Anna Anderson Exposed

Who supported or denied her, and what might their reasons or goals have been? Let's explore each one individually and realistically, to see if they would really have been a good judge of Anastasia herself. Most of her supporters, especially those who backed her financially over the years, mainly accepted her at face value, or as a 'lady of breeding' or because she did something to remind them of someone or something in the family, not because she actually reminded them of Anastasia in particular. It's interesting that the closer a person had been to the real Anastasia, the less likely they were to accept Anna Anderson.

Those who accepted her

Gleb and Tatiana Botkin

Though some report they were not as close to the family as they claimed to be, they were likely close enough to recognize a real Anastasia from a false one. They would also have had limited yet intimate knowledge of the family and their lives which could have been used to relay to Anderson and be a big help to her claim.[1] Now that we know for sure that Anderson wasn't Anastasia, they become unfortunately more suspect. It's not likely they would have been fooled for so long due to having such close and long term contact with Anderson. So while they did accept her as "Anastasia", the reasons are up for questioning.

Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich

A cousin of the Tsar, but of the Vladimirovichi family so detested by Nicholas and Alexandra, his contact with the youngest Grand Duchess is suspect. His mother and brothers were strongly disliked by the Tsar and Tsarina, so his presence in their inner circle wouldn't have been a common or likely one. While he was the most accepted of the three brothers, he was not close to the family, and if and when he did come to the  palace it wasn't in a situation where the whole family would have been around. In addition to the estrangement of his family from the Tsar, another added uncomfortable situation was that he had for many years lived with, and eventually married, Mathilde Kschessinska, the ballerina who had been the mistress of Nicholas before his marriage.[2] You can imagine how awkward a presence that would have been around the children! Though some bring up that for a time he was an aide-de-camp to the Tsar, this title seemed much more a formal title of obligation than a job. The aides mentioned as closest to the family were Dmitri Pavlovich, Mordvinoff, and Sabline[3] and Tatischeff, who followed the family into exile.[3a]  Even so, when the Tsar is discussing business, it's not likely the children would be hanging around. In addition to all that making it extremely unlikely he had enough close contact with Anastasia to accurately identify her, Olga Alexandrovna, youngest sister of Nicholas, thought he must have had some kind of sinister reason for his endorsement. As Olga wrote to a friend in 1928,  "Indeed, you understand like us the absurdity of this story! More and more, I see that this story is all about blackmail and money....I say openly that my cousin André must have some vile motives to side against us…"[4] She had to be wondering why he, whose own brother Kyril had declared himself the Tsar in Exile,and the branch of the family who had the most to lose if an actual heir of the Tsar were to show up alive,was backing this claimant. He couldn't possibly have really wanted her to be Anastasia, so what was he up to? We may never know, but his motives remain questionable and suspicious. However, after Gleb Botkin began his vicious and hurtful campaign of accusations against the remaining family, Andrei wrote to fellow Anderson supporter Tatiana Botkin: "All is lost! Does he know what he's done? He's ruined everything!" [5] and refused to be further associated with Anderson or her claim. What did he mean by 'ruined everything'?

Mathilde Kschessinska

As mentioned above,  a ballerina and the former mistress of the Tsar. She declared Anna Anderson to be Anastasia though she had never met the real Anastasia. When she met Anderson face to face alone in 1968, when she was in her late nineties and Anderson in her sixties, she accepted her because her eyes reminded her of Nicholas.[6] It's very possible a woman of such advanced age was overcome by nostalgia for a long lost and much loved past that clouded her judgement. But since she never even knew Anastasia, and even if she had it would have been difficult to tell after so much time, her acceptance does not hold much serious value to the case.

Crown Princess Cecile of Prussia

She was a daughter of Anastasia Mikhailovich of Russia, who was the sister of Sandro, Sergei, George, etc. Cecile was fifteen years older than her second cousin Anastasia, so they did not grow up together. In 1904 at age 18 married the Kaiser's eldest son and moved to Germany. Anastasia was only four years old. It's not realistic she saw much of Anastasia since children were not usually at public functions, balls, or official gatherings, and she was not close enough to the family to have been a member of their inner cirlce who would attend family dinners. After war broke out between Germany and Russia in 1914, Cecile was not able to return to Russia. Therefore, the very latest she could have seen Anastasia, if she even did even as a glimpse, was at age 13. Again Cecile does not seem like a very good candidate to be a judge of whether anyone was Anastasia or not. In addition, Cecile and her husband were known to have gone a bit 'eccentric' after WWI robbed them of their titles and they realized they would not rule an empire after all. 

