WEBVTT - Season 07 Episode 15: In His Eyes a Flaming Glow (Pt. 2 of 2)

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to the second and final part of Unexplained,

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<v Speaker 1>Season seven, episode fifteen, in his eyes a flaming glow.

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<v Speaker 1>The Russian Empire was built on the notion of absolute autocracy,

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<v Speaker 1>placing unbridled power in the hands of a single supreme

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<v Speaker 1>ruler known as the Czar. Even as the empire was

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<v Speaker 1>forced to gradually adapt over time, that founding principle remained.

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<v Speaker 1>But by the mid to late nineteen hundreds, Tsar Nicholas,

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<v Speaker 1>the second of the Romanov dynasty, whose family had ruled

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<v Speaker 1>since the early sixteen hundreds, had become a supporting player

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<v Speaker 1>in his own kingdom. The name on everyone's lips, the

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<v Speaker 1>one man that nobody could stop talking about was Grigory Rasputin.

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<v Speaker 1>Every single person in Saint Petersburg had an opinion about Rasputin,

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<v Speaker 1>or Father Grigory, as his supporters called him. The enigmatic

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<v Speaker 1>mystic monk arrived in the city seemingly out of thin air,

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<v Speaker 1>and in the space of just a few years had

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<v Speaker 1>become one of the Tsar's most trusted advisers. To some,

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<v Speaker 1>Rasputin was a revered and inspirational figure, a financially impoverished

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<v Speaker 1>farmer who'd used faith to pull himself up from his

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<v Speaker 1>humble beginnings, endured many hard years as a wandering holy man,

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<v Speaker 1>and had now earned his place in the winter Palace

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<v Speaker 1>next to Czar Nicholas the Second. To others, Mutine was

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<v Speaker 1>anything but holy, perhaps even demonic. His disheveled appearance and long,

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<v Speaker 1>greasy hair suggested to some that although Rasputin no longer

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<v Speaker 1>lived in the wilderness, evidently the wilderness still lived in him,

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<v Speaker 1>and that was nothing compared to the apparent filthiness of

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<v Speaker 1>his private life. Rumours abounded of Rasputin's womanizing, his regular

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<v Speaker 1>visits to brothels, and his addiction to sin. Some believed

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<v Speaker 1>he was a high ranking member of the Clerste, a

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<v Speaker 1>clandestine religious sect which split from the Russian Orthodox Church

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<v Speaker 1>during the seventeenth century. The Klerste sought religious enlightenment through

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<v Speaker 1>what they described as ecstatic rituals orgies. According to the rumors,

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<v Speaker 1>Rasputin was said to have adapted the Cleistay's doctrine into

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<v Speaker 1>his own hedonistic belief system, which promoted sinful to baucherous

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<v Speaker 1>behavior as a means of getting closer to God. It

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<v Speaker 1>was said, too, that he'd even extended this practice to

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<v Speaker 1>include the Czar's wife, Alexandra. Ever since Rasputin had seemingly

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<v Speaker 1>miraculously healed the royal couple's only son, Alexey, he'd become

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<v Speaker 1>a palace fixture. Both Nicholas and Alexandra appeared to spend

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<v Speaker 1>more time with Rasputin than with each other, so naturally,

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<v Speaker 1>with all the rumours about his womanizing ways, many drew

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<v Speaker 1>their own conclusion. Regardless of whether any of these rumors

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<v Speaker 1>were true or not, what was undoubtable was Rasputin's unusual

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<v Speaker 1>hold over the royal couple. To some, it was as

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<v Speaker 1>though he'd put a spell on them, Despite his general

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<v Speaker 1>air of unkempt wildness. What made Rasputin so captivating was

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<v Speaker 1>his gaze. His eyes were eerily pale, and his stare

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<v Speaker 1>was penetrating, almost hypnotic. With huge sways of the city's

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<v Speaker 1>population attending seances, having their palms read, or seeking medical

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<v Speaker 1>help from spiritual healers, it wasn't at all hard for

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<v Speaker 1>people to believe that Rasputin was quite literally hypnotizing the

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<v Speaker 1>Czar and Czarina. How else to explain his unprecedented access

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<v Speaker 1>to the couple and his unnervingly quick ascent into their

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<v Speaker 1>inner circle. Rasputin himself did little to dispel these rumors.

