Yusupov Night by Edward Radzinsky, summary Automatic translate

This book is a documentary historical investigation by Edward Radzinsky, published as a separate work in 2007. It deconstructs the canonical story of Grigory Rasputin’s murder. The author draws on police testimony, police interrogation materials, and the diaries of the imperial family, debunking the myth of the mystical invulnerability of the Siberian peasant. An analysis of archival documents demonstrates that memoirists Felix Yusupov and Vladimir Purishkevich deliberately distorted the events. The men concealed the involvement of women in the night’s tragedy and protected the real killer — a member of the royal family.

Preparing a conspiracy

In the autumn of 1916, Petrograd was engulfed in a political crisis. Right-wing circles and the large Romanov family blamed Rasputin for all the troubles. Nicholas II, tired of pressure from the opposition State Duma, was apathetic. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna demanded firmness, constantly citing the advice of "Our Friend." Prime Minister Alexander Trepov unsuccessfully attempted to bribe Rasputin, offering him 30,000 rubles annually to refrain from interfering in state affairs.

A thunderous speech by deputy Vladimir Purishkevich is heard in the Duma. The politician blames the tsarina and the peasant for the empire’s demise. Hearing this, the monarchist Prince Felix Yusupov contacts the speaker. Yusupov declares that the situation can be saved by physically eliminating the "elder." The prince renews his acquaintance with the victim through the peasant’s devoted admirer, Maria Golovina.

Complaining of chest pains, Felix invites Rasputin to his home. The peasant treats the aristocrat using hypnotic passes. Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich would later speculate in his diaries: an unnatural passion may have developed between them, leading the suspicious peasant to trust Yusupov completely. A murderous circle soon forms. Yusupov and Purishkevich are joined by Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, Lieutenant Alexander Sukhotin, and physician Stanislav Lazavert.

Felix’s wife, the Tsar’s niece, Irina, is to be the bait for Rasputin. The man is promised an introduction to the beauty, hinting at further healing sessions. Irina, who is in Crimea, refuses to come. She begs her husband to cancel the plan. The conspirators decide to stage her presence. The basement of the Yusupov Palace on the Moika Embankment is chosen as the crime scene. The room is hastily transformed into an elegant dining room with a fireplace, a polar bear skin, and a crystal crucifix. Cadet leader Vasily Maklakov gives them the poison — potassium cyanide — accompanying the powder with a kilogram rubber dumbbell. Ten days before the assassination, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna leaves to pray at the Sarov Monastery, approving the planned patriotic act in absentia.

Events on Gorokhovaya Street and in the palace

Late in the evening of December 16, Felix arrives to pick up Rasputin on Gorokhovaya Street. The Siberian guest, dressed in a light blue silk shirt with cornflowers, trustingly follows the assassin. They descend the back staircase, avoiding surveillance. The guards, on secret orders from Interior Minister Alexander Protopopov, were removed after midnight. A car takes them to the palace courtyard. Yusupov leads the guest to the basement, explaining that Irina’s guests have lingered upstairs. The accomplices start the gramophone, play the "Yankee Doodle" march, and imitate the noise of a cheerful party.

Downstairs, Felix treats the peasant to wine and petit fours. In his later memoirs, Yusupov claims that Dr. Lazavert generously sprinkled poison on the sweets, but the cyanide had no effect on the peasant. Two hours passed. Felix sang to the guitar, and the peasant drank the poisoned wine and did not die. Panicked, Yusupov went up to his accomplices several times. Taking Dmitry Pavlovich’s revolver, he returned to the basement, asked the victim to pray to the crucifix, and shot him in the back.

The killers gathered in the office. Suddenly, Yusupov came down to check the body. The "dead man" opened his eyes, jumped to his feet, tore the officer’s shoulder straps off his shoulder, and ran up the stairs screaming. Seized with animal terror, Felix ran for help. Purishkevich chased the fugitive as he ran across the snowy courtyard toward the gate. The deputy fired twice, missed, bit his own hand for concentration, and then felled his victim with two well-aimed shots.

