PRETENDER TO THE THRONE
On February 27th, 1920 a woman attempted to jump to her death from a bridge in Berlin. The woman, known in German as Fraulein Unbekkant ("Miss Unknown") was rescued and brought to an asylum. The woman refused to ID herself or reveal any personal details for 2 years. Then in 1922 she got a little chatty and dropped her name to a nurse. She was no Jane Doe from small village Europe. She is the missing Grand Duchess Anastasia, heir to the Romanov throne.
Anastasia herself was only 16 when the Royal family died as the result of the Russian Revolution. She was beloved by those who knew her, but wasn't on a Princess Diana world level of fame. Only Russian aristocrats stripped of their money and titles would have been invested on a personal level. But a princess, thought to be dead but now alive in an asylum? That's world headline grabbing news. The woman who claimed to be Anastasia would do so for nearly 50 years.
Reasons for the Russian Revolution were multiple and varied. Russia suffered economically due to World War I. Citizens were tired of not being assisted by their government while the Czar and his family lived a royal life. Russian citizens felt that Romanov family advisor Rasputin had too much influence over the Czar, and they did not like that Nicholas sought advice from his wife, Princess Alexandra. Citizens revolted and the Russian royal family - Czar Nicholas, Princess Alexandra, son and heir Prince Alexi and daughters Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia were stripped of power and taken to a country house until they were moved. July 17, 1918 the Romanovs along with five staff members were shot by Bolshevik rebels. When the smoke cleared the execution squad then stabbed anyone left clinging to life. Once dead the corpses were hauled to a field, doused with sulfuric acid, then set ablaze. What remained was buried.
Among the dead was youngest daughter Anastasia - or was she? Anastasia, by all accounts bright, witty and with a mischievous streak, was beloved by those who knew her. She and her sister Maria were close ; called "the little pair" the two shared a room and often dressed alike. Rumors followed soon after the execution that one of the sisters escaped. Many women claimed to be the escaped sister - not always Anastasia. Anastasia, however, seemed to be the most popular sister among pretenders. Impostors were easily and quickly debunked, until Anna Tchaikovsky came to the scene and was both derided and embraced as the missing Duchess.
People who knew Anastasia were called in to make an identification. Despite seeing no real resemblance between Anastasia and Anna Tchaikovsky the woman was released into the care of a former Russian police chief. Anna Tchaikovsky traveled between various displaced Russian aristocrats, living well on their ruble. Czarina Alexandra's sister came to see Anna, but did not recognize her. Many people claimed Anna Tchaikovsky could possibly be Anastasia but remain non-committal towards a definite assertion of identity.
Some people did deride Anna Tchaikovsky as an impostor from the very beginning. The more people denied she was Anastasia, the more Anna Tchaikovsky doubled down. Anna Tchaikovsky knew small details about Anastasia's royal life, but couldn't recall larger moments. Anna Tchaikovsky chalked this up to a mental block caused by watching her family and close supporters die in front of her. She could not speak English, French, and Russian, as could Anastasia. Note to anyone wanting to pull off an impostorship : speak the language of the person you are pretending to be. Duolingo is free.
Supporters of Anna Tchaikovsky had their own motives for insisting this obvious impostor was Anastasia. Czarist rule could be enforced, and exiled aristocrats would be would once again have a hold on Russian society and government. If any money was left in the Romanov coffers Anastasia would be obligated to repay the kindness of her supporters. A flawed plan to be sure ; communist leaders aren't going to cede power to a 20 something girl. If they slaughtered her whole family, why would they bow down and let Anastasia retake the throne? If the Bolsheviks were angry that the Romanovs had wealth, any remaining money and possessions would have been used to help the communist state.