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<v Speaker 1>At parts, he would brag about his influence over the

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<v Speaker 1>couple and openly claim that he had the supreme ruler

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<v Speaker 1>under his command. Despite Rasputin's apparent lack of tact when

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<v Speaker 1>he was out on the town, it seemed the Royal

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<v Speaker 1>couple were either oblivious to how all of this looked

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<v Speaker 1>or simply didn't care to addict it to the validation

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<v Speaker 1>he offered them. Ever since the First Russian Revolution in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen oh five, Nicholas's power had been steadily waning. He'd

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<v Speaker 1>managed to stave off an all out revolt by passing

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<v Speaker 1>the October Manifesto, which granted civil liberties to citizens and

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<v Speaker 1>vastly weakened his autocratic rule. At the time, he'd felt

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<v Speaker 1>he had no other choice, and the decision had haunted

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<v Speaker 1>him ever since. Within only a few years, political unrest

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<v Speaker 1>was made again. By the early nineteen tens, Russia was

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<v Speaker 1>once again overwhelmed by strikes and protests as more and

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<v Speaker 1>more of its citizens began to question the system, but

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<v Speaker 1>Resputin encouraged the Tsar to ignore it. He should have

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<v Speaker 1>confidence in himself and in his authority. He told him.

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<v Speaker 1>He also reminded him that the will of the people

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<v Speaker 1>was inconsequential, he had been chosen by God for this position.

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<v Speaker 1>The Russian Orthodox Church was also emphatic on this point.

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<v Speaker 1>Its doctrine stated that the tsar was appointed by God,

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<v Speaker 1>so any challenge to the czar was in effect an

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<v Speaker 1>insult to the Lord. Nicholas was emboldened by Resputin's unwavering conviction,

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<v Speaker 1>trusting no one else, He began to consult him directly

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<v Speaker 1>on political matters, asking for his guidance on what ministers

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<v Speaker 1>to appoint to his inner circle. Rasputin's rise to power

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<v Speaker 1>seemed as unstoppable as it was inexplicable. Effectively, he seemed

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<v Speaker 1>to be secretly running the country. To everyone outside, Nicholas

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<v Speaker 1>was seen increasingly as a weak and indecisive leader whose

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<v Speaker 1>every move was being orchestrated by a dangerous Charlatan puppet master.

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<v Speaker 1>Something had to be done about it. In June of

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen fourteen, Rasputin traveled back to his home village of

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<v Speaker 1>Boklovskoy to visit his wife and children, where he received

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<v Speaker 1>a hero's welcome. After all, it wasn't common for people

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<v Speaker 1>to ever leave this remote Siberian village, let alone make

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<v Speaker 1>it all the way into the royal court. Meanwhile, hundreds

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<v Speaker 1>of miles away, one young farmer wasn't so pleased. Thirty

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<v Speaker 1>three year old Keyonya Guseva met Rasputin several years before

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<v Speaker 1>during his traveling pilgrim days, and had been impressed by him.

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<v Speaker 1>Keonya's face was striking, not least of all because her

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<v Speaker 1>nose had been almost entirely eaten away by disease. But

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<v Speaker 1>unlike so many others, Father Grigory seemed not to notice it.

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<v Speaker 1>It was all the proof she needed that he was

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<v Speaker 1>indeed blessed with religious powers. That was until another priest,

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<v Speaker 1>a rival of Rasputin called Iliodore, took Keyonya under his

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<v Speaker 1>wing and opened her eyes to the truth. Rasputin was

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<v Speaker 1>a false prophet, he said, a sinner and a violator

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<v Speaker 1>of women. She'd been hearing stories about him ever since,

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<v Speaker 1>about its womanizing, his debauched parties, is occult powers. Over time,

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<v Speaker 1>she became fixated on Rasputin in a different way. One night,

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<v Speaker 1>in a small wooden shack hundreds of biles from Pukroskoy,

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<v Speaker 1>Keanya sat reading a familiar passage in her Bible under

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<v Speaker 1>the dim light of a solitary candle. Then fire from

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<v Speaker 1>the Lord came down and burned the sacrifice. When all

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<v Speaker 1>the people saw it, they fell down to the ground, crying,

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<v Speaker 1>the Lord is God, The Lord is God. Then Elijah said,

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<v Speaker 1>capture the prophets of Bar. Don't let any of them

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<v Speaker 1>run away. When the false prophets were captured, Elijah led

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<v Speaker 1>them down to the Kishon Valley, where he slaughtered them all.