She didn't officially accept Anderson until 1952. She told her son Louis Ferdinand, and daughter in law, Kyril's daughter Kyra, 'this is your cousin', but the younger couple added their disclaimer to Cecile's statement "Kyra and I find no resemblance." [7]

Lili Dehn

One of Alexandra's closest friends and confidants, Lili accepted Anderson as Anastasia, but this was in the late 1950's, after much time had passed since seeing the real Anastasia. She claimed Anderson relayed info to her that won her over, yet much of what she said can be found in books, even Lili's own book written in 1922. So again it looks like we have an elderly woman yearning for a piece of the past and  letting wishful thinking cloud her judgement. When Anderson left, Dehn claimed she 'waved goodbye like my Empress' but again no direct comparison to Anastasia herself. She denied Anderson could have gotten her info from books [8]. Later, Lili's daughter denied her mother fully accepted Anderson, calling her 'an imposter' and that 'there was no immediate recognition' and made it clear that 'The fact that Anna Anderson was by no means not Anastasiya, Lillie did not doubt.'[9]

Zina Tolstoy(not related to the famous author)

She had known the family, but her acceptance of Anderson was as "Tatiana", and only because "she has the eyes of the Tsar."[10] This isn't reliable, again because there was no connection to Anastasia herself, only Nicholas. Tatiana didn't even have Nicholas's eyes. She was one who saw the eyes peering large above the sheet Anderson was hiding herself under. According to Von Kleist, Tolstoy later 'recanted' her 'error' and claimed her as Anastasia. But would a person who truly knew all of the girls well enough to identify them have made such a mistake? This is very suspect. Incidently, Zina withdrew her support after hearing the story that "Anastasia" had an illegitimate child.[11]

Harriet von Rathlef-Keilmann

A Russian exile in Berlin who did not know the family, Harriet took on Anna Anderson's cause in 1925. She publicized her claim with her writings and advertisements for them. Rathlef was a writer of children's books and a follower of Rudolf Steiner and the Anthroposophist movement. The Anthroposophists believed  the Russian Revolution was the manifestation of major psychic upheaval. They were sympathetically to Anna because they believed she was a helpless victim of the resulting karma.[12] They believed her 'cosmic influence' and her Russian 'ether body' bonded with the land and symbolized the collective experience of the soul of Russia.[13] This is why she meant so much to the Russian emigres' who practiced Steinerism, and why they had to help her. Some of her strongest supporters, such as Prince Frederich, and those in the village of Unterlengenhardt where she lived for nearly twenty years, came to her through this movement. She had originally met them through Rathlef. Harriet felt it was her duty to protect this tragic victim.  She called Anderson 'the little girl' and often made excuses for her by saying she was sick and had lost her memory. Harriet  wrote a series of  stories for the Berlin newspaper called "Anastasia, A Woman's Fate as a Mirror of the World Catastrophe" which eventually were published as one book that helped much to advance her cause. The popularity of these stories made Anna a celebrity, and soon "Anastasia" cigarettes and candy were sold, and songs were written in her honor. [14] Anna did not repay the favors, and in fact turned on her benefactor. When Anderson left Germany for America following the Franziska Schanzkowska revealations, she told the Duke of Leuchtenberg "all this is the fault of Frau Rathlef."[15]Rathlef died of a burst appendix in 1944, causing Anderson to blame her death on poisoning by her opponents, which was of course not true.[16] Gilliard called her Anderson's 'impresario.'

Princess Xenia Georgievna Leeds

Daughter of George Mikhailovich and again a second cousin to Anastasia, they had  played together a few times in childhood but were not close friends. Could Xenia have accurately recognized her after not seeing her in so many years, after she was grown? She may have been confused. Xenia's acceptance was based mostly on Anderson's actions being like 'the family' more than Anastasia herself. There was allegedly one incident between them Anderson 'remembered', or at least supporters claim this is so, but even if it did happen, someone else had to have relayed the information to her. Her main reason for acceptance seemed to be based on the way she raised her hand to be kissed. Xenia, who was away on a long cruise when Gleb first brought Anderson to her, though she knew they were coming, did let Anderson live in her Long Island, NY home, Oyster Bay, for a time.[17] She was for a while, as she was when she lived with Annie Burr Jennings the Standard Oil heiress, the toast of New York society, especially among homesick  [18]Russian emigres' longing for a Grand Duchess. The wealthy Americans lavished her with attention fascinated by any 'royalty', but  it isn't very possible any of them would have known Anastasia herself from any claimant. This again was more of a connection to the time and place more than the person. Xenia never publically accepted or denounced Anderson, but stopped her support and residence due to the cruel way she and her supporters were treating the surviving Romanovs.[19]

