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Tsar eventually Anna Anderson told
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several nurses she was actually
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Anastasia the youngest Grand Duchess
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indeed she did resemble Anastasia
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facially and in height and age
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apparently several childhood scars and
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birthmarks were checked out and they too
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matched now the fresh scars seemed to
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make sense
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perhaps your remnants of Bolshevik
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bullets and bayonets four years later in
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July of 1925 while the young woman was
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hospitalized for surgery she received a
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visitor sure as yard
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Anastasia's former nanny had come to see
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for herself just who miss unknown was
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Shura recognized the Grand Duchess both
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by her childhood scars and by a bone
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deformity on her right foot
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then the young woman beckoned assured a
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massage her forehead with Cologne it had
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been a favourite childhood ritual of
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Anastasia's known only to the two of
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them later sure and her husband brought
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the Tsar's sister Olga to visit Olga had
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last seen her niece when Anastasia was a
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plump boisterous adolescent more than a
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decade
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[Music]
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her aunt said that this young woman had
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lost so much weight that she was unable
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to make a positive visual identification
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of her and so they talked I'm so
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according to Anastasia Olga then did say
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you are my niece I recognized
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[Music]
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the hospital the next day
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and a private visit with Olli Anastasia
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made a revelation about the Czar's
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secret bank account which would
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ultimately prove to be her undoing no
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escape from Russia I don't think you
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have to worry about me
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why not because all the minors of
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Nicolas left for us there was she
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believed in the Bank of England 80
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million dollars this was news to the
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family and that one conversation that
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incident radically changed the life of
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Anna Anderson forever Anastasia was
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betrayed eighty million dollars in 1925
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was the equivalent of five point six
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billion dollars in today's economy it
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was ample motivation for Anastasia's
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aunt and the others surviving Romanovs
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to deny her identity and therefore her
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right to any of the money
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in essence she was once again
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however Anastasia was not abandoned by
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everyone in 1947 she took up residence
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in a German castle under the protection
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of a sympathetic Duke and Duchess that
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spring Gleb Botkin a close childhood