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<v Speaker 1>Then Elijah said to Ahab, now go go eat and drink,

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<v Speaker 1>because a heavy rain is coming. Key read the story

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<v Speaker 1>over and over again. With each reading, the words seemed

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<v Speaker 1>to burn brighter and brighter on the page. It was

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<v Speaker 1>all becoming clear to her. She knew exactly what she

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<v Speaker 1>had to do. On June twenty ninth, nineteen fourteen, the

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<v Speaker 1>day after he arrived in Pokrovskoy, Rasputin left his family's

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<v Speaker 1>home and walked out into the afternoon sunshine. As the

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<v Speaker 1>gate closed behind him, he turned his head to see

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<v Speaker 1>a woman in black walking quickly towards him. The woman's

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<v Speaker 1>face was hidden behind a white cloth, so that only

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<v Speaker 1>her eyes were visible. Assuming the woman wanted some kind

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<v Speaker 1>of blessing, Rasputin stopped and locked eyes with her. The

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<v Speaker 1>woman stopped too, seeming suddenly a little hesitant. Then she

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<v Speaker 1>bowed to him. For a brief moment, Rasputin saw the

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<v Speaker 1>cloth fall from the woman's face to reveal a shocking

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<v Speaker 1>wound where her nose should have been. Something glinted in

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<v Speaker 1>the sun. Then Rasputin felt a cold, sharp pain in

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<v Speaker 1>his stomach. He looked down to see the woman's hand

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<v Speaker 1>against his cassock and what was clearly a dagger disappearing

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<v Speaker 1>into his body. Rasputin screamed in pain as the woman

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<v Speaker 1>withdrew a fifteen inch blade. In terror, he turned and

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<v Speaker 1>ran as the woman chased him with the bloody dagger.

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<v Speaker 1>Within seconds, a crowd had descended on the scene. As

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<v Speaker 1>several onlookers tackled the woman, now revealed to be Keyonya Gusiva.

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<v Speaker 1>Rasputin collapsed to the ground from blood loss. That night,

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<v Speaker 1>as Rasputin continued to lie unconscious, a doctor performed emergency surgery.

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<v Speaker 1>Keyanya's blade had damaged several of his internal organs, and

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<v Speaker 1>although the surgery was a success, the doctor warned Rasputin's

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<v Speaker 1>family that he would be lucky to survive the night.

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<v Speaker 1>Rasputin spent the next few days dipping in and out

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<v Speaker 1>of consciousness, barely breathing. Whenever he did come too, he

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<v Speaker 1>was completely delirious. A priest arrived to administer his last rites.

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<v Speaker 1>Newspapers across the nation ran headlines announcing the assassination attempt.

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<v Speaker 1>They said Rasputin was on his deathbed with no hope

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<v Speaker 1>of survival. But then one morning, Rasputin opened his eyes

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<v Speaker 1>and sat up in bed. The following day he was

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<v Speaker 1>deemed well enough to be transferred to a hospital in Tumin,

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<v Speaker 1>the nearest major city. In the end, despite immense blood

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<v Speaker 1>loss and internal injuries, Resputin made a full recovery. He

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<v Speaker 1>had survived a mortal wound. As words spread of his

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<v Speaker 1>remarkable recovery, more rumors began to fly that the legendary

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<v Speaker 1>healer had healed himself. Resputin was unkillable. Some weeks later,

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<v Speaker 1>he returned to Saint Petersburg, a legend, where he was

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<v Speaker 1>greeted with open arms by the Czar and Czarina. They

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<v Speaker 1>couldn't have been happier to see him return. They needed

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<v Speaker 1>him now more than ever, because war was on the horizon.

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<v Speaker 1>That summer of nineteen fourteen, the mood in Saint Petersburg

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<v Speaker 1>was restless. The city ground to a halt amid hundreds

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<v Speaker 1>of workers strikes. Another uprising seemed inevitable, or, as one

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<v Speaker 1>newspaper put it, we are living on a volcano. But

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<v Speaker 1>Czar Nicholas was distracted from the domestic chaos by an

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<v Speaker 1>even larger looming threat. The longstanding tensions between Russia and

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<v Speaker 1>its neighboring empire Germany were at boiling point. The German

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<v Speaker 1>and Kaiser Wilhelm, the second was Nicholas's cousin, and they'd

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<v Speaker 1>always maintained a relatively friendly relationship, now though it seemed

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<v Speaker 1>family ties were no longer enough. In June, the assassination

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<v Speaker 1>of Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand sparked the outbreak of war.