Felix Dassel

Dassel had known the real Anastasia when she volunteered in a WWI hospital with her mother and sisters when he was there. He was convinced Anderson was genuine after she 'remembered' a story about 'the man with the pockets', a patient who both Dassel and Anastasia knew. But did she really "remember?" Or was Dassel involved in the charade and alerted her on the story ahead of time? I used to think that was the explaination, but after reading more detail in Klier and Mingay's Quest for Anastasia it seems Dassel himself may have been innocently set up. When he went to visit Anderson at the Leuchtenberg's, he brought with him a bound notebook containing his remiscences of the Grand Duchess and asked the Duke to hide it to make sure Anderson didn't read it until he could test her, then the Duke could use the notebook as 'proof' afterward. This left the door open for a chance that the Duke or someone at his home had sneaked a peek and tipped her off ahead of time.[20] In an additional piece of evidence, Baron Von Kleist's daughter Gerda, who did not believe the claimant, declared that Dassel was a visitor at their home when Anderson had stayed with them before she was with the Leuchtenbergs, and it was there that he relayed the famous story to Anderson.[21] This proves she knew the details before the famed 'man with the pockets' meeting. (Baron Von Kleist eventually joined his daughter in denouncing Anderson; his wife remained a supporter)

Prince Sigismund of Prussia

A first cousin of Anastasia, the son of Alexandra's sister Irene, he had played a few times with Anastasia in childhood but his visits were few and far between. His acceptance of Anderson is based on a list of questions he sent her to answer. She allegedy got all of them correct, though it's never been revealed exactly what the questions were.[22] It's also been claimed it took her five days to complete the list.[23] Opponents of Anderson  such as Mountbatten, said his credibility was low because he also accepted questionable Olga claimant Magda Boodts.[24] He never met her face to face, but his mother did, and she did not accept Anderson as Anastasia.

Those who denied her

Princess Irene of Prussia

Sister of Alexandra, married to the younger brother of the Kaiser. She met Anderson at a dinner at the home of Inspector Grunberg and was not told her 'aunt' was there. Anderson did not recognize her and when she realized she had been tricked, she angrily left the table. Irene was not impressed. Here is her observation:

"I saw immediately that she could not be one of my nieces. Even though I had not seen them for nine years, the fundamental facial characteristics could not have altered to that degree, in particular the position of the eyes, the ear, etc. .. At first sight one could perhaps detect a resemblance to Grand Duchess Tatiana.

  At first I remained with the unknown one in the company of Miss of Oertzen, then alone, but I was not able to notice in her any signs which led me to believe that she recognized me.  I had lived in 1912 and 1913 entire weeks with my nieces and since that time I have changed little. At the table, we sat straight across from each one other; then, she got up and left, without saying a word, and went to her room.  At this time I already had the conviction that she was not my niece, but, at the desire of the Dr Grunberg, I went up to her room, and approached her bed.  I addressed her in vain with words in the language that we habitually used, recalled situations from the past, spoke the nicknames or the names of persons we knew: she did not react to anything.  She still did not reply when I prayed for her to say a word or to make a sign that she had recognized me; even when -in order to not neglect anything - I said to her:  "Do you not know your Aunt Irene?"

   To the Grunbergs big disappointment, who were so well intentioned, I left with the firm conviction that this unknown one is not my niece; I no longer kept the least doubt in this respect. We had lived, formerly, in such intimacy, that it would have sufficed for a small sign or an unconscious movement to awaken in me a familial feeling to convince me."