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friend of Anastasia's traveled from his
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home in the United States to see whether
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the Grand Duchess had somehow survived
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Gleb was a youngest child of the Tsar's
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physician dr. Eugene Botkin the doctor
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had been executed along with the
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imperial family but Gleb was able to
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escape from Russia one of the childhood
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games that he and Anastasia had played
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together was that Gleb would draw or
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would paint a watercolor painting of
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animals dressed in human clothing and in
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human-like situations give the picture
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to the young Anastasia and she then
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would make up a story to explain the
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action in the picture but I would like
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to see the pictures oh yes he recognized
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her immediately and as she leapt through
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them she remembered the stories that she
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had made up years earlier to accompany
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the pictures that they were safe because
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the cat was called by a lion it was the
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most significant recognition of
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Anastasia in her lifetime and Gleb
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Botkin this became as she calls her
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lifelong champion friends
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only later would Ana recount for a Gleb
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would she knew about the terrible night
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of July 17 1918 how she had been
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horribly wounded and rendered
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unconscious during the execution how she
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had been thrown on a truck for the dead
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bodies ever family how the truck
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lumbered off into the night heading to a
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secret gravesite
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is now your own show commercial crystal
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resolution at some point the truck
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overheated dissident a soldier named
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Alexander Tchaikovsky was one of those
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left to stand guard
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he realized Anastasia was not dead
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aided by his brother Tchaikovsky spirit
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has her two safeties
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[Music]
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Alexander Tchaikovsky was later killed
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in Romania anastasiya eventually made
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her way to Germany and bendlerblock
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[Music]
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twenty years after the Czar's
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assassination Gleb Botkin and Hanna's
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lawyer were finally able to go to court
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to claim Anastasia's inheritance and
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thereby prove Anna Anderson's identity
00:16:43
that Emma Anderson is the Grand Duchess
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Anastasia during the course of this
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entire case the Romanov none of the
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princes had any idea that the case
00:16:54
including several appeals would drag on
00:16:56
literally from the rest of their lives
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from the beginning Anna's attorneys
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based their arguments on the numerous
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points of similarity between the Grand
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Duchess and Anna Anderson experts
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analyzed photographs of both women's