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<v Speaker 1>As nations mobilized their militaries all across Europe, Russia found

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<v Speaker 1>itself caught between its close ally Serbia, and the hostile

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<v Speaker 1>empires of Germany and Austria Hungary. By August, the German

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<v Speaker 1>government had declared war on Russia. But first this proved

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<v Speaker 1>to be a political win for the Czar. War as

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<v Speaker 1>a way of stoking up patriotism even among those previously

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<v Speaker 1>indifferent to such things when your immediate survival is suddenly

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<v Speaker 1>all that matters. And so for the most part, the

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<v Speaker 1>Russian people forgot about revolution as they rushed to defend

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<v Speaker 1>their borders. Shortly after the declaration of war, Czar Nicholas

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<v Speaker 1>and Czarina Alexandra made an appearance on the balcony of

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<v Speaker 1>the Winter Palace. There they were greeted by a huge

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<v Speaker 1>exuberant crowd, who chanted God save the King. Together. After

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<v Speaker 1>years of mounting resentment from the public, the Czar felt

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<v Speaker 1>beloved and powerful again. War had reinvigorated him, but not

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<v Speaker 1>everybody shared the public's enthusiasm. Britain's King George the Fifth,

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<v Speaker 1>another cousin of the Czar, sent a letter pleading with

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<v Speaker 1>Nicholas to demobilize the Russian army in the hope of

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<v Speaker 1>de escalating the conflict and avoiding an all out world war. He,

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<v Speaker 1>like many other allies, was concerned that the Tsar's judgment

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<v Speaker 1>was compromised, he had become dangerously over confident in his

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<v Speaker 1>and Russia's capabilities, and that the malign influence of Rasputin

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<v Speaker 1>was to blame. But the Tsar refused to take heed.

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<v Speaker 1>After all, was it King George who'd survived certain death,

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<v Speaker 1>or Father Grigory, who better to trust than a clear

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<v Speaker 1>vessel of the Lord himself. But now that Russia had

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<v Speaker 1>entered the war, the stakes had never been higher, and

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<v Speaker 1>the rumors about the mysterious mystic monk, as Rasputin came

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<v Speaker 1>to be known, grew ever wilder. Soon, an allegation began

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<v Speaker 1>to circulate that he had in fact been planted inside

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<v Speaker 1>the royal court as a double agent and was leaking

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<v Speaker 1>secrets to Germany. These rumors spread like wildfire among the

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<v Speaker 1>Russian nobility, the church, and the general public. Over the years,

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<v Speaker 1>Several of the Tsar's allies tried to make him see

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<v Speaker 1>what a mistake he was making. They told him that

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<v Speaker 1>his dependence on Rasputin was affecting his reputation, that giving

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<v Speaker 1>the mystic monk so much influence over policies and appointments

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<v Speaker 1>was eroding the public's trust in him. The French magician Papus,

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<v Speaker 1>another of the Czar and Czarina's trusted confidants, was unequivocal,

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<v Speaker 1>writing to the Czarina at the end of nineteen fifteen.

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<v Speaker 1>Rasputin is a vessel like Pandora's box and contains all

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<v Speaker 1>the vices, crimes, and lusts of the Russian people. Should

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<v Speaker 1>this vessel break, we shall immediately see these horrible contents

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<v Speaker 1>spilled all over Russia. When Rasputin was informed of the

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<v Speaker 1>letter by the Tzarina, he concurred, why I've told you

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<v Speaker 1>that many a time, When I die, Russia will perish.

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<v Speaker 1>Tzar Nicholas ignored all the warnings to him. The benefits

0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:31.320
<v Speaker 1>of Rasputin vastly outweighed the costs, and not only because

0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:35.680
<v Speaker 1>he told him exactly what he wanted to hear. Rasputin

0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:40.199
<v Speaker 1>also had a calming influence on Alexandra, who was prone

0:19:40.240 --> 0:19:45.440
<v Speaker 1>to anxiety. Better ten Rasputins than one of the Empress's

0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:49.920
<v Speaker 1>hysterical fits, as he once put it to Russia's Prime minister.

0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:56.240
<v Speaker 1>But what Nicholas dismissed as hysteria was, in actuality, an

0:19:56.440 --> 0:20:03.640
<v Speaker 1>entirely rational response to an increasingly dangerous reality. If Alexandra

0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:08.639
<v Speaker 1>felt a sense of impending doom, an unshakable fear that

0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:14.840
<v Speaker 1>everything was about to fall apart, she was right. In

0:20:14.880 --> 0:20:19.520
<v Speaker 1>the spring and summer of nineteen fifteen, a wofully under

0:20:19.520 --> 0:20:24.720
<v Speaker 1>equipped Russian army suffered a series of devastating losses, with

0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:30.480
<v Speaker 1>thousands of Russian soldiers killed or taken prisoner by German forces.

