1 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 1: You're listening to the second and final part of Unexplained, 2 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:19,640 Speaker 1: Season seven, episode fifteen, in his eyes a flaming glow. 3 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: The Russian Empire was built on the notion of absolute autocracy, 4 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:36,279 Speaker 1: placing unbridled power in the hands of a single supreme 5 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:41,239 Speaker 1: ruler known as the Czar. Even as the empire was 6 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:46,520 Speaker 1: forced to gradually adapt over time, that founding principle remained. 7 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:51,559 Speaker 1: But by the mid to late nineteen hundreds, Tsar Nicholas, 8 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: the second of the Romanov dynasty, whose family had ruled 9 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: since the early sixteen hundreds, had become a supporting player 10 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 1: in his own kingdom. The name on everyone's lips, the 11 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 1: one man that nobody could stop talking about was Grigory Rasputin. 12 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: Every single person in Saint Petersburg had an opinion about Rasputin, 13 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:22,919 Speaker 1: or Father Grigory, as his supporters called him. The enigmatic 14 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:27,479 Speaker 1: mystic monk arrived in the city seemingly out of thin air, 15 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 1: and in the space of just a few years had 16 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:35,200 Speaker 1: become one of the Tsar's most trusted advisers. To some, 17 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: Rasputin was a revered and inspirational figure, a financially impoverished 18 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:45,319 Speaker 1: farmer who'd used faith to pull himself up from his 19 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: humble beginnings, endured many hard years as a wandering holy man, 20 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: and had now earned his place in the winter Palace 21 00:01:55,160 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 1: next to Czar Nicholas the Second. To others, Mutine was 22 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 1: anything but holy, perhaps even demonic. His disheveled appearance and long, 23 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 1: greasy hair suggested to some that although Rasputin no longer 24 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: lived in the wilderness, evidently the wilderness still lived in him, 25 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: and that was nothing compared to the apparent filthiness of 26 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 1: his private life. Rumours abounded of Rasputin's womanizing, his regular 27 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:36,280 Speaker 1: visits to brothels, and his addiction to sin. Some believed 28 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: he was a high ranking member of the Clerste, a 29 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: clandestine religious sect which split from the Russian Orthodox Church 30 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:50,959 Speaker 1: during the seventeenth century. The Klerste sought religious enlightenment through 31 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: what they described as ecstatic rituals orgies. According to the rumors, 32 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: Rasputin was said to have adapted the Cleistay's doctrine into 33 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:08,640 Speaker 1: his own hedonistic belief system, which promoted sinful to baucherous 34 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: behavior as a means of getting closer to God. It 35 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:17,640 Speaker 1: was said, too, that he'd even extended this practice to 36 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: include the Czar's wife, Alexandra. Ever since Rasputin had seemingly 37 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:30,440 Speaker 1: miraculously healed the royal couple's only son, Alexey, he'd become 38 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: a palace fixture. Both Nicholas and Alexandra appeared to spend 39 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: more time with Rasputin than with each other, so naturally, 40 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 1: with all the rumours about his womanizing ways, many drew 41 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: their own conclusion. Regardless of whether any of these rumors 42 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: were true or not, what was undoubtable was Rasputin's unusual 43 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: hold over the royal couple. To some, it was as 44 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: though he'd put a spell on them, Despite his general 45 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:17,000 Speaker 1: air of unkempt wildness. What made Rasputin so captivating was 46 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: his gaze. His eyes were eerily pale, and his stare 47 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: was penetrating, almost hypnotic. With huge sways of the city's 48 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:34,279 Speaker 1: population attending seances, having their palms read, or seeking medical 49 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: help from spiritual healers, it wasn't at all hard for 50 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:43,039 Speaker 1: people to believe that Rasputin was quite literally hypnotizing the 51 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 1: Czar and Czarina. How else to explain his unprecedented access 52 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,600 Speaker 1: to the couple and his unnervingly quick ascent into their 53 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 1: inner circle. Rasputin himself did little to dispel these rumors. 