Pip: Welcome to Froebel Galleries — where the historical record is always one polygraph test and one gold coin away from getting very complicated.
Mara: Today we're following ioannesfrobenius into one of history's most debated identity cases: the woman who lived quietly in Newport, Rhode Island, insisting she was Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaevna Romanov — and the friend who knew her best.
Pip: Let's start with the moment that gives this episode its name.
"Daddy!" — The Woman Who May Have Been Anastasia
Mara: The central question here is whether Eugenia Smith — also known as Evgenia Smetisko — was who she sometimes seemed to suggest she was: the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, somehow surviving what history declared a closed case.
Pip: The post draws on a firsthand account from Wally Aulenbach, a Newport neighbor who knew her for years. He describes the moment he showed her a replica gold coin bearing the Tsar's image — and she reacted in a way he hadn't expected. Here's what he wrote: "Her eyes lit up and she smiled and like a child exclaimed 'Daddy!'"
Mara: That single word — involuntary, unguarded — is what the entire account orbits. Aulenbach is careful not to claim it proves anything. He frames it as one of several cryptic moments that made him wonder, then reconsider.
Pip: And she gave him reason to reconsider in both directions. She told him outright, "Anastasia died in prison" — while also saying things like "I remember when my sisters and I swam in my father's bathtub."
Mara: Aulenbach describes her as sharp, energetic into her nineties, devoted to Russian Orthodox faith, and quietly focused on her St. Nicholas House Foundation — working toward a Russian history museum. She painted extensively, signing most works "OTMA," the initials of the four Romanov daughters.
Pip: She had also passed a thirty-hour polygraph in 1963 — which is either very convincing or an extraordinary commitment to a story, depending on where you stand.
Mara: The DNA evidence and bone fragment analysis have officially closed the case, though the Russian Orthodox Church has not recognized those results. Researchers, including J. Froebel-Parker — whose book "Anastasia: Still a Mystery?" is cited — continue examining the evidence, noting that no bone fragment set is a precise match for Anastasia's expected height and age.
Pip: So the case is closed, the Church disagrees, the bones don't quite fit, and a ninety-year-old woman once called a coin portrait "Daddy." History is tidy like that.
Mara: What Aulenbach concludes is quieter than any verdict: she was a good friend, a kind person, and someone whose priorities — faith, family, her projects — never included publicly claiming a throne.
Pip: An unguarded word, a signed painting, a vegetarian dinner — sometimes the evidence that lingers isn't the forensic kind.
Mara: The research continues. So does the question.
In the summer of 2026 this author was blessed and honored to make the acquaintance of a number of friends of Newport, Rhode Island resident alias Evgenia (Eugenia) Smetisko (Smith) who had insisted that she was HIH Anastasia Nicholaevna Romanov, Grand Duchess of Russia. One of these loyal friends, Mr. Wally Aulenbach, shared that she many times referred to Anastasia in the 3rd person, even while she had substantiated her true identity in 1963 during a 30 hour polygraph lie detector self.
This author asked Mr. Aulenbach if he would pen some observations, memories, questions about Evgenia/Eugenia/Anastasia as it would be an important primary source of information about her.
The following are his thoughts, for which he is most heartily thanked. W. Aulenbach’s reminiscences appear aligned centered to highlight his contribution.
In the fall of 1990, I heard an announcement at the Newport Congregational Church about an upcoming event, a talk on something to do with Russian history being given by a church member. I did not know the person giving the talk since the elderly woman had difficulty dealing with the many stairs in the very historic church and was no longer attending services regularly.
Nothing was unusual about the lecture by Eugenia Smith (aka Evgenia Smetisko) and nothing was mentioned about her own life in Russia but she was very knowledgeable and a talented speaker. After the lecture the two guys next to me began debating whether or not she was possibly the Grand Duchess Anastasia, one a yes and the other no. Curious about how this seemingly quite “normal” elderly woman could stir up this little bit of controversy.
I went up to introduce myself to her. We had a friendly, “light” chat, and she suggested I call her and we could chat more at a later date. Although I don’t recall the details of what we talked about that first meeting it seems she seemed to want to make sure I wasn’t a reporter or something like that.
Alias Eugenia Smith (Evgenia Smetisko) ca age 93, Newport RI. Photo H/T Wally Aulenbach
She invited me over for home cooked dinners regularly which was great as I was single, although the meals were always vegetarian. Although I was not a vegetarian I enjoyed her cooking, particular her eggplant dish. The only thing I didn’t care for as much was borscht but she served it occasionally hoping I would develop a taste for it.
It didn’t matter to me if her true identity was Anastasia or not. She felt a strong desire to educate others in Russian history, about the imperial family, the Russian Orthodox Church. She seemed to have an attachment to the imperial family, the Russian people, and leaned heavily into her Russian Orthodox faith.
She quietly worked in her education projects and most of all on her foundation the St. Nicholas House Foundation which she continued to raise money for eventually establishing and/or supporting a Russian history museum. She enjoyed painting very much. Her place was kept tidy and organized. Eugenia was sharp and focused.
I was surprised at her energy level. She could cook, clean up, and have energy left to work on her projects, this at 90 plus.
She had beautiful portraits of the Emperor and Empress on her wall. She referred to them as such. The only time she did not refer to Tsar Nicholas II as Emperor was when I caught her off guard once and showed her a replica gold coin with the Tsar’s image on it that I purchased at a flea market. Her eyes lit up and she smiled and like a child exclaimed “Daddy!”.
It was a rare moment of her of possibly revealing something but regardless was surreal hearing what sounded like a young child’s voice coming out of a 90 year old, She refused to discuss her possibly having an alternate identity and told me outright, “Anastasia died in prison”. However there were times where I wondered for a moment, then think back to that and forget it. These are examples of things that in times of reflection or chatting after dinner that made me wonder, but she was careful to be “cryptic” enough to not reveal much.
None of these indicate identity, so these kept in line with her maintaining her privacy.
“I remember when my sisters and I swam in my father’s bathtub”. “My father told me that he never got a hot meal except when he was at the front line”. “We thought it was good luck – it didn’t’ turn out to be” – this was in reference to when doves flew in the Kazan church during 300 year Romanov celebration.
by E.Smetisko./A. Romanov in The Art of the Authoress of Anastasia by J. Froebel-Parker
She was a remarkable painter and signed most as “OTMA”. I enjoyed going into her gallery. There were a few favorites, such as the one of the Tsar Nicholas II blessing the troops.
Tsar Blessing Troops by E. Smetisko/A. Romanov in The Art of the Authoress of Anastasia by J. Froebel-Parker
Another favorite showed the Tsar with Igor Sikorsky. A most pleasant memory was of a visit from Nicholai Sikorsky whocame from Connecticut to Newport to visit Eugenia one Saturday morning. Eugenia wanted me to meet him when he came. I found him to be quite warm and friendly and enjoyed the visit very much.
Igor Sikorsky with Tsar by E. Smetisko/A. Romanov in The Art of the Authoress of Anastasia by J Froebel-Parker
Perhaps someday we will have more definitive answers with regards to the bones as well as to Eugenia’s life, particularly her true origin. But that did not seem to be important to Eugenia. If by some miracle she did survive the tragedy and live later as “Evgenia Smetisko”, she was content knowing that she along with her family were recognized and united, as being Saints, by the Russian Orthodox Church.
There are many pleasant memories of Eugenia. She was a good friend, a kind person, with a good sense of humor and whocould be a little bit feisty at times. She was dedicated to her Russian Orthodox faith and held hope that the faith was still strong in Russia among the people there. She was driven to achieve her goals of setting up or supporting a museum about Russian history. She felt enjoyed and felt compelled to educate about Russian history particularly Imperial Russia, the Byzantine Empire and the Russian Orthodox Church. Her priorities were her faith, her family, her projects, and she seemed into her nineties to have a remarkable amount of energy. She did not have any interest in pursuing publicly any claim of being royalty (such as what might be typical of an “impostress”).
However, there were clues that made it seem it was a possibility that she could have been. There is no definitive proof of it, however. The case has been essentially declared closed with DNA evidence and analysis of bone fragments. It is nevertheless interesting that the Russian Orthodox Church has not officially recognized the results. Additionally it is noted that there is not definitive and universal acceptance regarding which set of bone fragments are Anastasia as none seem to be a clear match with regards to height and age, perhaps close but not exact (this has been attributed to Anastasia possibly having an undocumented growth spurt at the end of her life).