0:20:31.880 --> 0:20:36.639
<v Speaker 1>With few other options, commanders ordered a retreat and withdrew

0:20:36.720 --> 0:20:40.960
<v Speaker 1>the Russian Army from much of the Eastern front. Sir

0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:47.040
<v Speaker 1>Nicholas was furious. Withdrawal was a sign of weakness, precisely

0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:51.199
<v Speaker 1>the thing he'd been working so hard to avoid. But

0:20:51.359 --> 0:20:55.320
<v Speaker 1>when officials tried to persuade him that the Russian army

0:20:55.440 --> 0:20:58.800
<v Speaker 1>had bitten off more than it could chew, he dismissed

0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:05.280
<v Speaker 1>them angrily. In August nineteen fifteen, Nicholas made a fateful decision.

0:21:06.119 --> 0:21:10.920
<v Speaker 1>Encouraged by both the silver tongued Rasputin and by the Czarina,

0:21:11.520 --> 0:21:15.800
<v Speaker 1>he fired his uncle, Grand Duke Nicholas, the commander in

0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:20.240
<v Speaker 1>chief of the Russian armies, and so the Tsar took

0:21:20.320 --> 0:21:25.000
<v Speaker 1>control of them instead and departed immediately for the front lines.

0:21:26.359 --> 0:21:30.880
<v Speaker 1>In his absence, the Tzarina Alexandra became the de facto

0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:36.720
<v Speaker 1>reigning monarch, with Rasputin by her side. As always, to

0:21:36.840 --> 0:21:41.320
<v Speaker 1>many onlookers, it seemed the so called mystic Monk had

0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:46.680
<v Speaker 1>finally achieved exactly what he wanted. He was now effectively

0:21:47.119 --> 0:22:02.359
<v Speaker 1>ruling the entire country through Alexandra. All along the Eastern Front,

0:22:02.920 --> 0:22:07.680
<v Speaker 1>freezing and starving, Russian soldiers swapped stories about the many

0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:13.280
<v Speaker 1>things they'd heard about Rasputin. Soon word was spreading that

0:22:13.359 --> 0:22:17.080
<v Speaker 1>he'd recently tried to start a cholera epidemic in Saint

0:22:17.080 --> 0:22:23.000
<v Speaker 1>Petersburg using a shipment of poisoned apples secretly imported from Canada.

0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:27.840
<v Speaker 1>The soldiers wondered, why should they die in the mud

0:22:28.000 --> 0:22:32.080
<v Speaker 1>while such a man reigned supreme at the Winter Palace.

0:22:33.400 --> 0:22:36.439
<v Speaker 1>It was all just more fuel to the growing public

0:22:36.520 --> 0:22:41.000
<v Speaker 1>resentment of the royal family and the wider ruling classes.

0:22:41.840 --> 0:22:44.320
<v Speaker 1>It was clear to a growing number of the Russian

0:22:44.400 --> 0:22:48.560
<v Speaker 1>nobility that if the monarchy had any chance of surviving,

0:22:49.240 --> 0:22:54.639
<v Speaker 1>Rasputin had to be stopped by any means necessary. In

0:22:54.760 --> 0:23:01.000
<v Speaker 1>mid December nineteen sixteen, Prince Felix Usupov, the wealthiest man

0:23:01.080 --> 0:23:05.320
<v Speaker 1>in Russia at the time, invited Rasputin to dinner at

0:23:05.359 --> 0:23:11.640
<v Speaker 1>his home, the Usupov Palace in Saint Petersburg. Rasputin arrived

0:23:11.680 --> 0:23:15.000
<v Speaker 1>a few nights later, the sound of a party in

0:23:15.119 --> 0:23:21.080
<v Speaker 1>full swing coming from upstairs, indistinct chatter and the distant

0:23:21.160 --> 0:23:25.960
<v Speaker 1>strains of Yankee Doodle Dandy being played on a gramophone.