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ears the match impressed even Anna's
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bitterest enemies their nice cars and
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birthmarks also matched handwriting
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samples were analyzed and found
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virtually identical Anna was now 58
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years old she had become increasingly
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eccentric and was almost totally
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uncooperative both with her own
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attorneys and with the courts and I
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lived in a remote German village near
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the Black Forest her modest cottage was
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overgrown with weeds and overrun by her
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for dogs and 30 cats
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[Music]
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can I talk to you in 1959
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during an appeal of the case a judge and
00:17:57
two language experts came to ascertain
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whether Ana will almost always spoke
00:18:01
German or English could also speak
00:18:03
Russian while these people these are the
00:18:08
experts that your attorney agreed upon
00:18:10
and Anastacia refused to allow anyone
00:18:13
into her house except the judge any such
00:18:16
meeting and when he extended his hand to
00:18:19
shake hers she refused to do so so
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saying that she was afraid of germs in
00:18:24
fact she considered it a breach of
00:18:27
etiquette on the part of a lowly German
00:18:29
Supreme Court judge to want to shake the
00:18:32
hand of a Russian Grand Duchess I have
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made my choices and I'm willing to live
00:18:38
with them she refused to speak Russian -
00:18:41
he I don't think was totally social as
00:18:43
if this were just a little tea party and
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at the end of ten minutes she dismissed
00:18:48
him at this meeting so finally in 1967
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the German High Court issued a decision
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there was not enough evidence to prove
00:18:59
Anna Anderson's claim the court did
00:19:02
state however that the death of grand
00:19:04
duchess anastasia could not be
00:19:06
considered a verifiable historical fact
00:19:11
despite that small victory anna had had
00:19:14
enough of lawyers and courts these home
00:19:17
movies of anna anderson televised here
00:19:19
for the first time were shot in germany
00:19:21
in 1967 the following year anna moved to
00:19:26
Charlottesville Virginia for her
00:19:27
protector Gleb Botkin
00:19:29
and produced her to one of his friends
00:19:31
on December 23rd 1968 Anna married Jack
00:19:35
Monahan 18 years our junior one year
00:19:39
later
00:19:40
Gleb Botkin died never wavering in his
00:19:42
belief that Anna Anderson was Anastasia
00:19:46
in fact Anna now called herself
00:19:49
Anastasia Manahan she and Jack were a
00:19:52
quirky eccentric couple the bane of
00:19:54
their neighbors existence over the years
00:19:58
Jack's once beautiful house became
00:20:00
overgrown and full of cats
00:20:02
[Music]
00:20:04
Anastasia died in 1984 Jack in 1990 16
00:20:13
months later on July 12 1991 the
00:20:16
imperial family skeletons were finally
00:20:18
exhumed near Ekaterinburg Russia after
00:20:22
the execution the bodies have been
00:20:24
buried hodgepodge still everyone
00:20:27
expected to find all seven Roman arms as
00:20:29
well as four members of the family's
00:20:31
entourage misty security
00:20:34
media Billy in the grave there was
00:20:37
supposed to be 11 bodies for the whole
00:20:45
year we look toward the two missing
00:20:47
skeletons but we could never find the
00:20:52
middle face has been badly fractured in
00:20:56
an effort to determine which skeletons
00:20:58
were missing the Russians invited
00:21:00
American forensic expert dr. William
00:21:02
maples to examine the remains it's a
00:21:05
shame you don't have we looked at the
00:21:07
remains we photographed the remains we
00:21:10
measured the remains and for each of the
00:21:13
nine skeletons we determined age sex
00:21:16
race we determined that the Czar was
00:21:20
most likely their bodied 7iz czarina we
00:21:24
had the family physician dr. Botkin
00:21:26
and we had three of the daughters but I
00:21:29
don't believe any of the three daughters
00:21:30
could be young enough to be Anastasia
00:21:34
who was 17 years one month at the time
00:21:36
of the shooting
00:21:37
also missing with the remains of Alexi
00:21:40
the Tsar's youngest child and only son
00:21:42
it was the absence of Anastasia's body
00:21:45
however which once again fueled the
00:21:47
controversy was it possible that
00:21:50
Anastasia had somehow managed to escape
00:21:52
the carnage whether she could have
00:21:55
survived that night I seriously doubt it
00:21:58
