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Iakov UrovskiyKiller of the royal family.
Country:
 Russia |
Content:
- Biography of Yakov Yurovsky
- Early Life and Career
- Involvement in the Revolution
- Execution of the Romanov Family
- Later Life and Death
Biography of Yakov Yurovsky
Yakov Mikhailovich Yurovsky, also known as Yankel Khaimovich, was born in 1878 in Kainsk, Tomsk Province (later known as Kuybyshev from 1935). He came from a family of Jewish descent, with his grandfather being a rabbi from Poltava. His father, Haim, was exiled to Siberia for theft and worked as a glassblower, while his mother, Esther Moiseevna, was a homemaker and seamstress. Yurovsky was the eighth of ten children in the family.
Early Life and Career
In 1885, Yurovsky enrolled in the "Talmateiro" school associated with the synagogue in Tomsk. However, he did not complete the first year of his studies. He then learned tailoring and watchmaking, working as an apprentice in Tobolsk and Tomsk. In 1904, his two brothers emigrated to America, while Yurovsky married Mane Yankelova (Kaganer) and moved to Ekaterinodar, where he became involved in storing and distributing revolutionary literature.
Involvement in the Revolution
In August 1905, Yurovsky joined the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party and became a Bolshevik. He became a close friend of Yakov Sverdlov, a prominent Bolshevik leader. In 1907, Yurovsky returned to Ekaterinodar and later moved to Tomsk, where he opened a watch shop. In 1912, he was arrested for revolutionary activities and was exiled to Ekaterinburg.
During World War I, Yurovsky was conscripted into the army and sent to a medical school to become a field medic. However, he remained at a local hospital as a staff sergeant medic and never made it to the front lines. In February 1917, he became a member of the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.
Execution of the Romanov Family
From October 1917, Yurovsky served in the Ekaterinburg Military Department and became the Chairman of the Investigative Commission of the Ural Regional Revolutionary Tribunal. He also served as the Commissioner of Justice for the Ural Region and a member of the Regional Cheka (Soviet secret police). On June 4, 1918, Yurovsky became the commandant of the Ipatiev House, where the Romanov family was held captive.
On the night of July 16-17, 1918, following orders from Yakov Mikhailovich Goloshchekin, Yurovsky personally executed Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, their children, and their remaining servants in the basement of the Ipatiev House. He then supervised the disposal of the bodies. On July 18, 1918, Yurovsky reported the execution of the royal family to Sverdlov.
After fleeing Ekaterinburg with the retreating Red Army, Yurovsky abandoned his elderly mother to her fate. From August 1, 1918, he served as an investigator for the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (Cheka) in Moscow, where he participated in the investigation into the Fanny Kaplan assassination attempt against Vladimir Lenin. In November 1918, he became the organizer and head of the district Cheka in Moscow.
Later Life and Death
In March 1919, Yurovsky was appointed as the Deputy Head of the Administrative Department of the Moscow Soviet. He was later sent to the Vyatka Province, where he served as the Chairman of the Cheka. After the capture of Ekaterinburg by the Red Army in 1919, he became the Chairman of the Provincial Cheka. In July 1920, Yurovsky moved to Moscow for medical treatment due to a stomach ulcer.
On July 21, 1920, Yurovsky turned over the valuables of the executed Romanov family to the Kremlin commandant, Malkov. He subsequently held various positions in Moscow, including managing the Organizational and Instructional Department of the People's Commissariat for Communications.
In the late 1933, Yurovsky retired from his career due to health issues. He spent his final years in the Kremlin Hospital, haunted by visions of his bloody past. He died on August 2, 1938, in extreme agony from a stomach ulcer perforation.