There is ongoing research being done with regards to the Anastasia mystery and Evgenia Smetisko particularly that of author and researcher J Froebel-Parker. Among other books he has written “Anastasia: Still a Mystery?”, a fascinating read; histriabooks.com/product/grand-duchess-anastasia (Histria Books, 2024).
In the summer of 2026 this author had the greatest of pleasures to meet friends of the late Eugenia Smith (aka Evgenia Smetisko) who had claimed, until her death in 1997, to have been the surviving youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, nee von Hessen und bei Rhein. We had been connected in correspondence by another friend of hers, Wally A, who is a follower of this author on social media. What transpired and continues to progress organically is a wealth of new, to this author, information about the former Newport, Rhode Island resident.
We will not delve into the minutiae of her entire will, shared with this author by one of her group of younger and loyal friends, but share some immediate takeaways, leaving a more indepth analysis for a future article.
The readers familiar with her story as depicted in GRAND DUCHESS ANASTASIA: STILL A MYSTERY? (histriabooks.com/product/grand-duchess-anastasia) already know that alias Evgenia/Eugenia/Anastasia passed a grueling polygraph lie detector test in 1963 with polygraph expert, Grover Cleve Backster, whose protocols for polygraphic examination are still used by the CIA and other agencies. After 15 hours of “Evgenia’s” insisting that she was a mere “friend” of the youngest grand duchess of Russia, Backster confronted her with his observation that she was being “deceptive.” “You are not a friend of Anastasia,” he pointed out. “We shall now reexamine you from the viewpoint of your being Anastasia herself.” She did. Fifteen hours worth. After a total of thirty hours of examination, Backster exclaimed, “She is telling the truth! She is who she purports to be! She is Anastasia Romanov.” This was reported in the October 18, 1963 edition of Life Magazine.
Grover Cleve Backster, Polygraph Expert
In 2015 VIsual Face Recognition technology pioneer, Robert (Bob) Schmitt, analyzed photos of the young verifiable Grand Duchess Anastasia with those of the then 62 year old “Evgenia/Eugenia Smetisko/Smith,” with the conclusion, expressed to this author, “It is obviously the same person!” Later in 2018, a 3D analysis corroborated the earlier findings. An analysis of “Evgenia” with the verifiable Empress Alexandra, who was Anastasia’s biological mother, also showed amazing congruence lending credence to the mother/daughter relationship.
After her January 1997 death “Evgenia” was not immediately buried. The reason? She had reportedly wished to be “buried in Russia “ with her family. If not, she had stipulated that she wished to be buried in a “wooden coffin” in Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York (jordanville.org). Here arises a conundrum. As she was attending a Congregational Church in Newport, Rhode Island, the monastery was not sure she was even “Orthodox.” Orthodox graves are reserved for baptised Orthodox believers. After unsuccessful attempts to have her initial wish fulfilled to be buried in Russia, her body was, after months, transported and interred in the Herkimer County Orthodox Monastery cemetery.
Was she really Anastasia? Was she really Orthodox? We know that she attended Orthodox services as she is seen in the Life Magazine photo attending one with a candle in hand during a service, probably a panikhida or commemorative service of the dead for the imperial family, assumed murdered. The tsar’s friend, Igor Sikorsky, aviation genius, had helped to organize the Russian Orthodox Church of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, Stratford, Connecticut which “Evgenia” did attend when she had transportation. Photos of her visit are in the possession of the author, thanks to her friends who helped her to attend. It should be noted that his son, Nicholas, is known to have visited her in Newport, Rhode Island.
Nikolai Sikorsky
What is clear in her last will and testament is that the majority of her monetary bequests were made to Russian and Greek Orthodox churches and entities.
For historical reference a list is hereby presented without the amount which was bequeathed to each.
St. Job Russian Orthodox Church in Brussels, Belgium in memory of Count Apraxin
Russian Library Department at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland (in memory of former tutor to the Imperial children, Mr. Pierre Gilliard.
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral for the perpetual care of Mr. Nicholas A. Sokolev’s grave who investigated the murder of the Imperial Family
Russian Greek Orthodox Church in Juneau, Alaska, in memory of Emperor Nicholas II
Russian Orthodox Church in Sitka, Alaska
St. Seraphim Russian Orthodox Church in Sea Cliff, Long Island, New York “in memory of my late friend, Princess Natalia Urusoff’ (Princess of Natalya Vladimirovna Urusova, 1874–1963.) Before passing away on October 12, 1963, she took monastic vows. She is buried at the Holy Trinity Orthodox Monastery cemetery in Jordanville, New York, the same cemetery as Evgenia/Anastasia.
Princess Natalya Vladimirovna Istomina Urusova
Holy Trinity Cathedral in Chicago, Illinois
Russian Theological Fund Seminary, Bowling Green, New York
St. Nichodemus Russian Church, Athens, Greece
Sovereign Order of the Orthodox Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem, Former Russian Grand Priory in St. Petersburg
Russian Cathedral of the Holy Virgin, New York, New York
Holy Resurrection Church, Palatin, Illinois
St. Peter and Paul Church, Syracuse, New York
Holy Virgin Protection Church, Glen Cove, New York
Russian Orthodox Convent “Novo Diveevo”, Spring Valley, New York
St. Nicholas Church, Poughkeepsie, New York
St. Alexander Nevsky Church, Richmond, Maine
The Church of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, Stratford, Connecticut
Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, New York (to which she also arranged to receive an annuity in perpetuity
St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, Buffalo, New York
The Nativity of Christ Church, Rochester, New York
St. John of Kronstadt Church, Utica, New York
St. Sergius Church, Parina, Ohio
Holy Trinity Church, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Orthodox Church of the Resurrection of Christ, Taylor Falls, Minnesota
Christ the Savior Orthodox Church, North College, Indiana
New Russian Martyrs Church, Mulino, Oregon
Christ the Savior Church, London, Ontario
Hieromonk Job Stete Prophet Elias, Mount Athos, Greece
St. Vladimir Theological Seminary, Christwood, New York
Three Saints Russian Orthodox Church, Ansonia, Connecticut
Emperor’s Gate Church, London, England
Eglise Russe, Cannes, France
Mathildenhohe Russia Kapelle, Darmstadt, Germany
Old People’s Home Church, Darmstadt, Germany
Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas, The National War Memorial Shrine, Washington, D.C.
Sts. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, Manville, New Jersey
Assumption Orthodox Church, Canton, Ohio
Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church, Wayne, New Jersey
Christ the Savior Orthodox Church, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Nicholas, Nice, France
St. Tikhov’s Monastery, South Cannon, Pennsylvania
Eglise Russe St. Nicholas, Brussels, Switzerland
Moscow Linguistic University
Was Evgenia/Eugenia/Anastasia Orthodox? Her last wishes and bequests seem to substantiate that she was indeed. More to follow in subsequent installments.
Restored Icon of the Annunciation to the Virgin, bequeathed to Museum at Holy Trinity Orthodox Monastery and dubbed, “Anastasia’s Icon”
In 2025 L. Todd Wood, founder of Creative Destruction Media (CDM) invited author J (Johannes) Froebel-Parker, author of GRAND DUCHESS ANASTASIA: STILL A MYSTERY? (histriabooks.com/product/grand-duchess-anastasia) on to his program to discuss the research into Anastasia Romanov’s survival under the pseudonym Evgenia Smetisko (Eugenia Smith) who had lived her last years in Newport, Rhode Island. The following is a transcript with a link to the taped conversation:
Participants: L. Todd Wood (LTW) and John Froebel-Parker (JFP)
LTW: Researcher, John Froebel-Parker, let me start over. We are lucky to have author and researcher John Froebel- Parker today, and he’s got quite a story. Our new publishing arm Vindicta Publishing is actually putting out his second book Grand Duchess Anastasia : Still a Mystery? Thanks for coming on, John!
JFP: Thank you so much, Todd. I really appreciate it.
LTW: So, I met you, gosh, it’s been a decade ago. how long?
JFP: A while, right?