as forensic scientists looking at the
00:22:00
objective evidence that we have we don't
00:22:03
have any evidence that anyone would have
00:22:05
survived the damage to the remains was
00:22:07
was pretty profound
00:22:10
[Music]
00:22:16
the official bolshevik account is as
00:22:19
follows Washington recipe significant
00:22:21
recipes the Romanovs were imprisoned in
00:22:23
the former home of wealthy Ekaterinburg
00:22:25
industrialists the Tsar had been voted
00:22:28
by the Bolsheviks to awaken his family
00:22:31
that was unrest in the town and
00:22:33
supposedly the Romanovs had to be moved
00:22:36
for their own protection is repeated you
00:22:38
would have is a posthumous mr. Superman
00:22:40
you mean the girls were given half an
00:22:43
hour to dress they carefully laced on
00:22:45
their corsets a fortune and precious
00:22:48
stones and gems had been sewn into the
00:22:50
Lightning's the Romanovs along with Gleb
00:22:56
Botkin father and three servants were
00:22:58
led into the cell they had no way of
00:23:02
knowing they were about to die
00:23:03
[Music]
00:23:06
the Zarina asked for chairs proceedeth
00:23:09
Puglia two were brought
00:23:12
then abruptly yeah coffee offski the
00:23:15
bolshevik officer in charge
00:23:17
read the orders of execution with our
00:23:19
specialist interpreter brightness to
00:23:22
play an aside score I see you prosper
00:23:25
compass traveler still address
00:23:29
Nikolas dumbfounded asked him to repeat
00:23:34
he tooted worse the washer lowest energy
00:23:36
producer Agnes to plinian as idea to ICU
00:23:39
for Alice Falcone pasta novelist real
00:23:42
actress
00:23:43
[Music]
00:23:46
they began shooting the bullets pounds
00:23:50
of Grand Duchess and returned to them
00:23:54
they did not know that in corsets of
00:23:58
Grand Duchess the Serena hid their
00:24:01
jewels and jewels protected them they
00:24:05
decided that God protected them and they
00:24:09
a little and they immediately began
00:24:12
became crazy and disorder shooting began
00:24:17
in the first volley of shots anesthesia
00:24:21
was not hit after everyone else was dead
00:24:26
even the Bolshevik accounts will tell
00:24:29
you that Anastasia was alive
00:24:33
one account has her standing up and
00:24:36
screaming while one of the guards stuck
00:24:42
a bayonet through her one of her feet to
00:24:45
pin her to the floor and the other one
00:24:47
clubbed her in the jaw with a rifle but
00:24:53
[Music]
00:24:54
assuming Anastasia was now dead Yurovsky
00:24:57
x' men loaded all the bodies onto a
00:24:59
truck
00:25:01
however enroute to the secret burial
00:25:03
site the truck would get bogged in the
00:25:05
mud and yer offski would decide to
00:25:07
dispose of the bodies on the spot
00:25:12
Yurovsky reported that in order to
00:25:15
confuse anyone who might locate the
00:25:16
grave he burned two of the bodies the
00:25:19
disposed of the charred remains right
00:25:21
there the other nine he wrote were
00:25:24
buried together a few meters away edvard
00:25:28
radzinsky author of the last song the
00:25:30
life and death of nicholas ii believes
00:25:33
that europe's key simply invented this
00:25:35
scenario cover up the fact that he could
00:25:37
not account for all the bodies they did
00:25:41
not see two bodies when they buried the
00:25:47
romanov in this terrible grave and
00:25:50
Yurovsky had only one opportunity to
00:25:55
explain it he wrote we burn two bodies
00:26:00
it was the end Costas not only anastacio
00:26:06
but two of the other daughters as well
00:26:09
were actually life Michael Medved yep
00:26:13
whose father was a member of the
00:26:15
execution squad disagrees when the
00:26:18
soldiers began to move the body from the
00:26:21
wall of execution onto some stretchers
00:26:26
the girlfriend gained consciousness and
00:26:29
wanting pain including a Nastase in one
00:26:36
of the soldiers named Peter your mucky
00:26:41
Anastacio
00:26:44
and so the great riddle continues is the
00:26:47
body of grand duchess anastasia hidden
00:26:50
in a shallow grave near the spot where
00:26:52
the rest of her family was found porta
00:26:55
anastasia somehow survived the
00:26:57
assassination only to emerge years later
00:27:00
is eccentric Anna Anderson many of those
00:27:04
who knew Anna best believe the truth is
00:27:07
undeniable Anna Anderson was Anastasia
00:27:12
all she wanted was for the world to
00:27:15
leave her alone and for her surviving
00:27:18
family members to publicly acknowledge
00:27:21
what they privately acknowledged and
00:27:23
that was simply her identity
00:27:26
[Music]
00:28:00
it was December of 1948 Christmas was
00:28:04
just around the corner
00:28:05
Anna Wong Illinois seemed like a Norman
00:28:08
Rockwell painting wholesome peaceful
00:28:11
serene but while most families were
00:28:14
joyfully anticipating the arrival of the
00:28:16
holiday season
00:28:17
one couple Frank and Hilda Crum were
00:28:20
visited by disaster the krons were dirt
00:28:25
poor and lived with seven of their
00:28:27
children in a small farmhouse on the
00:28:29
outskirts of town and it was no plumbing
00:28:32
or heating and every night the children
00:28:34
all crammed into a single bed to keep
00:28:36
warm
00:28:42
yes hello you mrs. Hilde cron yes I am
00:28:47
[Music]
00:28:53
judgmental no I'm sorry you had to leave
00:28:56
early this morning why is something
00:28:59
wrong well yes ma'am I'm afraid there is
00:29:03
