Hammer window gate was installed on the window of the room where Emperor Nicolas II, his family and their close associates were shot on the night of July 16-17, 1918. This happened in the former mansion of railroad engineer Nikolai Ipatiev in Yekaterinburg.
Window grate from the execution room
Creation period
1870s
Dimensions
286x96x6 cm
286x96x6 cm
286x96x6 cm
Technique
Metal, hammer-work
Exhibition
1
Open in app#3
Window grate from the execution room
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Representatives of the Soviet government deforced the house from its owner, and on April 30, 1918 they imprisoned the Imperial family there. The room in which the assassination took place is called the execution room. It was located in the basement of the house.
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The room had only one window protected by double glazing and a black iron grate from the side of the street. The window — the second from the house corner — faced Voznesensky Lane. Basement position of the room ensured noise absorption and supposedly drowned out gun reports during the execution. Nikolai Sokolov, investigator of the murder of the Imperial family, recalled:
‘The bloody massacre took place in one of the rooms of the ground floor. The choice of the room speaks for itself: the murder was carefully thought through. There was no escape from the room: there’s a solid storeroom with no exit right behind it; its single double-glazed window were covered with a thick iron grating from the outside. It is buried deeply in the ground; high wooden fence was built around the outer perimeter of the house, closing it off from the street. This room surely was perfect as a detention chamber’.
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The execution room in the house of engineer Nikolai Ipatiev. The photograph was taken during the investigation into the murder of the Imperial family in 1918.
On July 16, 1918, the Bolsheviks learned that the White armies were approaching Yekaterinburg, thus it was decided to kill the Imperial family and members of their household. The execution was led by the last commandant of the Ipatiev house — Yakov Yurovsky. He assigned one soldier per each captive.
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Late at night, Nicholas II, his family and their not numerous retinues were awakened under a fake pretext. The Bolsheviks said the situation in the city was rather unsettling so it was dangerous to stay on the top floor of the house. The captives dressed and went down to the basement, where the verdict of execution was read out to them. Nikolai Sokolov wrote: “They killed with revolvers and bayonets. Over 30 shots were fired… It was not possible to kill everyone right away”. The wounded lying on the floor were finished off with additional shots.
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The window grate from the execution room of the Ipatiev house was taken away for the museum collection on September 13, 1977 by order of Alexander Balchugov, director of Sverdlovsk Regional Museum of History and Revolution. It happened just before the demolition of the Ipatiev house.
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Sverdlovsk State Regional Ethnography Museum
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Window grate from the execution room
Creation period
1870s
Dimensions
286x96x6 cm
286x96x6 cm
286x96x6 cm
Technique
Metal, hammer-work
Exhibition
1
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