54 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:02,839 Speaker 1: At parts, he would brag about his influence over the 55 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:07,000 Speaker 1: couple and openly claim that he had the supreme ruler 56 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:13,120 Speaker 1: under his command. Despite Rasputin's apparent lack of tact when 57 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:16,159 Speaker 1: he was out on the town, it seemed the Royal 58 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: couple were either oblivious to how all of this looked 59 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: or simply didn't care to addict it to the validation 60 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:30,200 Speaker 1: he offered them. Ever since the First Russian Revolution in 61 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 1: nineteen oh five, Nicholas's power had been steadily waning. He'd 62 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:38,920 Speaker 1: managed to stave off an all out revolt by passing 63 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: the October Manifesto, which granted civil liberties to citizens and 64 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:49,880 Speaker 1: vastly weakened his autocratic rule. At the time, he'd felt 65 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:53,839 Speaker 1: he had no other choice, and the decision had haunted 66 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:59,359 Speaker 1: him ever since. Within only a few years, political unrest 67 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:05,359 Speaker 1: was made again. By the early nineteen tens, Russia was 68 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 1: once again overwhelmed by strikes and protests as more and 69 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: more of its citizens began to question the system, but 70 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:19,640 Speaker 1: Resputin encouraged the Tsar to ignore it. He should have 71 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,560 Speaker 1: confidence in himself and in his authority. He told him. 72 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 1: He also reminded him that the will of the people 73 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: was inconsequential, he had been chosen by God for this position. 74 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: The Russian Orthodox Church was also emphatic on this point. 75 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:43,159 Speaker 1: Its doctrine stated that the tsar was appointed by God, 76 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: so any challenge to the czar was in effect an 77 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 1: insult to the Lord. Nicholas was emboldened by Resputin's unwavering conviction, 78 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 1: trusting no one else, He began to consult him directly 79 00:06:59,839 --> 00:07:04,599 Speaker 1: on political matters, asking for his guidance on what ministers 80 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: to appoint to his inner circle. Rasputin's rise to power 81 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:16,840 Speaker 1: seemed as unstoppable as it was inexplicable. Effectively, he seemed 82 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 1: to be secretly running the country. To everyone outside, Nicholas 83 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:27,120 Speaker 1: was seen increasingly as a weak and indecisive leader whose 84 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:32,680 Speaker 1: every move was being orchestrated by a dangerous Charlatan puppet master. 85 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 1: Something had to be done about it. In June of 86 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:49,280 Speaker 1: nineteen fourteen, Rasputin traveled back to his home village of 87 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: Boklovskoy to visit his wife and children, where he received 88 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 1: a hero's welcome. After all, it wasn't common for people 89 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: to ever leave this remote Siberian village, let alone make 90 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: it all the way into the royal court. Meanwhile, hundreds 91 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 1: of miles away, one young farmer wasn't so pleased. Thirty 92 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:20,400 Speaker 1: three year old Keyonya Guseva met Rasputin several years before 93 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 1: during his traveling pilgrim days, and had been impressed by him. 94 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 1: Keonya's face was striking, not least of all because her 95 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:35,679 Speaker 1: nose had been almost entirely eaten away by disease. But 96 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:41,200 Speaker 1: unlike so many others, Father Grigory seemed not to notice it. 97 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:43,720 Speaker 1: It was all the proof she needed that he was 98 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: indeed blessed with religious powers. That was until another priest, 99 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:54,840 Speaker 1: a rival of Rasputin called Iliodore, took Keyonya under his 100 00:08:54,960 --> 00:09:00,200 Speaker 1: wing and opened her eyes to the truth. Rasputin was 101 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:04,439 Speaker 1: a false prophet, he said, a sinner and a violator 102 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 1: of women. She'd been hearing stories about him ever since, 103 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: about its womanizing, his debauched parties, is occult powers. Over time, 104 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:23,960 Speaker 1: she became fixated on Rasputin in a different way. One night, 105 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:28,960 Speaker 1: in a small wooden shack hundreds of biles from Pukroskoy, 106 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:34,480 Speaker 1: Keanya sat reading a familiar passage in her Bible under 107 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:38,960 Speaker 1: the dim light of a solitary candle. Then fire from 108 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:43,440 Speaker 1: the Lord came down and burned the sacrifice. When all 109 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:48,040 Speaker 1: the people saw it, they fell down to the ground, crying, 110 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:53,440 Speaker 1: the Lord is God, The Lord is God. Then Elijah said, 111 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 1: capture the prophets of Bar. Don't let any of them 112 00:09:57,559 --> 00:10:03,000 Speaker 1: run away. When the false prophets were captured, Elijah led 113 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:06,800 Speaker 1: them down to the Kishon Valley, where he slaughtered them all. 114 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:14,319 Speaker 1: Then Elijah said to Ahab, now go go eat and drink, 115 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:20,439 Speaker 1: because a heavy rain is coming. Key read the story 116 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:26,080 Speaker 1: over and over again. With each reading, the words seemed 117 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:30,160 Speaker 1: to burn brighter and brighter on the page. It was 118 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 1: all becoming clear to her. She knew exactly what she 119 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:48,800 Speaker 1: had to do. On June twenty ninth, nineteen fourteen, the 120 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:53,439 Speaker 1: day after he arrived in Pokrovskoy, Rasputin left his family's 121 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:58,200 Speaker 1: home and walked out into the afternoon sunshine. As the 122 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:01,880 Speaker 1: gate closed behind him, he turned his head to see 123 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 1: a woman in black walking quickly towards him. The woman's 124 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:10,080 Speaker 1: face was hidden behind a white cloth, so that only 125 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 1: her eyes were visible. Assuming the woman wanted some kind 126 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 1: of blessing, Rasputin stopped and locked eyes with her. The 127 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:25,960 Speaker 1: woman stopped too, seeming suddenly a little hesitant. Then she 128 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:31,320 Speaker 1: bowed to him. For a brief moment, Rasputin saw the 129 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:35,800 Speaker 1: cloth fall from the woman's face to reveal a shocking 130 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:40,880 Speaker 1: wound where her nose should have been. Something glinted in 131 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 1: the sun. Then Rasputin felt a cold, sharp pain in 132 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:50,360 Speaker 1: his stomach. He looked down to see the woman's hand 133 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:55,439 Speaker 1: against his cassock and what was clearly a dagger disappearing 134 00:11:55,720 --> 00:12:01,160 Speaker 1: into his body. Rasputin screamed in pain as the woman 135 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 1: withdrew a fifteen inch blade. In terror, he turned and 136 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:10,520 Speaker 1: ran as the woman chased him with the bloody dagger. 137 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:15,640 Speaker 1: Within seconds, a crowd had descended on the scene. As 138 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:21,160 Speaker 1: several onlookers tackled the woman, now revealed to be Keyonya Gusiva. 139 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 1: Rasputin collapsed to the ground from blood loss. That night, 140 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:34,280 Speaker 1: as Rasputin continued to lie unconscious, a doctor performed emergency surgery. 141 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:40,200 Speaker 1: Keyanya's blade had damaged several of his internal organs, and 142 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:45,359 Speaker 1: although the surgery was a success, the doctor warned Rasputin's 143 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:48,440 Speaker 1: family that he would be lucky to survive the night. 144 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:53,800 Speaker 1: Rasputin spent the next few days dipping in and out 145 00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:59,280 Speaker 1: of consciousness, barely breathing. Whenever he did come too, he 146 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:05,120 Speaker 1: was completely delirious. A priest arrived to administer his last rites. 