LTW: About 10 years. We looked at doing some projects on what we’re going to talk about, but before we get into all that, tell us how you got to this story of Anastasia Romanov?
JFP: Well I think, Todd, you probably also as a child too were intrigued by the story of the Romanovs.
LTW: Weren’t we all !
JFP: We were bombarded with all kinds of movies with Ingrid Bergman for example, reading it in Life Magazine what happened to them; did they all die? It was really always present in my life from the time I could read or was able to go out into the library and find my own material to read. I would say that I accepted the sacrosanct narrative that they had all been killed by Cheka forces in 1918 and it was a pity, that is until I realized that history is not always the way that it is presented to us. Now especially watching CDM I realize the news is not always what I’ve been listening to in the mainstream media, not what it really is.
LTW: Well, I thinkeveryone is realizing that what we’ve been taught is maybe not all correct or is wrong about history in general.
JFP: Absolutely. Many times I was in East Germany visiting friends, visiting relatives, and I could see from one side of the border to the other how the same story could be presented in two different ways: one laudatory one accusatory. At a very early age I was able to see the discrepancy in reporting. Due to that lucky experience to have been able to go to the DDR (GDR) and hear the Communist version of things.
LTW: We’re going to talk about Anastasia Romanov and the book Anastasia Again: The Hidden Secret of the Romanovs which we’re Republishing (note: titled GRAND DUCHESS ANASTASIA: STILL A MYSTERY?), but what really got me when I met you was how you came upon this entire story with the monastery and the priests and all of that. Also how you were introduced to the art. I mean that’s fascinating!
JFP: Thank you so much. Since 1991 I have had an art gallery. You can see a little bit of it around me in my home. I had a friend who became Russian Orthodox then became a priest. He told me one day that they had this interesting case at the monastery; a woman claimed that she had been Anastasia Romanov. Of course they reject that, because for the Orthodox they were martyrs of the faith. He explained, “We believe they were murdered in 1918, but she’s leaving us a lot of Romanov memorabilia.” Many things were museum-worthy, but she was a painter in her old age in her 80s in her 90s. “We have no use for those paintings, because we believe that she was a well-meaning but somewhat off the beaten path little old lady. Would you like these paintings and, if so, we know you have a gallery. You could you make an offer for them and we’ll see if the bishop will bless that purchase.” Sure enough, I made an offer, and the bishop blessed the offer and a box of 35 paintings and embroideries came to my door. I looked at them, and I said, “Wow! These are sort of autodidactic, but they show a lot of promise. This person has artistic talent!” I remembered that Anastasia herself had a lot of artistic talent too. It was my mother who was going through the paintings with me, and we pulled out these embroideries. The embroideries seemed much much older than somebody who had done it maybe five or 10 years ago. In fact, they looked like they had been done a hundred years ago. My mother, a seamstress, looked at the little seed pearls that had been sewn into the material and asked, “What is that? O.T.M.A.” I looked at it and said that’s an acronym that means Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia. That is the acronym that they used when they did projects together.” The four Romanov sisters! I think what happened, whether at that point I realized that the paintings were by Anastasia or by a little old lady, these particular embroideries were anomalous. These were something else. They were not religious in nature, and I think that’s why they were overlooked and put into my my collection of art.
LTW: Your box, right?
JFP: Exactly, and it turned out to be a kind of Pandora’s Box. I think I’m like you; when I hear something I have to find out why it is happening. I need to know for my own sense of well-being. I said, “Well, who is this lady?” I would keep asking “Well, where’s she buried? I want to see her grave?” The answer came back, “Well, we’re not even sure she’s Orthodox, but she was nice to us and we’re going to give her a grave.” Nobody would take me, so finally you’ll read in the book that after many years of going through trying to learn enough Cyrillic alphabet to decipher her pseudonym. I came upon her grave at the Russian Orthodox Monastery. Remember that when she was living in Newport, Rhode Island she was going to a Reformed Church, not an Orthodox church. They were not sure that she was even Orthodox, but they gave her a grave with an Orthodox cross. That is probably the moment where I felt the “Eureka moment.” I said, “I don’t need the Cyrillic alphabet to see that the date of birth was Anastasia Romanov’s. It’s June 18th, 1901! I had seen that all of the documentation online for “Evgenia Smetisko” was 1899, so there was a discrepancy. That’s where I said no! It’s Occam’s Razor going on here. If that’s the date on her tomb, that’s probably the date related to her body in the tomb.
LTW: Right, so that’s the introduction. Then you started digging and the curious mind that you are you found a lot more interesting coincidences, let’s say.
JFP: Well, yes, and I think you were part of that too, because I realized that she had left an annuity in perpetuity to the monastery of many thousands of dollars per annum.
LTW: Annually.
JTP: Yes, annually.
LTW: That requires quite a big principle in the bank which means that she had given the monastery a lot of money every year and that was the interest or earnings of the money that was sitting in the bank to create this annual stream. So the money sitting in the bank was extremely large.
JFP: It was extremely large and remember she was the directress of the not-for-profit St. Nicholas House Foundation in Newport. Rhode Island. I went on to the Newport Rhode Island reports of non-for-profit organizations which said that this particular organization which had been set up to promote Russian culture and help Russian churches. It had assets of 54 million dollars.
LTW: She was a clerk in a store most of her life. JFP: She was a milliner, a hat maker.
LTW: Then she lived off the good graces of many of the well-to-do people who took her in and uh let her live with them until this foundation was established in Newport, Rhode Island, so the question is, how did the foundation get tens of millions of dollars?
JFP: Right, exactly and I just want to interject there that you are aware of how non-for-profits work. Non-for-profits may have a director or a directress; they have a board of directors, and these decisions of how to allocate funds are made in a group by consensus. I heard when I was in the museum I saw this beautiful altar cloth that had come from Tsarskoye Selo (note: the town containing a former residence of the Russian imperial family and visiting nobility) and she wanted it for the collection of that foundation. Now it’s in the museum at the monastery. The board of directors had said, “No, no, no, we don’t want you to buy it, it’s too expensive!” The tour guide said she overrode them. She said,”No I want it! We’re bidding on it! We’re purchasing it!”
LTW: Wow! I don’t know how many non-for-profits work like that where the director can override the board of directors if they’re saying no.
JFP: When you say no, “It’s my Imperial wish to buy that particular item which I assume she recognized from Tsarskoye Selo.
LTW: Then you started digging into her background, and tell us what you found or what she said was her background.
JFP: She said to people that she was a married but single immigrant from Eastern Europe coming from she said Ukrainian sometimes she said she was German. She never said she was Russian MH and that her husband was in Croatia, Marijan Smetisko. In 1963 Life Magazine goes to Croatia to find Marijan Smetisko, and he says, “I don’t know who that lady is. I never met her let alone married her. I have no idea who she is.” You’ll read in the book, in the memoirs part, that when she is leaving Bolshevik Russia she joins a group of people. One of them is a Croatian. Then it dawned on me that in the course of talking every single day she picked up enough information to create a persona for herself as a Croatian.
LTW: So eventually she came to the US and ended up giving another story at some point. How did that happen?
JFP: She did seem to have a manuscript with her that she said that her friend, Anastasia Romanov, had given to her and entrusted to take out to the world, but it “wasn’t hers.” She was just the friend who was delivering it. She approaches Speller, Robert Speller and Son in New York. They think it’s pretty interesting, but they said, “We would like you to take a lie detector test. You know we’re interested in what your friend, Anastasia, had to say.” That’s where she meets Grover Cleve Backster, the founder of the CIA polygraph protocols. He’s well known in New York and his techniques are still used today. He grills her for 15 hours and said “Well, you’re Anastasia’s friend and how did this happen?” After 15 hours he said, “You’re deceiving me. You’re not Anastasia’s friend, you’re somebody else! I want you to do another 15 hours with me as Anastasia to see what the difference is.” For the next 15 hours she answers,”I am Anastasia. I am the grand duchess.” She passes, and Grover Cleve Backster whose protocols are still used today proclaims, “She’s telling the truth! She is who she says she is!” That’s, I think, the moment where she sort of breaks out of her pseudonym and enters into this new incarnation of really being herself.
LTW: Eventually, she wrote a book told about her recovery in a basement or something like that.