we have a eviction notice here from your
00:29:07
landlord and I'm afraid we're gonna have
00:29:09
to ask you and your family to vacate the
00:29:11
premises
00:29:15
the deputies learned that the cons had
00:29:18
nowhere to go and took pity they decided
00:29:21
they could not let the family spend
00:29:23
Christmas out in the cold in the spirit
00:29:25
of the season
00:29:26
they took hilda and the children to the
00:29:28
only available shelter in town the Henry
00:29:31
County Jail Raymond cron was 8 years old
00:29:34
at the time yeah it flutters all in the
00:29:39
car did jail would come it was it was
00:29:43
just a place for us to be in otherwise
00:29:45
his what I kind of remember of his being
00:29:48
that there was no other place for us
00:29:51
[Music]
00:29:54
suddenly the jail was transformed his
00:29:57
cold cement walls were now home for a
00:30:00
destitute mother and her seven young
00:30:02
children the boys and girls are free to
00:30:06
roam throughout the jail but in a
00:30:08
mystery that is still troubling their
00:30:10
parents were forbidden to see one
00:30:12
another dad wasn't allowed to go in to
00:30:16
the jail to see mother and she wasn't
00:30:19
allowed to go out and I never understood
00:30:22
that either like to say they let us go
00:30:27
ever wanted to do what ever wanted to be
00:30:32
able to go outside and whatever we
00:30:33
wanted to you get out and talk to other
00:30:35
prisoners he used to play with things
00:30:38
that we weren't supposed to but I
00:30:41
remember the fun place yeah because I
00:30:44
was only eight and I didn't know what
00:30:46
was really going on marie chrome was
00:31:00
four years old in 1948 her memories of
00:31:03
jailhouse life are quite different from
00:31:05
her brother Raymond's one time my mother
00:31:09
was giving me a bath and the police men
00:31:12
were walking by good afternoon ladies
00:31:15
and I got really nervous I didn't want
00:31:18
to be in that tub every time then after
00:31:22
that it was time for me to take a bath I
00:31:24
didn't want to because I was afraid
00:31:27
these men would walk back by again and
00:31:29
see me in that tub a week went by then -
00:31:35
on December 17th 1948 the family's
00:31:39
plight was publicized in the local
00:31:40
newspaper which carried this photograph
00:31:42
the only family portrait known to exist
00:31:46
in response many community members
00:31:49
offered assistance a well-intentioned
00:31:52
social worker hoped to brighten the
00:31:54
children's Christmas by taking them out
00:31:56
of jam and placing them in foster homes
00:31:58
for the holidays
00:31:59
hello you must be Francis in are you
00:32:04
Marie you girls are going to come with
00:32:08
me for a little ride
00:32:09
I remember that Francis and I neither
00:32:15
one wanted to go we really had never
00:32:21
been away from her mother we had always
00:32:24
been to our mother had always been there
00:32:25
and everything else but finding we had
00:32:29
to go I mean there was no way that we
00:32:31
were going to get to stay there I feel
00:32:36
that she felt that if we went that we
00:32:39
would have at least a nice Christmas one
00:32:41
that we had never actually ever had in
00:32:44
our life and then like I say that's the
00:32:50
last time we even one of us saw our
00:32:52
mother after that while her mother
00:32:59
remained behind bars Marie and Francis
00:33:01
were placed in separate homes and
00:33:03
eventually adopted to this day we
00:33:06
wonders whether her mother actually
00:33:08
consented to give the children away
00:33:10
[Music]
00:33:14
maybe she couldn't read and if she
00:33:17
signed any papers that was giving us
00:33:20
away she didn't know what she was
00:33:23
signing that she was maybe even told
00:33:25
that she was signing a release form for
00:33:29
us giving her permission for us to go
00:33:31
for over the holidays Christmas Day
00:33:37
finally arrived at the Henry County Jail
00:33:41
it was a day without Santa Claus and
00:33:43
stockings but not completely without
00:33:45
Christmas spirit
00:33:48
reason why no it was Christmastime is
00:33:51
because when we got our dinner tray
00:33:53
there was a candy bar on it it made him
00:33:57
fresh nominee because probably never had
00:34:00
anything like that for quite a while and
00:34:04
or even you know anything for Christmas
00:34:07
for a while but I remembered of you know
00:34:09
and and this it did stick in my mind and
00:34:11
it always will
00:34:15
within a month Raymond and his brothers
00:34:18
Clarence and Leonard would be placed in
00:34:19
children's homes but the fate of their
00:34:22
parents Franken Hill dacron remains a
00:34:24
mystery to this day
00:34:25
Murray recalls being told that they had
00:34:28
been banished from the state of Illinois
00:34:30
my adopted mother told me that they were
00:34:34
never to return
00:34:35
that if they did they would be arrested
00:34:38
that I don't but they she never
00:34:40
explained why or anything else the
00:34:44
secrets about her mother and father
00:34:46
plagued Murray throughout childhood she
00:34:49
and her sister Frances now named June
00:34:51
had been adopted by neighboring families
00:34:53
who for reasons unknown insisted on
00:34:56
keeping the young girls apart
00:34:58
I remember that one time I went up to
00:35:02
the store and Frances was up there at
00:35:05
the store so we walked home together and
00:35:07
we talked and then her mother came and