0:23:27.119 --> 0:23:31.159
<v Speaker 1>After greeting Rasputin at the door, Usupov led him to

0:23:31.240 --> 0:23:35.080
<v Speaker 1>the cellar and served him a glass of Madeira wine

0:23:35.119 --> 0:23:40.080
<v Speaker 1>and a slice of cake. Unknown to Rasputin, there was

0:23:40.160 --> 0:23:44.000
<v Speaker 1>no party upstairs, and both the wine and the cake

0:23:44.480 --> 0:23:50.080
<v Speaker 1>were laced with a lethal dose of cyanide Yusupov watched

0:23:50.119 --> 0:23:54.880
<v Speaker 1>on eagerly as Rasputin ate the cake and drank the wine,

0:23:55.920 --> 0:24:00.000
<v Speaker 1>and when he'd finished, he simply asked for another glass

0:24:00.080 --> 0:24:05.399
<v Speaker 1>of the wine. Usupov was stunned. Trying his best to

0:24:05.520 --> 0:24:10.640
<v Speaker 1>hide its confusion, he poured Rasputin a second glass. Surely

0:24:10.720 --> 0:24:15.480
<v Speaker 1>this would see him off, he thought, but Rasputin continued

0:24:15.480 --> 0:24:21.199
<v Speaker 1>to drink, seemingly completely unaffected by the poison. With no

0:24:21.320 --> 0:24:26.960
<v Speaker 1>other choice, Prince Yusupov was forced to lead Rasputin upstairs

0:24:27.119 --> 0:24:32.240
<v Speaker 1>to the supposed party. Rasputin was then led into a

0:24:32.359 --> 0:24:37.720
<v Speaker 1>room full of men, not party guests, but coke conspirators

0:24:37.760 --> 0:24:44.000
<v Speaker 1>of Usupov. As the large, hulking frame of Rasputin stepped

0:24:44.040 --> 0:24:47.560
<v Speaker 1>into the room, the men tried their best to hide

0:24:47.640 --> 0:24:54.360
<v Speaker 1>their dismay. This dismay soon turned to fear. They'd always

0:24:54.400 --> 0:25:01.720
<v Speaker 1>dismissed the stories about Rasputin's mystical powers, especially his supposed infallibility,

0:25:02.560 --> 0:25:06.920
<v Speaker 1>And yet here he was, two glasses of cyanide down,

0:25:07.520 --> 0:25:11.320
<v Speaker 1>and not a hint of discomfort on his face. The

0:25:11.400 --> 0:25:15.520
<v Speaker 1>men greeted him warmly and invited him to join them.

0:25:16.640 --> 0:25:21.760
<v Speaker 1>After some time talking, Rasputin finally complained of a burning

0:25:21.840 --> 0:25:27.000
<v Speaker 1>sensation in his stomach and a heavy head Yusupov offered

0:25:27.080 --> 0:25:31.480
<v Speaker 1>him another glass of the poisoned wine. Perhaps that might help,

0:25:31.600 --> 0:25:38.359
<v Speaker 1>he said. Rasputin gladly accepted it. The men watched on

0:25:38.600 --> 0:25:43.880
<v Speaker 1>again with barely concealed horror as the mystic monk finished

0:25:43.880 --> 0:25:55.399
<v Speaker 1>off his third glass without any complaint. Slowly, As a

0:25:55.440 --> 0:25:59.520
<v Speaker 1>few of the would be assassins continued to engage Rasputin

0:25:59.600 --> 0:26:05.080
<v Speaker 1>in colmonsation, a small group of them quietly excused themselves

0:26:05.119 --> 0:26:10.320
<v Speaker 1>from the room. Moments later, the men who'd left met

0:26:10.400 --> 0:26:13.600
<v Speaker 1>in a neighboring room to discuss what on earth they

0:26:13.600 --> 0:26:20.040
<v Speaker 1>should do next. The conversation descended into angry chaos. Finally,

0:26:20.440 --> 0:26:24.200
<v Speaker 1>one man hit his breaking point. He strode back into

0:26:24.240 --> 0:26:28.640
<v Speaker 1>the dining room, pulled out a pistol, and shot Rasputin

0:26:28.960 --> 0:26:33.880
<v Speaker 1>at close range. The bullet landed close to his heart.