JFP: Exactly right, and these memoirs are included the book that we’re publishing, and I’m commenting on some of it too, giving it some context.
LTW: Totally understand. So, what happened next?
JFP: Next, Todd, is that she begins a foundation which is dedicated to the promulgation of a positive image of Russia, of the Imperial family, and anti-Bolshevik history. She still uses the name of “Evgenia Smetisko” (Eugenia Smith), and she’s living in Newport Rhode, Island; she’s going to the nearby Reformed Church. Many of the Orthodox people that I talked to asked why an Orthodox woman would ever go to a Reformed Church. It’s anathema. I said, “Have you ever been in the Reformed Church in Newport decorated by LaFarge? It’s is orientalism; it’s very ornate, it looks more like a Russian Orthodox Chapel or church than it does a Protestant church. She could walk to it. At this point I thought to myself that going to an Orthodox Church during the Cold War when people think you’re Anastasia may not be a good idea. You’re sort of a Sitting Duck. Nobody’s going to look for you in a Reformed Church.
LTW: The Russians or the Bolsheviks wanted her gone, obviously at that point, right?
JFP: That point comes out in the book too about why they sort of blew their cover by thinking that she was alive many months after the supposed murder. That would be an interesting part for readers to delve into. Why were they still (note: the Bolshevik authorities) looking for Anastasia? Why were they still looking for Michael Romanov (note: the tsar’s brother) when they were supposedly dead? LTW: There’s a discrepancy even in the Bolshevik version. People will say that they found her bones, but according to you what you told me is that they found some bones but they never identified her. They identified Maria, am I correct?
JFP: I did a 2D visual face recognition analysis on the skull purported to be Anastasia and it doesn’t match Anastasia’s face at all. It does match Maria’s perfectly. The American researcher, Dr. Maple, said even at that time he was telling his Russian compatriots and colleagues that this skull was not Anastasia. It’s Maria! In a sense he said, “They don’t believe me and I’m out of here.” There was a conflict of interest, I think.
LTW: Then you did some facial recognition which was fascinating!
JFP: Right, and I want to say thank you very much to the late Bob Schmidt (note: renowned pioneer in VFR technology). I contacted him after watching a piece on the History Channel about Jesse James. Maybe some of your listeners don’t know the famous American outlaw. His family insisted that Jesse had lived with them until almost 96 years old. They insisted he didn’t die, killed by the feds. That was not him in the grave and they had pictures of him later with the long white beard. Bob Schmidt using his then 2D visual face recognition technology, put the two faces together and said, “Look, this is the young Jesse and this is the nonagenarian Jesse, and they’re the same person.” This led to an exhumation of the body of “Jesse James” quote unquote and it wasn’t Jesse James at all. It was the son of a penniless neighbor who had a son who died and needed a grave. “There, I’ll give you a great grave and a funeral, but he’s going to have my name on his tomb.”
LTW: Didn’t he find Amelia Earharttoo or verify her image?
JFP: Thomas Edison yes. Perhaps Amelia. Richard Wagner. An early photograph of Abraham Lincoln, so he had experience with facial recognition.
LTW: A decade ago.
JFP: Absolutely, he was given the honor of having determined the earliest photo of Abraham Lincoln.
LTW: We will add this to the interview. You put together the facial recognition of Anastasia when she was 18 or whatever age she was when she supposedly died as a teenager and then Evgenia Smetisko.
JFP: Right, and then it was a match according to Bob. I sent the photo off to Bob and let Bob do his magic. Some months went by and thought perhaps I’d never hear from him again. All of a sudden he sent me an email in which he wrote, “ John, it’s the best one I’ve done in 30 years. It’s definitely the same woman!” He added he had 3D technology in the pike. “Let’s wait until I get that perfected and we’ll do a 3D analysis.” I had to ask, “What do you think? Do you think it will take away from your findings?” He assured me it probably would be more substantiation. I think you’ve seen the 11 minute video where he actually merges the two faces in a three-dimensional plane. It’s exactly the same woman.
LTW: There were four imposters including her.
JFP: You can look at the other faces and it’s obvious it’s not the same person even without the 2D technology.
LTW: With Evgenia you’re at least intrigued. Like, wow! That could be the same person and you put it in the facial recognition (software), and it’s spooky how exact it is.
JFP: In the book there’s actually a picture of the toddler Anastasia maybe as 2-year-old and then 60 years later the 62-year-old “Evgenia.” Even without the 2D analysis you look at it and you say well that baby is Evgenia, it is Anastasia! It’s the same lady without the 2D, and then the 2D just clarifies it more.
LTW: Then you started approaching the Russian authorities, and you had an interesting thing happen once you showed them or, no, you talked to the priest in New York.
JFP: Right.
LTW: Then something interesting happened in Moscow. Tell our audience about that.
JFP: I don’t know if it’s a coincidence; there are no coincidences. I told them that I had 2D visual face recognition technology and as soon as I had 3D I’m going to the press. Within about two weeks a story came out internationally that the bodies (note: the remains) had been exhumed out of the church where they had been buried and were now in a laboratory in Moscow. I didn’t realize at that time that the bishop of the monastery where “Evgenia” is buried was in Moscow at that very moment meeting with Patriarch Kirill. I will never know for sure, but I would surmise that probably my saying that I was going to go to the press, and you’re part of the press; you’re part of this whole process, probably got to the patriarch. Perhaps they decided they had better get those bodies into a laboratory.
LTW: So they exhume the bodies in St Petersburg, right? They exhume the bodies literally weeks aftermyou told the priest in New York about the situation.
JFP: Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but I don’t believe it. I believe it’s a “godwink.”
LTW: So you put this book out several years ago and it got some attention.
JFP: Actually a lot of attention.
LTW: Now Vindicta Publishing is going to republish this, and I’m just going to put this up here so people can see what we’re doing. Here, this is the book, and you can order it at histriabooks.com/product/grand-duchess-anastasia or anywhere books are sold. It is one of the most fascinating stories I’ve ever seen, and I tell people, John, even if it’s not true it’s a great story. You know, it’s a great story!
JFP: Then we’d have to write another work asking how she was such a great impostress that we can’t even distinguish her face from Anastasia’s face.
LTW: Right! Right! How did she get money that would have only been the money for Grand Duchess Anastasia? You know, amazing! Amazing!
On February 17, 2020 Garrett Roche, then host of the Monday Morning Show on WGXC (90.7 FM) in Hudson, New York organized a round table discussion including author J. (Johannes) Froebel-Parker and Catskill, NY artist, Barbara Korr Green. Froebel-Parker, for many years researching the claims of aka Evgenia Smetisko (Eugenia Smith) that she was HIH Anastasia Nicholaevna Romanov, had authored Anastasia Again: The Hidden Secret of the Romanovs (ahnentafelbooks.com) and later Grand Duchess Anastasia: Still a Mystery? (Histria Books, 2024) histriabooks.com/product/grand-duchess-anastasia. Green, long established in Catskill, New York and known at Cus D’Amato Gym on North Street, Catskill where Mike Tyson, among others, had trained, produced the life size portrait of Smetisko/Smith as Anastasia Romanov in full court costume. The guests and Roche discuss art, Romanovs, Froebel (founder of kindergarten), and other aspects of Green’s art along with Froebel-Parker’s Anastasia Romanov research. The following is a transcript of the interchange.
Guests were Garrett Roche (G.R), Victoria Signorelli (V.S.), Barbara Korr Green (B.G), J (Johannes) Froebel-Parker (JFP) and Michael Famoso (M.F)
Romanovs, Fröbel, and Mike Tyson
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Garrett Roche (G.R):
01:18:11
All right, if you hear that, that is Lara’s Theme from Dr. Zhivago. I have some appropriate background music here for a little bit. I am Garrett Roche of the Monday Morning Show here on WGXC 90.7 FM, Radio for Open Ears. We have returned after news and station ID. Happily, joyfully. With a studio packed full of guests, we have John Parker, Anastasia Again, the Hidden Secret of the Romanovs, Barbara Green, Catskill artist who has painted, Anastasia, Princess Ekaterina, and also Mike Tyson. And then we have Michael Famoso carrying taking photos, videos with his phone. Thank you. Michael Famoso of Web’s Unweaved, LLC from Albany, carrying over with our next, with our second hour guest and Victoria Signorelli still in the house.