00:35:12
called her in
00:35:19
and she told me she'd be back out and I
00:35:22
waited and waited and then finally I
00:35:25
went and knocked on the door and her
00:35:28
adopted mother came to the door and says
00:35:30
she can't come out she has things to do
00:35:33
and then shut the door and I went home
00:35:35
and I was real upset about
00:35:37
[Music]
00:35:46
years passed re never stopped wondering
00:35:49
about her brothers and sisters finally
00:35:52
in 1966 re learned through a mutual
00:35:54
friend that Bremen whom she had not seen
00:35:57
in 18 years was living in a nearby
00:35:59
community I remember driving down the
00:36:05
street looking for a Raymond's house and
00:36:07
then I saw this guy standing on the
00:36:10
porch and I knew right away it was
00:36:12
Raymond and I stopped the car and jumped
00:36:14
out and ran up there and it was really
00:36:18
wonderful to see him again after all
00:36:21
that time not being together
00:36:27
then she there I knew she was my sister
00:36:31
just you know it just I knew it was her
00:36:34
I hadn't seen her for 18 years and it
00:36:39
was a real exciting reunion hurryin
00:36:50
Raymond spent hours reminiscing and
00:36:52
catching up on the years it's been apart
00:36:54
together they bound to find out what had
00:36:56
happened to the rest of their family
00:36:58
[Music]
00:37:00
for 18 years Marie and Raymond suffered
00:37:03
through a series of near misses and
00:37:05
false leaves finally in 1993 they did
00:37:09
locate one sister Carol then their story
00:37:12
aired on unsolved mysteries incredibly
00:37:15
within a few hours two more sisters and
00:37:18
three brothers had been found on July
00:37:23
9th 1994 we were at Raymond's house in
00:37:27
Houston Texas as the Kron family
00:37:29
gathered for their first reunion at more
00:37:31
than 45 years Marie's dream had finally
00:37:34
come true I've been looking forward this
00:37:38
for a long time because I didn't know if
00:37:41
I would ever get to really meet him in
00:37:43
person or not I feel that the love is
00:37:51
you know still there it's it never went
00:37:55
away it was it's always been there and I
00:37:58
always wondered about them and now I'll
00:38:00
finally get to find out what's been
00:38:03
going on with their life and everything
00:38:05
and get reacquainted
00:38:07
[Music]
00:38:11
for the oldest sister Betty Jane the
00:38:14
reunion was particularly emotional I
00:38:16
knew that was Marie right away just by
00:38:20
looking at her I knew that was Marie and
00:38:24
that's when the first one I embraced I
00:38:28
was very happy to see them all and they
00:38:31
all started coming to me and I started
00:38:32
going to them hugging them and
00:38:34
everything so I was very happy and I
00:38:36
feel so good I really do for Raymond the
00:38:42
end of the search meant a new beginning
00:38:44
I always knew that their names and
00:38:57
everything but just as I you know I
00:38:59
didn't know how to go about finding them
00:39:01
or anything we hunted and we just got
00:39:04
turned down every place we turn to try
00:39:06
to find him and then though this come
00:39:09
along and it worked
00:39:18
when we return authorities need your
00:39:21
help to find a man suspected of killing
00:39:23
his girlfriend
00:39:27
[Music]
00:39:37
Kissimmee Florida is a lakeside resort
00:39:39
town about ten miles south of Orlando
00:39:48
July 9th 1986 22 year-old Paula pasilla
00:39:52
and her boyfriend Jerry Gerber Sony
00:39:54
arrived from New Jersey to visit Paula's
00:39:57
mother Barbara they stayed there about
00:40:03
one week we all had a good time together
00:40:07
Paul I was just happy as a lark the two
00:40:10
of them were I mean we're very together
00:40:13
they were they were just happy-go-lucky
00:40:21
during the visit Paul Dunn Jerry slept
00:40:24
in Barbara's bedroom while she slept on
00:40:26
a couch well just thinking maybe go
00:40:32
visit my relatives down in Miami on
00:40:35
Sunday four nights after they arrived
00:40:37
Paul and Jerry told Barbara they would
00:40:39
be leaving the next morning for a short
00:40:41
excursion to another part of Florida
00:40:44
well I got up the next morning good
00:40:48
night and I thought I heard them up and
00:40:52
I didn't know whether they were not so I
00:40:55
didn't bother to say goodbye
00:41:03
maybe if I had you know pinkish would
00:41:07
have been different for a couple of days
00:41:12
over the next five days an odd smell
00:41:15
began to walk through Barbara's mobile
00:41:17
home food however she and a friend were
00:41:20
unable to determine where it was coming
00:41:22
from well on Saturday morning I got up
00:41:27
and by now the odor had really become
00:41:32
strong to the point where I had to
00:41:34
search around to see what was causing
00:41:36
this barbara searched the entire trailer
00:41:41
and found nothing the last place she
00:41:44
looked was in her own bedroom
00:41:48
[Music]
00:41:53
hidden under the bed wrapped in a bamboo
00:41:55
curtain I was paulus body at first I
00:42:02
wasn't sure of what I sing just didn't
00:42:11
expect it I had to stop and think is
00:42:17
this real or am I seeing things
00:42:23
Paula Pesach had been strangled to death
00:42:25
and left under the bed for nearly a week
00:42:29
the prime suspect was Jerry curva Sony
00:42:32
but he had dropped from sight less than
00:42:36
a month later authorities got their
00:42:38
first break on they questioned a friend