0:26:34.440 --> 0:26:40.600
<v Speaker 1>A deadly blow, Rasputin crumpled to the ground, unconscious and

0:26:40.720 --> 0:26:46.760
<v Speaker 1>bleeding profusely. His breath grew labored and ragged, until finally

0:26:47.480 --> 0:26:52.199
<v Speaker 1>it stopped. The men watched on with a mix of

0:26:52.320 --> 0:26:56.600
<v Speaker 1>shock and relief, the smoke from the gun tailing off

0:26:56.640 --> 0:27:01.199
<v Speaker 1>into the air. One of the men took tentative, stepped

0:27:01.280 --> 0:27:05.639
<v Speaker 1>forward and stood over the body, then leapt back in

0:27:05.800 --> 0:27:11.520
<v Speaker 1>horror as Rasputin's eyes shot open. As the men looked

0:27:11.560 --> 0:27:16.200
<v Speaker 1>on numbly, a wild eyed Rasputin staggered to his feet

0:27:16.640 --> 0:27:21.400
<v Speaker 1>and launched himself at Prince Yusupov. It was as though

0:27:21.440 --> 0:27:26.240
<v Speaker 1>the devil himself had entered him. He grabbed for Yusupov,

0:27:26.600 --> 0:27:31.040
<v Speaker 1>but was pulled away by the other men. However, despite

0:27:31.119 --> 0:27:34.800
<v Speaker 1>having just been shot in the heart, Rasputin was too

0:27:34.880 --> 0:27:39.040
<v Speaker 1>strong for them. He broke from their grasp, stumbled out

0:27:39.080 --> 0:27:44.280
<v Speaker 1>of the room, and disappeared down the darkened hallway. He

0:27:44.359 --> 0:27:48.920
<v Speaker 1>made it into the courtyard outside before the group finally

0:27:49.000 --> 0:27:59.880
<v Speaker 1>caught up with him. Outside in the freezing winter air,

0:28:00.520 --> 0:28:04.520
<v Speaker 1>under the pale light of a waning moon, Prince Yusupov

0:28:04.640 --> 0:28:08.600
<v Speaker 1>and his men charged into the courtyard to find a

0:28:08.680 --> 0:28:12.920
<v Speaker 1>man with lank, black hair in a long black cassock,

0:28:13.400 --> 0:28:17.199
<v Speaker 1>stumbling away from them. His hand was clutched to his

0:28:17.400 --> 0:28:21.480
<v Speaker 1>chest and a line of blood trailed behind him on

0:28:21.600 --> 0:28:30.240
<v Speaker 1>the icy ground. Stop. They yelled, but the man, seemingly possessed,

0:28:30.760 --> 0:28:36.159
<v Speaker 1>continued to stagger forward. A volley of gunfire rang out

0:28:36.720 --> 0:28:41.840
<v Speaker 1>as a hail of bullets flew into Rasputin's back. Finally,

0:28:41.960 --> 0:28:46.480
<v Speaker 1>he collapsed again, and this time he did not get

0:28:46.560 --> 0:28:50.960
<v Speaker 1>back up. But Prince Yusupov was leaving nothing to chance.

0:28:51.760 --> 0:28:56.160
<v Speaker 1>They bound Rasputin's hands and feet with thick rope and

0:28:56.240 --> 0:29:00.080
<v Speaker 1>wrapped his body in a sheet of linen. They bundled

0:29:00.160 --> 0:29:03.600
<v Speaker 1>him into a car and drove out to Petrovsky Island

0:29:03.920 --> 0:29:08.280
<v Speaker 1>in the west of the city. Together, the assassins threw

0:29:08.440 --> 0:29:12.560
<v Speaker 1>Rasputin's body into the freezing waters of the Neva River.

0:29:13.640 --> 0:29:17.640
<v Speaker 1>They watched somberly as it slipped beneath the surface and

0:29:17.760 --> 0:29:22.800
<v Speaker 1>into the black waters below, until the ripples gradually receded

0:29:23.280 --> 0:29:28.440
<v Speaker 1>and the body could no longer be seen. Finally, having

0:29:28.520 --> 0:29:34.320
<v Speaker 1>survived a stabbing, a poisoning, and a seemingly fatal gunshot wound,

0:29:34.920 --> 0:29:42.000
<v Speaker 1>Grigory Rasputin was dead. The temperature dropped below zero that night,

0:29:42.520 --> 0:29:47.400
<v Speaker 1>and the river froze almost solid as a result. It

0:29:47.480 --> 0:29:51.840
<v Speaker 1>took many days for the police to find Rasputin's body.