147 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:12,080 Speaker 1: Newspapers across the nation ran headlines announcing the assassination attempt. 148 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:16,360 Speaker 1: They said Rasputin was on his deathbed with no hope 149 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:22,480 Speaker 1: of survival. But then one morning, Rasputin opened his eyes 150 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 1: and sat up in bed. The following day he was 151 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:31,360 Speaker 1: deemed well enough to be transferred to a hospital in Tumin, 152 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:37,360 Speaker 1: the nearest major city. In the end, despite immense blood 153 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 1: loss and internal injuries, Resputin made a full recovery. He 154 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 1: had survived a mortal wound. As words spread of his 155 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:53,199 Speaker 1: remarkable recovery, more rumors began to fly that the legendary 156 00:13:53,280 --> 00:14:01,679 Speaker 1: healer had healed himself. Resputin was unkillable. Some weeks later, 157 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 1: he returned to Saint Petersburg, a legend, where he was 158 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:09,640 Speaker 1: greeted with open arms by the Czar and Czarina. They 159 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:13,600 Speaker 1: couldn't have been happier to see him return. They needed 160 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: him now more than ever, because war was on the horizon. 161 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 1: That summer of nineteen fourteen, the mood in Saint Petersburg 162 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:34,240 Speaker 1: was restless. The city ground to a halt amid hundreds 163 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 1: of workers strikes. Another uprising seemed inevitable, or, as one 164 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: newspaper put it, we are living on a volcano. But 165 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:48,960 Speaker 1: Czar Nicholas was distracted from the domestic chaos by an 166 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 1: even larger looming threat. The longstanding tensions between Russia and 167 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 1: its neighboring empire Germany were at boiling point. The German 168 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 1: and Kaiser Wilhelm, the second was Nicholas's cousin, and they'd 169 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:11,040 Speaker 1: always maintained a relatively friendly relationship, now though it seemed 170 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:16,760 Speaker 1: family ties were no longer enough. In June, the assassination 171 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:22,240 Speaker 1: of Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand sparked the outbreak of war. 172 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:29,000 Speaker 1: As nations mobilized their militaries all across Europe, Russia found 173 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 1: itself caught between its close ally Serbia, and the hostile 174 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: empires of Germany and Austria Hungary. By August, the German 175 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:44,560 Speaker 1: government had declared war on Russia. But first this proved 176 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:48,760 Speaker 1: to be a political win for the Czar. War as 177 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:53,480 Speaker 1: a way of stoking up patriotism even among those previously 178 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:58,480 Speaker 1: indifferent to such things when your immediate survival is suddenly 179 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: all that matters. And so for the most part, the 180 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:06,720 Speaker 1: Russian people forgot about revolution as they rushed to defend 181 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:12,400 Speaker 1: their borders. Shortly after the declaration of war, Czar Nicholas 182 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:16,600 Speaker 1: and Czarina Alexandra made an appearance on the balcony of 183 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 1: the Winter Palace. There they were greeted by a huge 184 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 1: exuberant crowd, who chanted God save the King. Together. After 185 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 1: years of mounting resentment from the public, the Czar felt 186 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:37,720 Speaker 1: beloved and powerful again. War had reinvigorated him, but not 187 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:43,240 Speaker 1: everybody shared the public's enthusiasm. Britain's King George the Fifth, 188 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:47,520 Speaker 1: another cousin of the Czar, sent a letter pleading with 189 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:51,840 Speaker 1: Nicholas to demobilize the Russian army in the hope of 190 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:57,360 Speaker 1: de escalating the conflict and avoiding an all out world war. He, 191 00:16:57,760 --> 00:17:01,800 Speaker 1: like many other allies, was concerned that the Tsar's judgment 192 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:06,879 Speaker 1: was compromised, he had become