The Room in which the Romanov Family were Shot

The shooting of the Russian Imperial family and those who chose to accompany them into exile occurred in Yekaterinburg on 17 July 1918, in order to prevent them being subsequently used to muster the White forces in the ongoing Russian Civil War.

The family, who were in exile at the time, were awoken, then ordered into a 6×5 meter semi-basement room under the pretext that the family would be moved to a safe location due to impending chaos in Yekaterinburg. The prisoners were told to wait in the cellar room while the truck that would transport them was being brought to the House. A few minutes later, an execution squad of secret police was brought in and  the order given by the Ural Executive Committee [read aloud]:

[Tsar Nicholas II], in view of the fact that your relatives are continuing their attack on Soviet Russia, the Ural Executive Committee has decided to execute you…

Nicholas, facing his family, turned and said “What?.” [The order was] quickly repeated and the weapons were raised. The Empress and Grand Duchess Olga, according to a guard’s reminiscence, had tried to cross themselves, but failed amid the shooting. Yurovsky reportedly raised his gun at Nicholas and fired; Nicholas fell dead instantly. The other executioners then began shooting until all the intended victims had fallen.

Several more shots were fired and the doors opened to scatter the smoke. There were some survivors, [who were] stabbed with bayonets because the shouts could be heard outside. The last to die were Anastasia, Tatiana, Olga, and Maria [the Tsar’s daughters], who were carrying several pounds of diamonds within their clothing, thus protecting them to an extent. However, they were speared with bayonets as well.

(Source: Wikipedia)