2. Basement of the Ipatiev House
When Yakov Yurovsky took in the Romanovs, it was because he would become their executioner. Around 2:00 am on July 17, 1918, Yurovsky told the family they needed to retreat to the cellar of the old house. He told them they would be safe from the attacking Bolsheviks, and that they need to wait there for further instructions. Led down a back staircase, it was Nicholas, his wife, their children, and four former employees of the Tsar. His personal physician, Eugene Botkin, and that man’s wife, Anna Demidova followed along with a chef names Ivan Kharitonov, and a footman named Alexei Trupp. On the other side of the wall, a firing squad awaited orders. Once the family was in place, the squad entered the room, and Yurovsky announced that they would all die by execution. Nicholas had only enough time to utter the word “what” two times. Drawing handguns, the soldiers opened fire on the Romanovs.