Well, first of all, it’s an honor to be on the global network that you are producing right now with such fabulous guests. I’m honored to be there with John, a fabulous author and masterwork writer of Anastasia Again: The Hidden Secret of the Romanovs and all the things that John is doing. Thank you John.
JFP: My pleasure for all your help.
G.R.: You’re a good man and I appreciate being in your circle.
JFP: As i appreciate being with you, Garrett, and your guests as well.
G.R.: And, of course, if you’re calling 518-8280-290 and you’re calling internationally, which there is a very good chance thanks to John Parker’s proactiveness of tweeting the archives to kingdom come from his previous appearances with us we could receive a call from overseas so please do remember to put that 001 before the number if you’re calling dialing internationally, and now we are going to go on to some Anastasia discussion and a little bit of Mike Tyson thrown in there as well because besides. John Parker, Michael Famoso, Victoria Signorelli still here on the sideline; We have Barbara Green, Catskill artist who painted Mike Tyson who trained in Catskill, New York, as many may be aware or may not be aware.
So, without further ado, Barbara Green is a Catskill artist who’s painted the likes of Mike Tyson, as well as his trainers, Kevin Rooney and the late Cus D’Amato. And then she has done about 30 paintings altogether, from what I understand. Is that what you have you done? About 30, and then, of course, Anastasia Romanova, as she envisioned her had she lived till age 40, which there is a chance she may have under the pseudonym of Evgenia Smetisko, as John Parker has mentioned on several previous broadcasts.
and on Kieran Riley’s Afternoon Show and Barbara has also painted Princess Ekaterina Ivanovna Konstantinovna Romanov. John brought along a copy of the painting with him today. Barbara, you’re coming along, keeping your chin up. I understand you’re clearing up from a bit of a cold, but you seem in good spirits now, so you’re plugging forward all the same.
01:33:47
Thank you so much to you and for all of you for coming today, following through, backing up your words with actions, always very encouraging these days. So, Barbara, what do you have to share with us today? You have a latest painting to share with us that you’ve done on one of the, it was a princess, is it Maria?
B.G.: Well, actually, yes, she just finished Maria Pavlovna, who was a Russian princess who came then into Germany, into the duchy of Saxe Weimar Eisenach.
JFP: I commissioned Barbara to please paint her for me because Maria Pavlovna, not only was she a noble but she was very much a promoter a supporter of Friedrich Fröbel and his educational principles of kindergarten. In fact, she even embroidered a rug to auction off to raise funds for the kindergarten movement so she’s a very important person in the kindergarten story. If a film is ever made about the first kindergarten which is the title of a book that I’ve written, Maria Pavlovna would have to be one of the principal protagonists. So, I asked Barbara to please study her and bring her talent to make Maria alive for the viewer and she did that.
G.R.: Barbara, could you explain a little bit about Maria Pavlovna and please go right up to the mic.
B.G.: Maria Pavlovna, I found her very interesting because she was a royal and yet she presented in a very simple, no jewelry. very unpretentious manner. She had a very sensitive and warm face, so she was a lovely subject to paint, and I enjoyed very much painting her. It was also during the Napoleonic era, and so the fashion at that time, it was very unadorned. It’s based on the Greco-Roman concept of the very loose, flowing clothes. And she just seemed like a very lovely young woman that you’d want to get to know.
JFP: I was very happy that you did include, though, speaking of jewelry, her pink sapphire perure, which we decided to put into the portrait.
B.G.: Yes, that’s right. And, again, it was not as jewel-encrusted as you see later on and before. Everything was very scaled down. Very modest. There was a great modesty about her, I thought.
JFP: Which was in contrast to the portrait of Anastasia, which you completed, which you had a lot of pearls and a lot of diamonds.
B.G.: A lot of diamonds and rubies and pearls. Different era, different tastes. Absolutely.
G.R.: To say the least. And I just found out that phone call coming in on my personal line, it was fair enough that I didn’t get a chance to answer it on the air because I believe it was a telemarketer, a gremlin. Anyway, I wonder what Maria Pavlovna would have said about that.
V.S.: I don’t think she would have liked it.
G.R.: Banned from court.
V.S.: Yeah, out, out.
JFP: Indeed, and, Barbara, as a as an observer of Barbara’s art I have to say it’s very entertaining and impressive that she’s gone from portraits of Mike Tyson, you know this raw right sort of masculinity and unadorned to very adorned nobility so she’s got a broad spectrum. Barbara, please share for the listening audience about your holocaust work that was
G.R.: Yes, that was the other subject you’d like to discuss.
B.G.: I did a rather large series of the Holocaust and also of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. So the historical stuff is interesting to me. I have to say.you learn so much doing it, and you get really in touch with that time period. It’s like a time travel thing you know so I always enjoy that very much .
G.R.: Do you learn a lot about the historical periods that you’re researching?
B.G.: Absolutely! You really need to have a sense of it to bring that into the painting. I’ve had commissions of painting people who are deceased, and it’s a big responsibility because the person isn’t there for you to meet, so you have to. The photographs give you something, but I always talk to as many family members as I can to try to get the essence of who I’m painting because it’s very important, I think, and it is a responsibility. Because people come away with that image, and you want to be true to it as much as you can.
JFP: I noticed that when we painted, you painted, Princess Ekaterina Ivanovna Konstantinovna Romanov, because we had very few portraits, or very few photographs to work with.
B.G.: And we did speak to her family to get pointers on. Yes, we did. She was a mystery person, because I think of her, the circumstances of her early life, I think probably left her with a great deal of fear and maybe a little paranoia thrown in because, you know, they were so close to the Tsar.
G.R.: Barbara, I don’t see the meters going up much. Excuse me while you’re speaking. Can you come closer to the mic, please?
B.G.: I’m really close.
G.R.: Now you’re good. Now you’re perfect. You’re spot on.
B.G.: I probably was moving back and forth. I’m sorry.
G.R.: No, apology whatsoever. But it was interesting hearing your take on Princess Ekaterina there.
JFP: And Garrett, thank you for coming to the unveiling and Vicki.
V.S.: That was very nice.
G.R.: You are so welcome, John. That was March 10th, last year, 2019.
B.G.: It’s almost a year now.
G.R.: Can you believe it? Yeah. And we were just discussing earlier with Vicki, I can’t believe I’ve been doing this, kind of pushing a year, seven months, as host of the Monday Morning Show. But last year on March 10th, and that was at… What was the name of that center again, John?
JFP: The Ravena-Coeymans Historical Society in Ravena, New York.
G.R.: There was a Romanov descendant there.
JFP: Yes, it was a great honor to receive them and have them there during the unveiling.
G.R.: We’ll withhold their name for now, but hopefully maybe she’ll come forth on her own and call in or come on the air. That would be nice. And as Victoria said, it was a full house. It was a full house, just like what we have right now. A full house! And we were speaking about how it’s amazing how Barbara has gone from painting a boxers to painting these very elegant ladies of the Romanov Royals. And I’d like to mention that when you walk into that Albert Newton Briggs Manse, John, that we’ve been at together thanks to your invite and when you walk in and you see that painting of Anastasia there as Barbara envisioned her at age 40 I mean it fits perfectly in that because of the gold trim on the painting and the fabric walls.
JFP: The wallpaper. Yes, exactly. And you know what’s very interesting for me as a genealogist? It’s what I would call a god -wink, is that the Albert Newton Briggs Manse was built by Albert Newton Briggs in Coeymans, New York. For all the listeners Albert Newtown Briggs is two times a relative via my mother. The manse was built in 1832, but he’s still a fourth cousin.
G.R.: Albert Newton Briggs the ice magnate. The ice man cometh .So he made his money shipping ice from the Hudson River, cutting the ice out all winter long, putting it under sawdust, and then sending it to New York because there was no refrigeration.
JFP: That’s right! And interesting, it has nothing to do with portraiture, but an interesting feature of that house is that in the floorboards, which are Georgia pine. Those floorboards came out of the ships, the 1832 ships that had been going back and forth to New York City with the ice. As they were decommissioned, the floorboards came out and they went into what was then in 1832 his new house including the balustrade that originates in one of the ships. They were really sort of forward thinking about reusing recycling repurposing even in 1832.