dangerously over confident in his 193 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:12,400 Speaker 1: and Russia's capabilities, and that the malign influence of Rasputin 194 00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: was to blame. But the Tsar refused to take heed. 195 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 1: After all, was it King George who'd survived certain death, 196 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:27,679 Speaker 1: or Father Grigory, who better to trust than a clear 197 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:32,680 Speaker 1: vessel of the Lord himself. But now that Russia had 198 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:36,439 Speaker 1: entered the war, the stakes had never been higher, and 199 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:41,600 Speaker 1: the rumors about the mysterious mystic monk, as Rasputin came 200 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:47,480 Speaker 1: to be known, grew ever wilder. Soon, an allegation began 201 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 1: to circulate that he had in fact been planted inside 202 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:56,000 Speaker 1: the royal court as a double agent and was leaking 203 00:17:56,119 --> 00:18:01,800 Speaker 1: secrets to Germany. These rumors spread like wildfire among the 204 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:15,680 Speaker 1: Russian nobility, the church, and the general public. Over the years, 205 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:18,960 Speaker 1: Several of the Tsar's allies tried to make him see 206 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 1: what a mistake he was making. They told him that 207 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:27,520 Speaker 1: his dependence on Rasputin was affecting his reputation, that giving 208 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:32,160 Speaker 1: the mystic monk so much influence over policies and appointments 209 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:38,400 Speaker 1: was eroding the public's trust in him. The French magician Papus, 210 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:43,840 Speaker 1: another of the Czar and Czarina's trusted confidants, was unequivocal, 211 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:48,000 Speaker 1: writing to the Czarina at the end of nineteen fifteen. 212 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:53,680 Speaker 1: Rasputin is a vessel like Pandora's box and contains all 213 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 1: the vices, crimes, and lusts of the Russian people. Should 214 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:03,680 Speaker 1: this vessel break, we shall immediately see these horrible contents 215 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:09,119 Speaker 1: spilled all over Russia. When Rasputin was informed of the 216 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 1: letter by the Tzarina, he concurred, why I've told you 217 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:19,160 Speaker 1: that many a time, When I die, Russia will perish. 218 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:26,399 Speaker 1: Tzar Nicholas ignored all the warnings to him. The benefits 219 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:31,320 Speaker 1: of Rasputin vastly outweighed the costs, and not only because 220 00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:35,680 Speaker 1: he told him exactly what he wanted to hear. Rasputin 221 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:40,199 Speaker 1: also had a calming influence on Alexandra, who was prone 222 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:45,440 Speaker 1: to anxiety. Better ten Rasputins than one of the Empress's 223 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:49,920 Speaker 1: hysterical fits, as he once put it to Russia's Prime minister. 224 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:56,240 Speaker 1: But what Nicholas dismissed as hysteria was, in actuality, an 225 00:19:56,440 --> 00:20:03,640 Speaker 1: entirely rational response to an increasingly dangerous reality. If Alexandra 226 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:08,639 Speaker 1: felt a sense of impending doom, an unshakable fear that 227 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:14,840 Speaker 1: everything was about to fall apart, she was right. In 228 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:19,520 Speaker 1: the spring and summer of nineteen fifteen, a wofully under 229 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:24,720 Speaker 1: equipped Russian army suffered a series of devastating losses, with 230 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 1: thousands of Russian soldiers killed or taken prisoner by German forces. 231 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:36,639 Speaker 1: With few other options, commanders ordered a retreat and withdrew 232 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 1: the Russian Army from much of the Eastern front. Sir 233 00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:47,040 Speaker 1: Nicholas was furious. Withdrawal was a sign of weakness, precisely 234 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:51,199 Speaker 1: the thing he'd been working so hard to avoid. But 235 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:55,320 Speaker 1: when officials tried to persuade him that the Russian army 236 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,800 Speaker 1: had bitten off more than it could chew, he dismissed 237 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 1: them angrily. In August nineteen fifteen, Nicholas made a fateful decision. 