Yusupov, in a fit of uncontrollable rage, ran up and began hitting the bloodied man in the face with a dumbbell. The body was wrapped in cloth, loaded into Dmitry Pavlovich’s car, and dumped in a hole in the ice on the Malaya Nevka. In their haste, the killers forgot to attach the iron weights to the corpse. The conspirators planned to call the Villa Rode restaurant on behalf of Rasputin, thus securing an alibi. In case traces of blood were found in the courtyard, they killed one of the prince’s dogs.

Archives versus memoirs

Edward Radzinsky examines this official version in detail. The author finds numerous inconsistencies with General Popov’s investigative report. Police officers Flor Efimov and Stepan Vlasyuk, who were on duty near the Moika River, clearly heard a rapid series of shots. Efimov heard a soft female scream. The police claimed that not a single car left the house immediately after the shooting. This undermines the conspirators’ legend that Dmitry Pavlovich left to burn the man’s fur coat and returned only after the shooting.

The author reconstructs the true timeline of events. There were definitely women in the house. Irina’s hours-long wait, accompanied by the sound of exclusively male voices, would inevitably have aroused the suspicions of an intuitive Siberian. The secret police recorded the presence of the ballerina Vera Coralli and Marianne Derfelden in Petrograd. The men concealed their names to protect the honor of the ladies. The potassium cyanide myth does not stand up to scrutiny. According to his daughters, Rasputin maintained a strict diet, never touching sweets.

The peasant refused the cakes. The poison in the wine turned out to be a weak solution. Yusupov, who couldn’t shoot, inflicted a serious wound on the guest. Coming to, the deceived peasant ran into the yard. Purishkevich, a civilian, ran after him but missed. Dmitry Pavlovich fired the fatal shots. The Grand Duke hadn’t left, but was standing at the gate with the ladies. A policeman heard the terrified scream of one of them. The conspirators attributed the accurate hits to Purishkevich. The monarchists sought to keep the brilliant guardsman’s hands clean of blood, preserving his chances of ascending to the throne in the event of a possible coup d’état.

To make their case more convincing, the criminals created the myth of a superhuman devil. The victim’s immunity to the poison justified the officer’s protracted efforts and inept shooting. The body surfaced on December 19th. A bruise was discovered on the face, and the raised, frozen hands seemed to threaten the capital. By order of the Tsarina, the body was secretly buried in Tsarskoye Selo on the site of the Seraphim Chapel, which was under construction. Alexandra Feodorovna demanded that the culprits be severely punished. The Romanov family petitioned the Emperor on their behalf.

Epilogue and the fulfillment of the prophecy

Nicholas II refuses to bring Dmitry to trial. The Emperor sends him to Persia and banishes Yusupov to the family estate. This royal disgrace saves the exiles’ lives, protecting them from the coming Bolshevik terror. After the February Revolution, soldiers excavate the grave of a Siberian peasant. In the coffin, they find an icon signed by the Empress and the Grand Duchesses. By order of the Provisional Government, the remains are removed from the city. Students burn the corpse on a bonfire near the road to Piskarevka. Alexandra Feodorovna’s dark dream comes true: "They will burn you at the stake!"

Many high-ranking officials who sought the healer’s support died during the Red Terror. Among them were Alexander Protopopov, Alexei Khvostov, and Stepan Beletsky. Former enemies of the peasant perished. Chekists drowned Bishop Hermogen in the river. Rasputin’s assassins successfully escaped violent death. Yusupov, Purishkevich, and the Grand Duke lived out their days abroad or died of illness.

The peasant’s fateful prophecy about the dynasty’s demise comes true. In the spring of 1918, the tsar, tsarina, and children travel into exile through the Siberian village of Pokrovskoye. The prisoners stand for a long time in front of the home of their beloved "elder." A few months later, the Romanovs are executed in the cramped basement of the Ipatiev House. The room is eerily reminiscent of the Yusupov Palace. The bodies of the imperial family are secretly removed by truck under cover of night. The remains are dumped in water, then burned and hidden in nameless soil. The victims endure the same elements as the murdered Siberian.