G.R.: Back to speaking about painting boxers. I know a couple of boxers perhaps down the road a little way, maybe you could paint. I have a dear friend, Francy Barrett is his name. He’s from County Galway, Ireland he now lives in London, England, but he won the gold medal for boxing in the Summer Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta.
B.G.: And is he still boxing?
G.R.: No, he hung up his boxing gloves at age 33, but he’s only born in 77. He’s only two years older than myself. Now he works with, often working on lorries, as they call the trucks over there. Then with scrap metal. He was the first of the people known as Irish travelers to ever box in the Olympic games and he won the gold medal. Then my best friend from Tralee, County Kerry Ireland, Robert O’Brien he’s won three boxing titles for Ireland and one for Europe. And he was on Kieran Riley’s show in person. He’s also called in my show several times and Kieran’s show. He came with his family on December 11, 2017. He was on Kieran’s show. They stayed at the St. Charles Hotel here in Hudson.
B.G.: Oh, how lovely. It’s amazing how non-aggressive the boxers are in person, right? They’re so gentle.
G.R.: Yes, in person, but yet their fists are registered as lethal weapons. So maybe you could paint them sometime. Oh, it would be Francie Barrett and Robert O’Brien. Oh, Mr. Tyson. Right. Please, if you’re listening, you’re much more than welcome, sir, to call in. 518-828-0290 and or anyone else would like to. 001 before that number if you’re dialing internationally.
JFP: And, Mike, if you’re listening in, I want to tell you that I bumped into you literally in Dunkin’ Donuts on Madison Avenue in Albany one day. You were going in with your buddies, and I was coming out, and our shoulders bumped. I don’t know if you remember that. And you were very polite, and I thought, wow, what a nice way to meet somebody. And so that’s a nice memory that I have. You probably don’t remember, but it meant a lot to me at that time. And then I met Barbara, who turns out is my fourth cousin also. We had no idea when we did our DNA. Then she told me a lot about painting you and drawing you in the gym in Catskill. And Barbara, those memories are historical records, really. Could you share something about that era of Mike in the Catskill gym and what that meant to you and the impressions that you had from that time?
Mike Tyson and Cus D’Amato by Barbara Green
B.G.: My husband and I actually met Mike through Cus D’Amato. Cus became his guardian when he was about 13. And he came through a guard at a correctional facility where Mike was. Cus took him into his home. He lived there and he trained him. Of course, he became a great world champion. You know, we know that. He was very polite, always to me. My father in Brooklyn grew up in the same neighborhood that he did. And he met my dad and called him a homeboy. And he had been to our house many times. To me, he was just a kid who lived in Cus’ house, you know. Then he went quite far. Unfortunately, Cus died right before he really made it as a champion which was very tragic, I think. He never lived to see it happen.
G.R.: Oh, that’s when Cuss passed away just before Mike became an I. He did. I’m so sorry.
B.G.: That was sad. But then Kevin Rooney took over as his trainer and we knew him too.
G.R.: So, you actually painted Mike right in the gym that you take your materials in?
B.G.: Well, I used to go into the gym. I had a portable easel, and I did a lot of my drawing there. And then the actual painting I would finish at home, because you can’t slop up with oil paints and turpins on in there, you know. No. But, you know, it was a very interesting period. We went to all his early fights. and he was phenomenal.
G.R.: You could say that again. He was a power! Mr. Tyson, if are you listening and would you like to call in, please do. Garrett Roche here, The Monday Morning Show with some of your familiar friends, acquaintances. Let’s make it happen. If you’re out there, Mr. Tyson! Barbara, do you remember hearing in the 90s about a boxer named Kevin McBride?
B.G.: You know, my husband really knows them. Actually, Gene probably would know, but I’m not as well versed.
G.R.: Who is the Australian boxer that you painted?
B.G.: The Thunder from Down Under, Paul Murray.
G.R.: I’ve not heard of that one.
B.G.: Australian. And then last year, his son showed up and was going to the gym in Catskill. But because of the expense of going back and forth from Australia, I had to stop. But it was very interesting. He saw this large painting I had done of his father, and he took pictures. And it was nice. Yeah, it was lovely.
G.R.: And the reason I mentioned Kevin McBride was because Mike Tyson had one of his last fights with him in the 90s. And actually, Kevin McBride won.
B.G.: Not too many people beat him, as we know. He was, you know, first round, he went down, usually.
G.R.: Mike, if you’re listening, do you have anything to say to that? Please call in. We’d like to hear your point of view on that loss.Come on, my friend. Don’t be too shy.
B.G.: Cus took in a lot of young men that were very troubled and really turned their lives around. People don’t realize that he took very little money from any of his fighters. And he himself had a very hard life, because he was an orphan.
G.R.: Really. Oh, was he?
B.G.: There were four or five boys and the father. And the father was always, you know, they worked 20 jobs a day in those years. And Cus said, in a way, it was an advantage, because he always formed his own views of life. Nobody influenced him, as we all have been by our parents, naturally. He developed very much as a child his own he was very independent; he lived in a tough neighborhood; he was blind in one eye. Somebody poked his eye out with a stick.
G.R.: I’ve heard that yes.
B.G.: Cus never drove because of that, so we used to drive him to a lot of the fights. He was very much into philosophy and very well read, a wonderful man!He was like everybody’s father. A great loss.
G.R.: Ever so sorry to hear about that.
JFP: This is the beauty of WGXC.
G.R.: Thank you, John.
JFP: Because you’re bringing local history and personal views. But these are part of. the historical background of this area and I don’t think commercial stations would be so willing maybe to devote time for these kinds of discussions which are very important .
G.R.:. Thank you, John, so eloquent.
B.G.: He always had the gym open to young kids in the area many of them very poor. And it gave them a great sense of self-esteem. It was very ego-building for them. Kids who were afraid to fight, he taught them how to defend themselves. And he was quite remarkable. It was a great pleasure and thrill to have known him. I’m sorry we didn’t have him longer.
JFP: Barbara, weren’t your paintings featured on HBO?
B.G.: They were.
JFP: Can you explain a little bit about that?
B.G.: Before one of Cus’ fights, HBO was there interviewing him, and they wanted to show some of my paintings that I had done of the gym because they were actually done on site. They weren’t done for commercial reasons. And I did a series of lots of fighters who nobody ever heard of. I just enjoyed painting them. It was interesting to me. I’m sorry.
M.F.: Barbara, I would like to share with the audience and with our guests here in the audience today, in the studio, rather, that obviously the Russian embassy in Denmark knows of your work because I check my Twitter feed every morning when I have my decaf coffee, thanks to my doctor, decaf.
B.G.: Dr. Decaf?
M.F.: Decaf, yes. I woke up, and I turned on the Twitter, and there it said the Russian Embassy in Denmark has liked 25 of John’s tweets, and almost to the tweet they were about Evgenia and Anastasia and Barbara’s portrait, and they did like Barbara the tweet about your adding the pink sapphire parure to the portrait of Maria Pavlovna. Talk about website lead.
B.G.: I’m very gratified. I’m ready to go to Denmark. Let’s do it it’s always very gratifying to get feedback, because you know musicians have each other and actors have actors but artists and writers it’s a very solitary thing. It’s just nice to hear these things. It gives you an incentive, and it validates what you’re doing. Of course, John is president of my fan club. I’m sure you know that. John and I go back a long time.
JFP: Oh, a long time. Way back to the early 90s, I believe.
B.G.: John had the best gallery in the world, and I’ve been in a few in my day, but there was nothing like his. The fun, the pleasure, he was always honest, which is so rare in our field. You get so ripped off by dealers and gallery people. But John never, always supportive. Those were good days, huh, John?
JFP: They were good days, and I think they’re actually going to get even better, Barbara. I really do believe that.
G.R.: And John, you formerly had your gallery at Lark Street in Albany, Barbara said. So is that how you met? She walked in one day and observing your art. How did you meet?
JFP: We were introduced by somebody who was doing some kind of an exhibit. But in the conversation that we had, we discovered that we did like each other. And her husband was an amazing artist, too. And I have to interject again a genealogical insight because, you know, I’m a passionate genealogist. Yes. I am related to her husband, too
G.R.: That’s right. I remember you mentioned to me personally.