Princess Alexandra's brother hired a private investigator to uncover this Anna Tchaikovsky's true identity. She was Franziska Schanzkowska, a Polish-German factory worker who had been injured in a work accident in 1916. Her fiance died in World War I, and she disappeared in 1920. She attempted suicide by jumping off a bridge in Berlin and was taken to an asylum. She remained there for 2 years, barely speaking or interacting with other patients. A nurse was reading a magazine featuring an article about various Romanov claimants. Franziska asked the nurse if she saw a resemblance between herself and Anastasia. Patients began to gossip amongst themselves that Franziska really was Anastasia ; the idea seem plausible given that she rarely spoke - who would want to rehash the brutal deaths of their entire family? And she had no visitors as Anastasia was the sole survivor of her family. Whether this was Franziska's plan all along or a happy accident remains a mystery. Franziska renamed herself Anna Tchaikovsky and became the missing Anastasia, living a life of luxury fraught with suspicion.
In 1927 Franziska's brother Felix was asked to identify Anastasia as his sister. He did so but walked away from a relationship with her because his sister was healthy and being looked after. Franziska did not continue a relationship with her family. Anna Tchaikovsky moved to the United States and called herself Anna Anderson for the remainder of her life. She lost many court battles for the right to call herself Anastasia Romanov, losing the final case in 1970. Anna Anderson died in 1984 claiming to be Anastasia Romanov with her last breath.
Why did Franziska Schanzkowska fight so hard to be seen as Anastasia Romanov? Perhaps a woman, too sad and bereaved to continue being herself found a sympathetic figure in the princess who faced unspeakable trauma. A princess would garner more sympathy than a no-name working class Polish girl. Why did so many people spend so much money, time, and effort defending a woman whose claims were debunked by both Anastasia Romanov's and her own family members? Because someone surviving such a horrifically brutal death gave hope that anyone can survive even the most awful of circumstances. The whole idea that Anastasia had survived was based on the real fact that not all of all corpses of the Romanov family had been found together. A rumor emerged that a sympathetic guard helped Anastasia escape. Even a Bolshevik assassin had a kind heart and let a teenage girl go free. That makes for an amazing story ; that story endured into an Ingrid Bergman film, an animated film that became a Broadway musical, TV mini-series, a novel, and even a ballet.
Even though the world knew that Franziska Schanzkowska was not really Anastasia Romanov, in 2007 DNA proved that all Romanovs were among the pile of corpses buried in that terrible pit of remains. The family have since been buried in a proper grave. Franziska Schanzkowska's story is a lesson in trauma and how it affects our mental health. Enduring an accident that scarred her physically, witnessing a death caused by that accident, and losing a loved one in fairly quick succession severely damaged her mental state. Pehaps Franziska Schanzkowska's greatest con wasn't getting other people to believe she was Anastasia ; maybe her biggest con was convincing herself she could be a princess with a happy life.
SOURCES :
Anna Anderson. Wikipedia.
February Revolution. Wikipedia.
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. Wikipedia.
Woman Claiming to Anastasia Romanov Arrives in the U.S. History Channel, 9 February 2010.
FURTHER MEDIA :
BOOKS :
I Was Anastasia ~ Ariel Lawhon
PODCASTS :
Frey, Holly / Trimarchi, Maria, hosts. "Will the Real Anastasia Romanov Please Stand Up?" Criminalia, Season 3, Episode 10, Shondaland and iheart radio, 22 June 2021.
Graham, Beckett / Vollenweider, Susan, hosts. "The Romanovs." The History Chicks, Episodes 32 and 33, Wondery, November 11 and November 30 2012.
Lambert, Katie and Dowdey, Sarah, hosts. "What Happened to the Romanovs?." Stuff You Missed In History Class, iheartradio, 10 March 2010.
Murden, Alastair, host. "Anna Anderson Pt 1 : The False Anastasia." Con Artists. Parcast, 28 August 2019.
Murden, Alastair, host. "Anna Anderson Pt 2 : Princess Impostor." Con Artists. Parcast, 21 August 2019.
VIDEOS :
Anastasia - (Ingrid Bergman - 1956)
Anastasia - "Once Upon a December" (Broadway Musical)
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