238 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:10,920 Speaker 1: Encouraged by both the silver tongued Rasputin and by the Czarina, 239 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:15,800 Speaker 1: he fired his uncle, Grand Duke Nicholas, the commander in 240 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:20,240 Speaker 1: chief of the Russian armies, and so the Tsar took 241 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:25,000 Speaker 1: control of them instead and departed immediately for the front lines. 242 00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:30,880 Speaker 1: In his absence, the Tzarina Alexandra became the de facto 243 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:36,720 Speaker 1: reigning monarch, with Rasputin by her side. As always, to 244 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 1: many onlookers, it seemed the so called mystic Monk had 245 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:46,680 Speaker 1: finally achieved exactly what he wanted. He was now effectively 246 00:21:47,119 --> 00:22:02,359 Speaker 1: ruling the entire country through Alexandra. All along the Eastern Front, 247 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:07,680 Speaker 1: freezing and starving, Russian soldiers swapped stories about the many 248 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:13,280 Speaker 1: things they'd heard about Rasputin. Soon word was spreading that 249 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 1: he'd recently tried to start a cholera epidemic in Saint 250 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:23,000 Speaker 1: Petersburg using a shipment of poisoned apples secretly imported from Canada. 251 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:27,840 Speaker 1: The soldiers wondered, why should they die in the mud 252 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:32,080 Speaker 1: while such a man reigned supreme at the Winter Palace. 253 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:36,439 Speaker 1: It was all just more fuel to the growing public 254 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:41,000 Speaker 1: resentment of the royal family and the wider ruling classes. 255 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:44,320 Speaker 1: It was clear to a growing number of the Russian 256 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: nobility that if the monarchy had any chance of surviving, 257 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:54,639 Speaker 1: Rasputin had to be stopped by any means necessary. In 258 00:22:54,760 --> 00:23:01,000 Speaker 1: mid December nineteen sixteen, Prince Felix Usupov, the wealthiest man 259 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:05,320 Speaker 1: in Russia at the time, invited Rasputin to dinner at 260 00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:11,640 Speaker 1: his home, the Usupov Palace in Saint Petersburg. Rasputin arrived 261 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:15,000 Speaker 1: a few nights later, the sound of a party in 262 00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 1: full swing coming from upstairs, indistinct chatter and the distant 263 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:25,960 Speaker 1: strains of Yankee Doodle Dandy being played on a gramophone. 264 00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:31,159 Speaker 1: After greeting Rasputin at the door, Usupov led him to 265 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:35,080 Speaker 1: the cellar and served him a glass of Madeira wine 266 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:40,080 Speaker 1: and a slice of cake. Unknown to Rasputin, there was 267 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: no party upstairs, and both the wine and the cake 268 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:50,080 Speaker 1: were laced with a lethal dose of cyanide Yusupov watched 269 00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:54,880 Speaker 1: on eagerly as Rasputin ate the cake and drank the wine, 270 00:23:55,920 --> 00:24:00,000 Speaker 1: and when he'd finished, he simply asked for another glass 271 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:05,399 Speaker 1: of the wine. Usupov was stunned. Trying his best to 272 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:10,640 Speaker 1: hide its confusion, he poured Rasputin a second glass. Surely 273 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:15,480 Speaker 1: this would see him off, he thought, but Rasputin continued 274 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:21,199 Speaker 1: to drink, seemingly completely unaffected by the poison. With no 275 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:26,960 Speaker 1: other choice, Prince Yusupov was forced to lead Rasputin upstairs 276 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:32,240 Speaker 1: to the supposed party. Rasputin was then led into a 277 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:37,720 Speaker 1: room full of men, not party guests, but coke conspirators 278 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:44,000 Speaker 1: of Usupov. As the large, hulking frame of Rasputin stepped 279 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:47,560 Speaker 1: into the room, the men tried their best to hide 280 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:54,360 Speaker 1: their dismay. This dismay soon turned to fear. They'd always 281 00:24:54,400 --> 00:25:01,720 Speaker 1: dismissed the stories about Rasputin's mystical powers, especially his supposed infallibility, 282 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:06,920 Speaker 1: And yet here he was, two glasses of cyanide down, 283 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,320 Speaker 1: and not a hint of discomfort on his face. The 284 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:15,520 Speaker 1: men greeted him warmly and invited him to join them. 285 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 1: After some time talking, Rasputin finally complained of a burning 286 