JFP: Gene Green. So really, I feel like I’ve got family here- Francis Eugene Green. My own maternal uncle is Francis Eugene also who is a cousin to Francis Eugene Green, her husband. So, you see, I think we were meant to be together.
B.G.: I think so.
G.R.: It seems like it, and I can’t believe we were all meant to be together in the studio here today, and it’s 10.55 here. Can you believe it? I can’t believe it. It’s five minutes until news and station identification, and Brendan Donegan coming up with the morning sampler at 11 o’clock. He should be at that door any second. Top of the morning! As always, if you’re listening my friend, I am Garrett Roche. This is the Monday Morning Show and you’re listening to us on WGXC 90.7 FM, radio for open ears for Greene Columbia Counties, and obviously for Denmark and for whoever wishes to listen on WGXC.org. Thank you, Linda, for getting the door.
B.G.: Before we go, I just want to thank you with all my heart for inviting me again. It was a great pleasure to see you again and to be on the show. I think you’re doing a wonderful service to the community, and everybody should know that. You’re great.
JFP: Before we go, Garrett, may I ask Barbara one more quick question?
G.R.: I feel like I’m up on a mountain somewhere in Ekaterinburg right now. Go for it, John, please. And unfortunately, I don’t know where Patrice Maynard is, but she was going to describe so eloquently the painting. Well, we will do that next time. Go for it.
JFP: Could you share with the audience about your next project, which is sort of a monumental project that you’re working on? You showed part of it to me this morning.
B.G.: John showed up one day with the most extraordinary frame I’ve ever seen in my whole life. It was just, I said, oh, my gosh, we have to, something special has to go in there. So John came up with the idea of doing, of course, there were many. consorts but but Alexandra who was such a tragic figure in the end and Catherine the Great sort of stood out as empresses that were known and that were should have been acknowledged so they’re going into this new painting I can’t wait to begin and it should be, it’ll probably take me a year because there are thousands of diamonds and pearls.
Two Empresses: The Conversation, Oil on wood panel by Barbara Green
JFP: Barbara loves to do the diamonds.
G.R.: I wonder how many more paintings she’s going to crank out. She’s going to be going and, oh.
B.G.: I don’t know. Until Anastasia rises again.
JFP: Well, if anybody wants a portrait with a lot of diamonds, a lot of diamonds and pearls, talk to me because Barbara is now an expert on how to do that.
G.R.: What about an adorned portrait with pearls of Venus? Like we have the story about the Venus statue up here with Charlie Rogers. He’s dancing around his kitchen right now whenever I mention that.
B.G. But my other passion is doing the dog and pony circuses. They don’t come around anymore.
G.R.: Dog and pony circuses?
B.G.: Yeah, I like to do outsider kind of things. Fun. So you go from one extreme to a completely other extreme when I’m doing my circus people. And I have loads of pictures to work from. And they’re wonderful.
G.R.: That’s the variety. And that’s why we love variety here at WGXC. And it’s all about the anything and everything, as I say. And before we go, finally, would Vicki like to say something? And Michael, do you have any final words, too? You’re positive?
M.F.: I want to compliment Barbara on those portraits; they are absolutely oh just closer they are absolutely beautiful, they bring out a humanity in in the person, and I could tell when I saw the Anastasia portrait you got her with that smile; it’s like a little smirk. It’s like a little mischievous thing and that’s how Anastasia has a Mona Lisa smile almost isn’t it. It brought back life and especially the other one,I van’t pronounce her name very well. Ekaterina I mean; it’s beautiful. It brings life to the portrait. It’s not just one-dimensional. It’s three-dimensional because you can actually see the person there.
B.G.: All right. That’s the best call. Like Mark Twain said, I could live three months on a good compliment. He gave me six months. Thank you. Six months.
Background: In 2019, after the 2018 centennial commemoration of the alleged elimination of the family of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, his immediate family and retinue, the author of Anastasia Again: The Hidden Secret of the Romanovs (https://www.ahnentafelbooks.com/) later Grand Duchess Anastasia: Still a Mystery? (2024 histriabooks.com/product/grand-duchess-anastasia) suggested dramatizing a conversation in the 1960s between aka Evgenia Smetisko (known also as Eugenia Smith) alias HIH Anastasia Nicholaevna Romanov, Grand Duchess of Russia) and KGB defector, Michael Goleniewski. Garrett Roche, then host of the Monday Morning Show on WGXC Radio, 90.7 FM in Hudson, New York, was intrigued. He had followed every emerging detail in Froebel-Parker’s research to uncover the true identity of the woman who had lived her last decades in Newport, Rhode Island and had claimed to be the surviving youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, nee von Hessen und bei Rhein. The author had just read the December 31, 1963, transcript of a conversation between Smetisko/Smith/Romanov and well-known KGB defector, Michael Goleniewski. The captivating transcript is included in Guy Richards’ 1970 book The Hunt for the Tsar. The conversation, here in English but at the time in a mixture of English and Russian, had been taped by Grover Cleve Backster and subsequently sent to the Justice Department, rather odd if Smetisko/Smith/Romanov had been an impostress. Backster, who had subjected her to a 30-hour polygraph lie detector test and proclaimed that she had told the TRUTH about her identity, is credited with the polygraph protocols still used by the CIA. The dramatized conversation and interview with Roche, Froebel-Parker and guests is also included and offered to the reader here in transcribed form. JF-P
HOST GARRETT ROCHE, then host of the WGXC MONDAY MORNING SHOW on 97.7 FM in Hudson NY. (Afterwards referred to as G. R. or, in dramatization as M.G. (Michael Goleniewski)
RADIO TRANSCRIPT with explanatory notes where needed:
G.R: We’re ready with our skit. We have J Johannes Froebel Parker, Victoria Signorelli, John’s friend is here for support, Bob from college (UAlbany), and then we have Patrice Maynard.
I believe she’s attending to a phone call she received probably from the Waldorf School over, and she’s in the waiting room, and oh my goodness. You look like you’re right out of Pennsylvania, Dutch land, my friend. And if you can pull that microphone right up to you, speak right into it, please, as we get ready for our skit here.Thank you so much for coming, Patrice. This from the book. The book, this was all Mr. Parker’s ingenious idea. This is from the book written in, it was written in the 1970s, correct, John? 1970. Yes. Oh, in 1970. Thank you, John. The Hunt for the Tsar by author Guy Richards. And this has alleged true dialogue between Evgenia Smetisko, a.k.a. Anastasia Romanov, and Michael Goleniewski, who was actually a Polish military; well he was quite interesting and was born in Poland. He worked for the Polish intelligence agency, but he was also working for the KGB and spoke absolutely perfect Russian. He then exposed a number of British and American people who were working for the KGB as double agents. He exposed them, which was a great treasure trove of information for our CIA. They were very indebted to him. And as you put it, John, he defected from the KGB. He defected, and I’ve been reading, was actually quite afraid for his own life, that he would be the victim of retributions at some time during his stay in America. It never happened, thank goodness, but he was afraid of that. Interesting. Well, before we get started with our skit here, I’d like to play at least a few seconds worth of the theme from the film Dr. Zhivago.
All right, we shall go into it now, my friends. We have Johannes Froebl-Parker offering us commentary and Patrice Maynard as Anastasia . Victoria Signorelli will read side notes. I, Garrett Roach, will be Michael Goleniewski. Bob Martin will be one of the Spellers, Robert Speller, the publisher of Anastasia’s biography in 1963, at whose apartment this conversation was actually happening in New York City. I’d like to say, Bob, thank you very much, because your family is Russian. and they lived in Hudson, I believe, when your mother was a young girl. Chikvin was her maiden name. So, we’ve got a bit of Russia back here into Hudson. Bob’s family actually was of the nobility and worked in the Tsar’s diplomatic corps in St. Petersburg.
So we have a bit of old Russia with us in Bob’s presence today. So thank you. Spasibo, Bob.
B.M.: Incredible. Thank you, John. I’m more than happy to participate. Thank you so much.
JF-P: Garrett, if I may read just a little bit as an introduction from Guy Richard’s book.