Signed:  Irene, Princess Henri Of Prussia.[25]

While Anderson supporters make much of Irene's alleged distress over her identity, a closer look proves there is nothing to the buildup and rumor at all. The often quoted 'she is similar', claiming Irene was 'wringing her hands' statement is not from Irene, but only a quote from an interview with Prince Friedrich von Saxe Altenberg,[26] a big Anderson supporter. We cannot even be sure the episode even took place! Most likely it didn't since this is the 'evidence' Anderson's supporters use to 'prove' how 'upset' Irene was over denying her 'niece'- It was all blown out of proportion from contents of a letter sent by an official at Hemmelmark who wrote baron von Kleist on behalf of Irene's husband, Prince Henry of Prussia:

His Royal Highness has requested me to inform you that he as well as his wife, after the latter's visit to your protegee, have come to the unshakable conviction that she is not a daughter of the Tsar, specifically not Grand Duchess Anastasia. Prince Henry considers the matter as it concerns himself and his wife as cleared up and finally settled and insists that you refrain from the further sending of letters or requests to himself or to the Princess. [27]

Baroness Sophie Buxhoevedon

Sophie, a lady in waiting to Alexandra who had known the girls well. She is the one who rejected Anderson as being "too short to be Tatiana" and was later a victim of Anderson's wrath when she made up untrue stories of her betraying the family. Sophie would have known Anastasia well, and upon her rejection of "Tatiana" made no declaration that she was "Anastasia" instead. In fact, she was later quoted as saying "I later learned that the she supposes that she is the Grand Duchess Anastasia, but she does not physically resemble her in the least.  She has none of the special characteristics that would allow any one who knew the Grand Duchess Anastasia well to identify her."[28]

Pictured: The Imperial children with Sophie (far right) and Anna Vyrubova (fourth from left) Anastasia stands in front.

Anna Vyrubova: The  biggest non-factor?

She was  perhaps Alexandra's closest and most trusted friend. She lived in very close contact with the family from the time Anastasia was a baby until the revolution. More than anyone else left alive, Anna Vyrubova would perhaps have been the best to accurately accept or deny any claimant, yet she was never asked. Why? Tatiana Botkin claimed it was because she was "a disciple of Rasputin" [29]who was shunned and disliked in the emigre' community. They blamed her for her role in the collapse near the end because of her involvement with the Mad Monk and how she aided him in helping get his political appointments made through Alexandra during what Radzinsky called the "inter-palace coup."[30] In 1916, with Nicholas at the front with  the troops, and due to Alexandra's shyness and lack of closeness and understanding in St. Petersburg, no one came to the Tsarina except via Vyrubova. Anna had lived among the royalty and nobility all her life as the daughter of a famous and much loved court composer, Alexander Tanieev. Anyone unfriendly to Rasputin was refused. Some who didn't want to blame Alexandra transferred their hatred and blame onto her. But would a real Anastasia, who wore a Rasputin icon around her neck, [31] have rejected anyone for that reason? No, the reason Anna V. wasn't used by the Anderson supporters is most likely because she knew too much and would have rejected her outright as a fraud. Also, having become an Orthodox nun, it would have been much harder to disregard her testimony by labeling her a 'liar' and 'greedy' as they had done to others such as Olga and Gilliard. She was never asked to identify her, and reports that she refused to get involved are not true. Living in Finland as a reclusive nun, it is possible she never even knew about the strange case of Anna Anderson, and if she did, may have wanted to set the record straight for the real Anastasia's memory.

Prince Felix Yussoupov

The heir of the most prestigious and wealthy noble family in Russia, he was also married to Anastasia's first cousin, Irina, daughter of the Tsar's sister Xenia, and Sandro. Felix met her in 1927 and pronounced her a 'frightful playactress' and a 'wretched creature who could not possibly be the daughter of the Tsar." "I claim categorically that she is not Anastasia Nicolaievna, but just an adventuress, a hysteric and a frightful playactress. I simply cannot understand how anyone can be in doubt of this. These pretenders ought to be gathered up and sent to live in a house somewhere." He had spoken to her in all four languages, Russian, English, French and German, and he reported she only answered him in German. After his denial, Anderson claimed he had tried to murder her, raising his arms and declaring "I killed Rasputin and I will kill you too for what your mother did to my country! We will have you out of the way!" In her story, she had to run for her life from him and he gave up after she had made it downstairs were everyone could see them. This, of course, never happened, and was another example of vindictively trying to damage someone who had 'crossed' her by refusing to accept her as "Anastasia."[32]

Prince Christopher of Greece

Alexei Volkov

A personal valet to Alexandra and Tatiana who had miraculously escaped his own execution, he gave the claimant a chance but finally denied her. He found it strange she didn't speak Russian. He didn't trust those associated with her (Rathlef) and could tell something very suspicious was going on. He explained "the conduct of the people who surrounded Madame Tchiakovsky seemed to me very suspect. They intervened all the time, completed her inadequate answers, and excused all  her errors under the pretext she was 'ill.'" He also gave an interview to a Russian newspaper declaring she was not Anastasia.[34] Anderson supporters claim in his old age he accepted her in his last days.