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 1: sensation in his stomach and a heavy head Yusupov offered 287 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:31,480 Speaker 1: him another glass of the poisoned wine. Perhaps that might help, 288 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:38,359 Speaker 1: he said. Rasputin gladly accepted it. The men watched on 289 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:43,880 Speaker 1: again with barely concealed horror as the mystic monk finished 290 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:55,399 Speaker 1: off his third glass without any complaint. Slowly, As a 291 00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:59,520 Speaker 1: few of the would be assassins continued to engage Rasputin 292 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:05,080 Speaker 1: in colmonsation, a small group of them quietly excused themselves 293 00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:10,320 Speaker 1: from the room. Moments later, the men who'd left met 294 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,600 Speaker 1: in a neighboring room to discuss what on earth they 295 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 1: should do next. The conversation descended into angry chaos. Finally, 296 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:24,200 Speaker 1: one man hit his breaking point. He strode back into 297 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:28,640 Speaker 1: the dining room, pulled out a pistol, and shot Rasputin 298 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:33,880 Speaker 1: at close range. The bullet landed close to his heart. 299 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:40,600 Speaker 1: A deadly blow, Rasputin crumpled to the ground, unconscious and 300 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:46,760 Speaker 1: bleeding profusely. His breath grew labored and ragged, until finally 301 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:52,199 Speaker 1: it stopped. The men watched on with a mix of 302 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:56,600 Speaker 1: shock and relief, the smoke from the gun tailing off 303 00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:01,199 Speaker 1: into the air. One of the men took tentative, stepped 304 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:05,639 Speaker 1: forward and stood over the body, then leapt back in 305 00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:11,520 Speaker 1: horror as Rasputin's eyes shot open. As the men looked 306 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:16,200 Speaker 1: on numbly, a wild eyed Rasputin staggered to his feet 307 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:21,400 Speaker 1: and launched himself at Prince Yusupov. It was as though 308 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:26,240 Speaker 1: the devil himself had entered him. He grabbed for Yusupov, 309 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:31,040 Speaker 1: but was pulled away by the other men. However, despite 310 00:27:31,119 --> 00:27:34,800 Speaker 1: having just been shot in the heart, Rasputin was too 311 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:39,040 Speaker 1: strong for them. He broke from their grasp, stumbled out 312 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:44,280 Speaker 1: of the room, and disappeared down the darkened hallway. He 313 00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:48,920 Speaker 1: made it into the courtyard outside before the group finally 314 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:59,880 Speaker 1: caught up with him. Outside in the freezing winter air, 315 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 1: under the pale light of a waning moon, Prince Yusupov 316 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:08,600 Speaker 1: and his men charged into the courtyard to find a 317 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:12,920 Speaker 1: man with lank, black hair in a long black cassock, 318 00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:17,199 Speaker 1: stumbling away from them. His hand was clutched to his 319 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:21,480 Speaker 1: chest and a line of blood trailed behind him on 320 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:30,240 Speaker 1: the icy ground. Stop. They yelled, but the man, seemingly possessed, 321 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:36,159 Speaker 1: continued to stagger forward. A volley of gunfire rang out 322 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:41,840 Speaker 1: as a hail of bullets flew into Rasputin's back. Finally, 323 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:46,480 Speaker 1: he collapsed again, and this time he did not get 324 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:50,960 Speaker 1: back up. But Prince Yusupov was leaving nothing to chance. 325 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:56,160 Speaker 1: They bound Rasputin's hands and feet with thick rope and 326 00:28:56,240 --> 00:29:00,080 Speaker 1: wrapped his body in a sheet of linen. They bundled 327 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,600 Speaker 1: him into a car and drove out to Petrovsky Island 328 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:08,280 Speaker 1: in the west of the city. Together, the assassins threw 329 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:12,560 Speaker 1: Rasputin's body into the freezing waters of the Neva River. 