00:42:40
of Jerry's just three days after the
00:42:43
murder he had picked Jerry up at the
00:42:45
Newark New Jersey airplane and claimed
00:42:47
the Jerry virtually confessed to killing
00:42:49
Paula what did you say I told you I
00:42:52
killed someone I don't know what
00:42:56
happened I freaked out I lost it what I
00:42:59
need some quick cash so I swiped the old
00:43:02
lady's paycheck
00:43:05
what are you doing nothing why are you
00:43:09
in my mother stores looking for a life
00:43:12
wait wait wait these wait
00:43:14
these are her papers and I saw you put
00:43:17
something in your pocket you try to rip
00:43:19
her off though then let me see what's in
00:43:21
your pocket though let me touch you need
00:43:29
a herder broken neck look man if you've
00:43:33
done something like that
00:43:34
you're not getting my car and you're not
00:43:37
coming back to my place you got it I
00:43:40
scared you
00:43:44
the witness was very surprised when he
00:43:46
learned that Paul had been more senior
00:43:48
faith after seven years I believe that
00:43:51
Jerry has decided it he's no longer
00:43:55
wanted or that we're no longer looking
00:43:56
for him and he's able to roam the
00:43:59
streets freely without aurilla being
00:44:02
arrested but the seven years since Paula
00:44:07
pzx murder have been filled with pain
00:44:09
for her mother Barbara in that time
00:44:12
Barbara has seen her own life gradually
00:44:14
unraveled I've become a very angry very
00:44:19
hateful person your life is never the
00:44:23
same party it dies
00:44:31
update British Columbia Canada on
00:44:34
October 21st 1993 Jerry Gerber Sony was
00:44:38
arrested in the small community of salt
00:44:40
springs Island where he had been living
00:44:42
under the assumed name Gordon McIntyre
00:44:45
but our program aired in Canada there by
00:44:48
Sony's former landlord recognized him
00:44:51
and immediately called authorities I
00:44:53
come home and sit down to dinner about
00:44:56
9:30 quarter to 10:00 and flip on the TV
00:44:59
and there was a black-and-white photo of
00:45:02
Gordon McIntyre my tenant once in
00:45:06
custody
00:45:07
the suspect vehemently insisted that he
00:45:09
truly was Gordon McIntyre
00:45:11
but fingerprints soon confirmed that he
00:45:14
was in fact Gerald curva Sony at the
00:45:20
local airport
00:45:21
irva Sony tried to avoid photographers
00:45:23
as he was hustled onto a leading
00:45:25
airplane
00:45:25
he was then flown to a deportation
00:45:28
hearing in Victoria Canada your vaso
00:45:31
knee will be held there pending
00:45:32
extradition to Florida where you'll face
00:45:34
charges in the murder of paula pay dziak
00:45:45
[Music]
00:45:56
join me next time perhaps you may be
00:46:00
able to help solve a mystery
00:46:06
[Music]
00:46:28
[Applause]
00:46:31
[Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 80
    Most shocking
  • 75
    Most heartbreaking
  • 70
    Most emotional
  • 70
    Best concept / idea

Episode Highlights

  • The Mystery of Anastasia
    Anastasia, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, was thought to have been executed in 1918. However, claims of her survival sparked a decades-long debate.
    “The debate over her identity rages to this day.”
    @ 04m 33s
    May 23, 2019
  • Anna Anderson's Claim
    In the 1920s, a woman named Anna Anderson claimed to be Anastasia, igniting controversy and intrigue.
    “There is absolutely no question in my mind that the Grand Duchess Anastasia survived.”
    @ 04m 39s
    May 23, 2019
  • The Romanov Execution
    The Romanov family was executed in 1918, but the details surrounding their deaths remain shrouded in mystery.
    “The girls were given half an hour to dress.”
    @ 22m 43s
    May 23, 2019
  • A Christmas in Jail
    The Crum family faces eviction and spends Christmas in a jail, transforming their holiday experience.
    “They could not let the family spend Christmas out in the cold.”
    @ 29m 25s
    May 23, 2019
  • Reunion After 18 Years
    Marie and Raymond reunite after nearly two decades, rekindling their sibling bond.
    “It was really wonderful to see him again after all that time.”
    @ 36m 18s
    May 23, 2019
  • The Pain of Loss
    Barbara, Paula's mother, shares the lasting impact of her daughter's murder on her life.
    “Your life is never the same; part of it dies.”
    @ 44m 19s
    May 23, 2019

Episode Quotes

  • It was Christmas 45 years ago.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 3 - Full Episode
  • Anastasia was more royal than a princess.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 3 - Full Episode
  • All she wanted was for the world to leave her alone.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 3 - Full Episode
  • The jail was transformed; cold cement walls became home.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 3 - Full Episode
  • I always wondered about them; now I’ll finally get to find out.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 3 - Full Episode
  • Your life is never the same; part of it dies.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 3 - Full Episode

Key Moments

  • Christmas Mystery00:19
  • Anastasia's Identity04:33
  • Execution of the Romanovs23:03
  • Eviction Notice29:03
  • Christmas in Jail33:41
  • Emotional Reunion37:34
  • Life After Loss44:14

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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