Sidney Gibbes

The English tutor of the Imperial children, Gibbes had seen them on a daily basis up until their separation at Ekaterinburg. Gibbes denounced Anderson outright. "She in no way resembles the true Grand Duchess Anastasia that I had known..I am quite satisfied that she is an imposter." [35]

Son of Alexandra's sister Victoria (Milford-Haven), he was a first cousin to the Imperial children and had an adolescent crush on Grand Duchess Marie. Though villianized and attacked by Anderson supporters, his only goal in fighting her and helping fund the court case against her was not to cheat "Anastasia" out of money, but to not allow an imposter to steal his cousin's identity.

"I can assure you that there is not the remotest doubt that this woman is not my cousin. She was seen by all our closest mutual relations, all of whom declared there was no resemblance." He once told the BBC, strongly advising them against interviewing her and helping her supporters, who, he claimed, "simply wanted to get rich on the royalties of further books, magazine articles, plays, etc." [36]

Dmitri Leuchtenberg

Duke George Leuchtenberg was for years one of Anderson's main supporters, but his son, Dmitri, never accepted Anderson's charade. In a letter to Olga Alexandrovna's biographer, Ian Vorres, which was published in Vorres' book, he gave his reasons for not accepting her. This rarely seen list is very valuable evidence from the 'other side' that Anderson's supporters would rather you not know:

1. When Mrs. Tschiakovsky arrived in Seeon she did not speak or understand Russian; she did not speak or understand English, except for what she learned from lessons taken in Lugano and in Obersdorf before coming to Seeon; she did not speak or understand French. She spoke only German with a north German accent. Grand Duchess Anastasia, on the contrary, spoke always Russian to her father, English to her mother, understood and spoke French and did not speak any German.

2. When I took Mrs. Tschiakovsky to our Russian Orthodox church she behaved and acted as a Roman Catholic and did not know the Russian Orthodox rite, whereas Grand Duchess Anastasia and the whole imperial family were an extremely religious church going family, brought up entirely in the Russian Orthodox rite.

3. I was present during the surprise meeting of Mrs. Tschiakovsky with Felix Schankovsky [sic] when the latter recognised her as his sister Francizka Schankovsky [sic], agreeing to sign a statement to that effect. Later, following a short conference with his sister beyond our earshot, he refused to sign such a statement, for reasons that could be easily understood: he was a poor Communist miner, his mother was very ill with cancer without means, and his sister lived in a castle being treated as a potential Grand Duchess. Why should he spoil her 'career'?

4. All persons who knew the Grand Duchess well personally and saw Mrs. Tschaikovsky did not recognise her as being the Grand Duchess Anastasia, did not know her at all, or with a few exceptions, only slightly. Some of those had aims of gain from that affair, but the majority were White Russians, loyal to the imperial family and approached the riddle of Tschiakovsky-Anderson under a strong influence of wishful thinking.

5. Dr. Kostrizky, the dentist of the imperial family, testified in writing that the jaws of Mrs. Tschiakovsky, of which we sent him a plaster impression made by our family dentist in 1927, have nothing in common with the jaws of Grand Duchess Anastasia.

My personal impression was that Mrs. Tschiakovsky-Anderson came from a family of a lower social stratum, she did not have the inborn grace of the members of the imperial family, and certainly did not act as a lady. My impressions are, of course, not a proof, but the above mentioned facts are.

In conclusion, I must mention that my father agreed to receive Mrs. Tschiakovsky in Seeon, because, as he told us: 'If she is the Grand Duchess, it would be a crime not to help her and if she is not the Grand Duchess, I do not commit a crime by giving shelter to a poor, sick, persecuted woman, while making investigations regarding her identity.