330 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:17,640 Speaker 1: They watched somberly as it slipped beneath the surface and 331 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:22,800 Speaker 1: into the black waters below, until the ripples gradually receded 332 00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:28,440 Speaker 1: and the body could no longer be seen. Finally, having 333 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:34,320 Speaker 1: survived a stabbing, a poisoning, and a seemingly fatal gunshot wound, 334 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:42,000 Speaker 1: Grigory Rasputin was dead. The temperature dropped below zero that night, 335 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:47,400 Speaker 1: and the river froze almost solid as a result. It 336 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:51,840 Speaker 1: took many days for the police to find Rasputin's body. 337 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:57,520 Speaker 1: When the icy corpse was finally recovered, an autopsy was 338 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:03,600 Speaker 1: conducted soon after, where in water was found in Rasputin's lungs, 339 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:08,720 Speaker 1: after all that he'd still been breathing when he hit 340 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:19,960 Speaker 1: the water. When news of Rasputin's death reached the public, 341 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:26,080 Speaker 1: people celebrated in the streets among their compatriots. Prince Yusupov 342 00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:30,320 Speaker 1: and his fellow assassins were held up as patriotic heroes 343 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:33,400 Speaker 1: who'd done what had to be done to save the 344 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:38,800 Speaker 1: Russian Empire. For a while, the ruling classes hoped that 345 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:43,200 Speaker 1: getting rid of Rasputin would mean the Czar began listening 346 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:48,440 Speaker 1: to their advice again, but the damage had already been done. 347 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:52,800 Speaker 1: In fact, Rasputin's murder only added to the sense of 348 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:56,920 Speaker 1: chaos and decline that had surrounded the palace for years 349 00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:02,480 Speaker 1: and fueled the public's anger. By then, the war had 350 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:06,080 Speaker 1: been raging for more than two years and had taken 351 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:11,960 Speaker 1: a devastating toll on Russia's economy and infrastructure. The nation's 352 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:17,320 Speaker 1: morale was obliterated, and with hundreds of thousands living in 353 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:24,520 Speaker 1: poverty and starvation. Anti monarchy sentiment came roaring back. In 354 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:31,200 Speaker 1: March of nineteen seventeen, the Russian Revolution began. The streets 355 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:35,360 Speaker 1: of Saint Petersburg were consumed by violent riots, and Czar 356 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:41,040 Speaker 1: Nicholas was forced to abdicate his throne. At long last, 357 00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:46,480 Speaker 1: the Romanov dynasty had fallen, and with it the Russian Empire. 358 00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:53,960 Speaker 1: It was seemingly just as Rasputin had predicted, when I die, 359 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:59,520 Speaker 1: Russia will perish. As furious hordes closed in on the 360 00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:04,160 Speaker 1: winter Alice, Nicholas, Alexandra, and the rest of their family 361 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:08,120 Speaker 1: made a desperate attempt to flee the city, but they 362 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:13,640 Speaker 1: were captured by the revolutionary forces and held prisoner in Siberia. 363 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:22,040 Speaker 1: On July seventeenth, nineteen eighteen, Nicholas, Alexandra, their five children, 364 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:26,240 Speaker 1: and several members of the Imperial Entourach who had been 365 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:32,680 Speaker 1: imprisoned alongside them were executed On the night they were slaughtered. 366 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:36,920 Speaker 1: Each member of the family had an ambulet around their necks. 367 00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:41,000 Speaker 1: When they were removed from the bodies later that day, 368 00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:46,160 Speaker 1: each were found to contain a small prayer and a 369 00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:58,240 Speaker 1: photograph of Grigory Rasputin. This episode was written by Emma 370 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:04,040 Speaker 1: Dibden and Richard mcla Unexplained as an AV Club Productions 371 00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:08,640 Speaker 1: podcast created by Richard McClain smith. All other elements of 372 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:12,080 Speaker 1: the podcast, including the music, are also produced by me 373 00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:17,400 Speaker 1: Richard McClain smith. Unexplained. The book and audiobook, with stories 374 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:20,440 Speaker 1: never before featured on the show, is now available to 375 00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:25,840 Speaker 1: buy worldwide. You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, 376 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:29,680 Speaker 1: and other bookstores. 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