0:29:53.120 --> 0:29:57.520
<v Speaker 1>When the icy corpse was finally recovered, an autopsy was

0:29:57.560 --> 0:30:03.600
<v Speaker 1>conducted soon after, where in water was found in Rasputin's lungs,

0:30:04.680 --> 0:30:08.720
<v Speaker 1>after all that he'd still been breathing when he hit

0:30:08.920 --> 0:30:19.960
<v Speaker 1>the water. When news of Rasputin's death reached the public,

0:30:20.320 --> 0:30:26.080
<v Speaker 1>people celebrated in the streets among their compatriots. Prince Yusupov

0:30:26.160 --> 0:30:30.320
<v Speaker 1>and his fellow assassins were held up as patriotic heroes

0:30:30.680 --> 0:30:33.400
<v Speaker 1>who'd done what had to be done to save the

0:30:33.480 --> 0:30:38.800
<v Speaker 1>Russian Empire. For a while, the ruling classes hoped that

0:30:38.920 --> 0:30:43.200
<v Speaker 1>getting rid of Rasputin would mean the Czar began listening

0:30:43.240 --> 0:30:48.440
<v Speaker 1>to their advice again, but the damage had already been done.

0:30:48.640 --> 0:30:52.800
<v Speaker 1>In fact, Rasputin's murder only added to the sense of

0:30:52.920 --> 0:30:56.920
<v Speaker 1>chaos and decline that had surrounded the palace for years

0:30:57.400 --> 0:31:02.480
<v Speaker 1>and fueled the public's anger. By then, the war had

0:31:02.520 --> 0:31:06.080
<v Speaker 1>been raging for more than two years and had taken

0:31:06.120 --> 0:31:11.960
<v Speaker 1>a devastating toll on Russia's economy and infrastructure. The nation's

0:31:12.040 --> 0:31:17.320
<v Speaker 1>morale was obliterated, and with hundreds of thousands living in

0:31:17.400 --> 0:31:24.520
<v Speaker 1>poverty and starvation. Anti monarchy sentiment came roaring back. In

0:31:24.640 --> 0:31:31.200
<v Speaker 1>March of nineteen seventeen, the Russian Revolution began. The streets

0:31:31.200 --> 0:31:35.360
<v Speaker 1>of Saint Petersburg were consumed by violent riots, and Czar

0:31:35.520 --> 0:31:41.040
<v Speaker 1>Nicholas was forced to abdicate his throne. At long last,

0:31:41.080 --> 0:31:46.480
<v Speaker 1>the Romanov dynasty had fallen, and with it the Russian Empire.

0:31:47.640 --> 0:31:53.960
<v Speaker 1>It was seemingly just as Rasputin had predicted, when I die,

0:31:54.280 --> 0:31:59.520
<v Speaker 1>Russia will perish. As furious hordes closed in on the

0:31:59.560 --> 0:32:04.160
<v Speaker 1>winter Alice, Nicholas, Alexandra, and the rest of their family

0:32:04.600 --> 0:32:08.120
<v Speaker 1>made a desperate attempt to flee the city, but they

0:32:08.120 --> 0:32:13.640
<v Speaker 1>were captured by the revolutionary forces and held prisoner in Siberia.

0:32:14.880 --> 0:32:22.040
<v Speaker 1>On July seventeenth, nineteen eighteen, Nicholas, Alexandra, their five children,

0:32:22.640 --> 0:32:26.240
<v Speaker 1>and several members of the Imperial Entourach who had been

0:32:26.280 --> 0:32:32.680
<v Speaker 1>imprisoned alongside them were executed On the night they were slaughtered.

0:32:33.000 --> 0:32:36.920
<v Speaker 1>Each member of the family had an ambulet around their necks.

0:32:37.760 --> 0:32:41.000
<v Speaker 1>When they were removed from the bodies later that day,

0:32:41.800 --> 0:32:46.160
<v Speaker 1>each were found to contain a small prayer and a

0:32:46.200 --> 0:32:58.240
<v Speaker 1>photograph of Grigory Rasputin. This episode was written by Emma

0:32:58.280 --> 0:33:04.040
<v Speaker 1>Dibden and Richard mcla Unexplained as an AV Club Productions

0:33:04.080 --> 0:33:08.640
<v Speaker 1>podcast created by Richard McClain smith. All other elements of

0:33:08.680 --> 0:33:12.080
<v Speaker 1>the podcast, including the music, are also produced by me

0:33:12.360 --> 0:33:17.400
<v Speaker 1>Richard McClain smith. Unexplained. The book and audiobook, with stories

0:33:17.520 --> 0:33:20.440
<v Speaker 1>never before featured on the show, is now available to

0:33:20.480 --> 0:33:25.840
<v Speaker 1>buy worldwide. You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones,

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0:33:32.920 --> 0:33:36.360
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0:33:36.400 --> 0:33:39.160
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0:33:39.240 --> 0:33:41.840
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