(signed) Dmitri Leuchtenberg. [37]

(pictured below: Olga with her beloved nieces, hugging Anastasia)

One of the saddest stories of the Anderson saga is how Olga Alexandrovna, little sister of the Tsar and very close to her nieces, had to suffer abuse and accusations by Anderson's supporters who claimed her of coldy turning her back on her 'niece' for financial gain. Besides those who were murdered, it's Olga A. I feel the most sorry for as a victim of this claimant saga and her reputation I most want to clear. As explained above, while she did go to see the 'invalid' claimant in the hospital giving her a solid chance to be Anastasia, she did end up realizing she wasn't and had to accept that reality. Unfortunately, Anderson and her supporters wouldn't. They professed that Olga had indeed accepted her and then turned her back and 'lied' that she wasn't her niece. Who can fault the woman for hoping, for trying, until she knew there was no chance? Olga was sort of a 'black sheep' of the family, with the 'wrong' marriage, who lived more 'normally' than any member of the Romanovs. She preferred trousers and other casual clothing to high fashion, and she skipped around St. Petersburg in taxicabs, many times among the regular population. It was she who, unlike most of the sheltered royals and nobles, understood about stores and resturants and often took her nieces shopping and out for ice cream spending money of their own, something uncommon in the family. After the revolution, did not have money and lived perhaps the most meager existence of any of the former Imperial family. She was not profiting from anyone! Olga stayed and cared for her mother the Dowager Empress Marie (Princess Dagmar of Denmark) during her last years, though she was sometimes 'bullied mercilessly' by the often grouchy elderly lady. There is no truth to the rumor spread by Anderson backers that Olga and Xenia offered Anderson free board and keep the rest of her life if she'd shut up and forget  her claim.Not only did they not do it, they had no money to give! Olga inherited far less jewels on her mother's death than did her sister Xenia, and did not recieve much money at all. Xenia and her family lived in Frogmore Cottage in England mainly on the charity of guilt stricken George V who had denied asylum to the Romanovs, as Marie F. lived on the charity of her nephews, George V and the King of Denmark. After fleeing from Denmark following WWII due to threats by the Soviets against her for harboring soldiers wanting to defect the the west, she moved to Canada. Olga lived very modestly on a 'dirt farm' and died in a small apartment over a barber shop in Toronto, Canada, in 1960 at the age of 78. A year before, she had testified for the last time in Anderson's court case. Her last public words on the subject were "I have done what I could for my poor malenkaya"(little one)[46]

Olga claimed that Anderson's supporters made too much of her 'sympathy' towards a sickly, obviously mentally ill invalid, which was all that was behind her letters and the gift of the shawl. "She believes she is who she says she is"  Olga once said, meaning she thought "the poor creature" believed she was Anastasia, though Olga did not believe that. Olga was convinced Anderson was a pretender. Here is a direct quote giving Olga's own explaination: 

They pretend that she recognized me, but I want to tell you how it all happened: they had warned her of my visit. She herself acknowledged that they had said: 'On Tuesday you will be very happy. Someone is coming from Denmark.' Then, obviously, she could imagine the rest and wait for 'her aunt.' She was unable to reply to any of the small intimate questions which I put to her.[47]

Direct quotes  from Olga: When Olga entered the room, the woman lying on a bed asked a nurse: “Ist das die Tante?”[Is this the Aunt?]  “That”, confessed Olga, “at once took me aback. A moment later I remembered that the young woman having spent five years in Germany, would naturally have learnt the language, but then I heard that when she was rescued from that canal in 1920, she spoke nothing but German – when she spoke at all- which was not often.  I readily admit that a ghastly horror experienced in one’s youth can work havoc with one’s memory but I have never heard of any ghastly experience endowing anyone with a knowledge they had not had before it happened. My nieces knew no German at all. Mrs Anderson did not seem to understand a word of Russian or English, the two languages all the four sisters had spoken since babyhood. French came a little later, but German was never spoken in the family."

“My beloved Anastasia was fifteen when I saw her for the last time in the summer of 1916. She would have been twenty four in 1925. I thought Mrs Anderson looked much older than that. Of course, one had to make allowances for a very long illness and the general poor condition of her health. All the same, my niece’s features could not possibly have altered out of all recognition. The nose, the mouth, the eyes were all different.”[48]

The Grand Duchess [Olga Alexandrovna] remarked that the interviews were made all the more difficult by Mrs Anderson’s attitude. She would not answer some of the questions, and looked angry when those questions were repeated. Some Romanov photographs were shown to her, and there was not a flicker of recognition in her eyes. The Grand Duchess had brought a small icon of St Nicholas, the patron saint of the imperial family. Mrs Anderson lookes at it so indifferently that it was obvious the icon said nothing to her. [49]

"That child was as dear to me as if she were my own daughter. As soon as I sat down by that bed in the Mommsen Nursing Home, I knew I was looking at a stranger… I had left Denmark with something of a hope in my heart. I left Berlin with all hope extinguished. "

