What is Grand Duchess Anastasia about?
Could Anastasia have survived?
Over a century has passed since Tsar Nicholas II, his family, and retinue were said to have been executed by Cheka forces in the city of Yekaterinburg in the Russian Urals.
Historians, theologians, and revered mavens of “Romanovia” all reiterate sacrosanct versions of the event, immortalized in writing, stage, and film depictions. However, the Russian Orthodox Church still hedges, at the time of this writing, about giving a definitive declaration of whose bones they possess and how history should be written.
Persistent rumors that Anastasia, perhaps with Alexei, had survived seem to fit the standard of Occam’s Razor. It is the easiest—even if the most rejected, most vilified, and most unfathomable—answer.
“Evgenia Smetisko” defies denial. Mr. Robert “Bob” Schmitt, an early founder of visual face recognition (VFR), announced after 2D/3D analyses: “Anastasia and she are obviously the same woman.”
The reader will be intrigued to learn about the author’s journey to uncover “Smetisko’s” identity, and enlightened to read her own memoirs included in this book. Her life prior to the Revolution, subsequent exile, deprivation, escape, hardships, and the strength of her faith and commitment to life will embolden readers in our equally perilous times.