Genealogical Gems

It was On This Day in 1905, known as Bloody Sunday, that a peaceful demonstration turned bloody and essentially marked the beginning of the Russian Revolution of 1905. I should note here that this date is on the Russian (Old) Calendar. Headline from the Altoona Tribune 23 January 1905 The industrial workers in Russia had begun to organize themselves. In January 1905 there were several organized strikes. On this particular day, a priest Georgy Gapon led the workers, many of whom were carrying icons and pictures of Tsar Nicholas, to see the Tsar directly. The Tsar however was not at the Winter Palace at the time. His uncle, the Grand Duke Vladimir (who happened to be the chief of security too) attempted to stop the march. He is the one who ordered his police to fire upon the innocents. More than 100 people were killed on that Bloody Sunday. Several hundred more were injured. That massacre set off a series of strikes and uprising throughout Russia . On This Day i...

It was On This Day in 1918, that Vladimir Lenin survived yet another assassination attempt. This time Lenin had been speaking at a factory in Moscow when Fanya Kaplan, a Social Revolutionist, shot him. Lenin survived and the Bolsheviks became even more violent and executed thousands. The Times, out of London England , announced that the paper heard rumors about an attack on Lenin however the Russian Government is insisting Lenin was suffering from two shot wounds. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that morning that Lenin was in deed shot twice, once in each shoulder. One of the shots also affected his lungs.   Photo Public Domain Photo of Lenin in his office, 1918. Wikipedia   Sources The Sydney Morning Herald. ( Sydney , Australia ), 2 September 1918. Newspapers.com The Times. ( London , England ), 2 September 1918.    Newspapers.com Vladimir Lenin shot. History.com 30 August 2005.    On This Day is a prompt to f...

It was On This Day in 1881 that the Russian city of Pinsk burned. Pinsk was, at that time, located in Minsk and was home to 18,000 residents. During that time period, many Russian cities, towns and villages were burned as the “red rooster” struck out against the Jews of Russia at that time. Pinsk remained part of the Russian Empire until 1915. Today Pinsk is part of Belarus and 130,000 souls call it home. The city itself dates back to 1097.    Source: Jacobs, J., Persecution of the Jews in Russia , 1881. London : Spottiswoode & Co.   Lancaster daily intelligencer. ( Lancaster , Pa. ), 24 May 1881. Chronicling America : Historic American Newspapers . Library of Congress.   On This Day is a prompt I started this month to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

The Putilov Steel Workers began a full scale strike On This Day in 1917 in Russia . It began when employers locked out 20,000 workers over a pay dispute. This strike gave way to other factories around Petrograd being shut down as thousands of workers joined the strike protesting their living conditions. The strikes are now referred to as the February Revolution of 1917.     On This Day is a prompt I started this month to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

Tsar Nicholas II of Russian and his family were executed at Yekaterinburg today (17 July) in 1918. Born Nicholas Alexandrovich Romanov in 1868, he was the last Tsar of Russia. He, his wife Alexandra Fyodoronova, daughters Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, and their son Alexey were executed by the Bolsheviks. Hoping to save his country from the violence that was occurring, Czar Nicholas abdicated in February 1917. The abdication did little to calm the revolutionists though and after the Bolshevik Revolution in October, he and his family were exiled to Siberia under house-arrest. It was there, in a basement, the still young family was lined up in the basement and shot. Their bodies were discarded by the Bolsheviks in an unmarked grave. Today, the Romanov family are saints of the Russian Orthodox Church. Royalty and martyrdom were joined together, O blessed ones, In your death for righteousness and right belief, O wise Sovereigns, Nicholas and Alexand...