“Then again I heard that a party in Berlin, when she was offered some vodka, Mrs Anderson said : ‘How nice! It does remind me of the days at Tsarskoe Selo!” Vodka certainly would not have brought any such reminder to my niece… My nieces never touched either wine or spirits – and indeed how could they at their age?…” 

Here is where she explains how Anderson's 'memory' of geting the scar on her hand as "Anastasia" was wrong:

“…The mistakes she made could not be all attributed to lapses of memory. For instance, she had a scar on one of her fingers and she kept telling everybody that it had been crushed because of a footman shutting the door of a landau too quickly. And at once I remembered the incident. It was Marie, her elder sister, who got her hand hurt rather badly, and it did not happen in a carriage but on board the imperial train. Obviously someone, having heard something of the incident, had passed a garbled version of it to Mrs Anderson.[50]

Here is proof that the ordeal of having to deal with the claimant and the accusations upset her greatly:

"...every unpleasant event (like the renewal of the Tchaik(ovsky) History) disturb my heart and makes it beat too fast. At night this is bothersome because I feel it more."[51]

While Anderson supporters claim it was years later that she changed her mind, there is evidence in letters and interviews only a few months after the meeting clearly showing she did not believe in the claimant and thought emigres' were feeding her information to use her to get to the alleged Romanov fortune. This letter, written to Princess Irene in 1926, the year after the Grand Duchess visited Anna, is fair proof of her honest and complete disbelief in the claimant:

"For nearly four years, they stuffed the head of this poor creature with our stories, showed her a large number of our photographs, etc. and one fine day astonished everyone with her 'memories'.

Mr. Gilliard, his wife (Shura) and my husband, and before us Volkov, have all seen and conversed with her, and they do not believe that she is our Anastasia. On the contrary, they (AA's supporters) state that we all recognized her and then we received a an order from Mama to say that she is not Anastasia. This is a lie! I believe that this story is fraudulent, but I think there are many people who believe it, but they are the ones who never knew the real Anastasia.

During the four days we spent in Berlin, Mr. Gilliard and my husband saw all the Russians with whom she had stayed and they learned in this way many things of great importance. Here is one: they told them that she had learned the nickname "Schwibs' from an officer I met in the Crimea, who later came to Berlin. He was interested in the invalid and asked her if she knew this nickname and who gaee her the name; naturally she was unable to reply. But later, she suddenly said: "My Aunt Olga called me 'Schwibs'! Everybody was astonished and made inquiries to find out if it was true.''[52]

She could also see the object of the claim was money: "Most malicious rumours about that "fortune" began floating about soon after Mrs. Anderson's appearance in Berlin in 1920. I heard that it ran into astronomical figures. It was all fantastic and terribly vulgar. Would my mother have accepted a pension from King George V if we had any money in England? It does not make sense."[53]

Olga's own words speak of her true feelings. The other versions, alleging Olga's belief the claimant was her niece, are made up of tales invented by Rathlef and embellishments and misinterpretations through the years by various supporters. and have come to be accepted as fact by many, though are far from it. Olga truly did not believe that Anna Anderson was Anastasia, yet she was made to suffer the last decades of her life. She had to endure not only the pain of losing her four nieces, nephew, sister in law and two brothers as well as uncles and cousins to the revolution but with false accusations attempting to paint her as cruel, cold hearted and rejecting a sickly, traumatized niece. If the real Anastasia had survived, Olga surely would have welcomed and accepted her, and perhaps would have been financially better off! Olga denied Anna Anderson for one good reason- she wasn't Anastasia. It's upsetting to think that people would have so hatefully villanized this innocent, tragic woman to advance their own agenda, all because she told the truth and refused to back an imposter posing as her murdered niece. The inner sleeve of Kurth's book "Anastasia: The Riddle of Anna Anderson" declares it is "a story more shocking, more sinister, more heartbreaking and cruel than any dramatist would have dared invent." Obviously, this line is referring to the 'sad' story of Anna Anderson being denied her 'true' identity and 'rejected' by her 'family.' How ironic that those words in reality actually better describe how Olga suffered as a result of Anderson's claim. Sadly, she was never freed from the accusations in her lifetime, but history and science have now cleared her memory and reputation. Olga Alexandrovna, not guilty of denying her 'niece'. Rest in peace.

Anna Anderson and Franziska's relatives

The court case over the money