G.R.: Please do, John. Thank you. And to give the audience out there, we know we have people listening from Ireland and from the U.K. today, as well as our usual listenership.
JF-P: The Spellers, at whose home, whose apartment this conversation takes place, Robert Speller and his family were the publishers of Anastasia. Anastasia’s autobiography or so it was called. In the book Anastasia Again: The Hidden Secret of the Romanovs, I incorporate these memoirs. (Note: also 2024 in Grand Duchess Anastasia: Still a Mystery?)
I had to rewrite them a bit for literary purposes because the English was a bit stilted and then I added my annotations, conjectures, information, evidence for my research. So that first edition book is now out of print, but if you read Anastasia Again, you will get the gist, the bulk of her memoirs that I’ve included. It’s very interesting that i the 1963 October 18 Life Magazine had her story as the front cover story asking: Is this lady from Chicago really the new Anastasia? She was, to use the expression, poo-pooed by the majority of people who came in contact with that article, I believe. Otherwise, she would have been more highly touted throughout the remainder of her life. And so, it’s interesting that so many years now, after this story was made public in 1963 and Guy Richard’s book in 1970, that we’re again focusing upon her and we’re resurrecting her which is ironic because her name, Anastasia, comes from the Greek which means resurrection.
I’d like to read an introduction from Guy Richard’s book that leads us into the dialogue between Evgenia, a.k.a. Anastasia, between Goleniewski in the presence of the Spellers. I’d like to begin from Chapter 12, Mrs. Eugenia Smith, that’s her Anglicized version, and the Anastasia Debacle. In October 18, 1963 Life Magazine printed excerpts from Mrs. Eugenia Smith’s book, Anastasia, published by Robert Speller and Sons. As the deadline for the issue neared, Life’s editors became edgy. They gathered several analyses by psychiatrists and truth testers to go along with the excerpts.
Polygraph expert Cleve Backster wrote the observations that included the two now historic paragraphs converted by a staff writer as follows. I would just like to add a note here that Cleve Backster is the “father of the CIA polygraph lie detection unit.” His methodology is still being used and the methodology that he used with Evgenia for 30 hours only to come to this conclusion and this is what basically he said after those 30 hours of interrogation by the time Backster had studied all the results of his renewed testing, he was virtually positive that his subject was Anastasia. His conviction was based on his interpretation of all Mrs. Smith’s answers, not just her apparent truth responses. For example, her affirmative replies to questions about her identity, her birthday, all indicated she was telling the truth.
But her responses were indefinite on the questions about the way her mother died and whether her sister screamed before she did at the execution, unquote. In other words, she didn’t register much emotional response to questions about details of the quote-unquote “assassination.” At the time, apparently, it occurred to no one that she had no reaction because there had been no assassination. Soon afterward, however, it began to occur to a number of persons, and that included all members of the Speller family. The likelihood that the mass murder was mythical was stimulated by Colonel Goleniewski’s appearance in December, only weeks after the Life piece. It resulted in a confrontation between him and Mrs. Smith, duly recorded on tape in the Speller offices at Mrs. Smith’s request. The transcript of that tape has been forwarded to the Justice Department.
I must say, as a little note here, that I have tweeted to the Justice Department that we’re doing this today, so hopefully they’ll be listening in, but at least they would have some knowledge that we are here today talking about this. It should be explained that at the time of the confrontation, no one outside of the United States intelligence services had ever heard of a “Goleniewski.” The stories on him were not to be released until the following March. He did not use the name Goleniewski when he first phoned the Spellers in December. He called himself Mr. Borg. On December 28th, three days before the face-to-face encounter, he asked for an appointment with Mrs. Smith, declaring that he had some information for her. She consented.
A date was set for December 31st. “It was quite an occasion for our firm,” said Bob Speller, its president. We had all worked with Mrs. Smith for ten months. We were thoroughly convinced of the authenticity of her manuscript, and we still are, with the exception of the part about the assassination. But then we also believed the assassination part. We had no reason to doubt it. We sensed this meeting might be important somehow. Of course, we had no idea how important. I asked Cleve Backster to bring over a tape recorder and to take charge of it. My wife, Maxine, came over too. Our sons, Robert Jr., Robert Jr., and John were there. When Mr. Borg commenced his meeting with Mrs. Smith, it started out quite formally, but it wasn’t long before it became very emotional.
My sons and I were the only other persons in the room. We could follow some of what they said. Some of it was in English. Most of it was in Russian. So, we had to have a Russian translator produce the manuscript. As Goleniewski explained to me months later, he had been trying to get to the CIA for two years to help him find his sister in the United States. It was not until January 1963, he said, that a “Mr. Larson” of the CIA finally told him Mrs. Smith was in Illinois. He promised further help in bringing the two together, but never lived up to it, according to Goleniewski. He said he had to find out through his own sources that the Speller firm was publishing her book. And that’s how it came about, he said, that he phoned the Speller offices. The transcript of that meeting, as endorsed, page by page, with Goleniewski’s signature, “Alexei Nikolayevich,” follows.
E.S/A/R: I am so ashamed of myself. Who are you?
She begins to cry.
Who are you? Who sent you to see me?
G.R.: Patrice, I’d just like to check if your mic is on here. I don’t believe it is. The joys of live radio. Gremlins. A secondary drama. Yes. The play within the play. The joys of live radio. Here we go. There we are. Now we’re connected. So I’ll begin again. And thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This is like the 1930s with live radio. Thank you, listeners. The transcript of the meeting as endorsed page by page with Golenieski’s signature, Alexei Nikolaevich, follows.
E.S./A.R.: I am so ashamed of myself. She begins to cry. Who are you? Who sent you to see me?
M.G. (aka Borg): I am a friend.I came to see you, to speak to you. Do you remember the name Turenska? Turensky?
E.S./A.R: I remember the name.
M.G. (aka Borg): And Anastasia… Anastasia Turinska?
E.S./A.R.: Anastasia Turinska. Anastasia Turinska. I remember I came as Anastasia Turinska, but my passport is different.
M.G. (aka Borg): Do you remember Janina Turinska, the daughter of Raymond Turinsky?
E.S./A.R.: That was Maria Nikolaevna Romanova. But who told you all that?
M.G. (aka Borg): Must I tell you that you came to America, Anastasia Turinska?
E.S./A.R.: Who spoke with you about Janina Turinska? How do you know? How did the family know? I tried to see my Aunt Olga as she came to Toronto. She did not want to see me. Your eyes. I remember your eyes as if I knew them. I’m so afraid. Who sent you to me? Maria is alive?
He shows her the past, the snapshot.
Who is that?
M.G. (aka Borg): Maria remained with us. I have been looking for you for two years. They didn’t want me to see you. They don’t want to recognize you because of the money. Because they have the money.
E.S./A.R.: How can you be sure that I am Anastasia?
M.G. (aka Borg): When I came, I began at once to look for you. They did not want me to find you. I would like the Spellers to understand. I would like to speak Russian.
E.S./A.R.: I’m sorry, but my Russian is not very good. I see very few Russians.
M.G. (aka Borg); I came here more than two years ago.
E.S./A.R: To the Spellers. He was looking for me for more than two years. To Borg. Who didn’t want you to meet me? Those who want to recognize another Anastasia? The people don’t want to believe me. They printed a lot of lies.
M.G. (aka Borg): I have a photo to show you. That is your sister. There are so many complications.
E.S./A.R.: But you know that all are alive. How is that possible? Some people wrote that Tatiana is alive. Can it be that the whole family… We had to do a lot of trickery to cover the flight.
M.G. (aka Borg): Your mother died from a heart attack.
E.S./A.R.: I also have a bad heart.
M.G. (aka Borg): You have the eyes of Maria, but hers are darker, like these violets I brought you, and which you liked so much. They are Anastasia blue.
E.S./A.R.: Who told you? Who sent you? Who told you that? I really have confidence in you.
M.G. (aka Borg): I know what you think. You see this photo? Maria Nikolaevna has the other part of this photo from Warsaw.She still has photos of father and of mother taken in Warsaw and elsewhere in Poland.
E.S./A.R.: Maria has my picture? What happened to Tatiana? She rises.
M.G. (aka Borg): I didn’t come to make you suffer, only to speak with you. I wished to see you and show you a lot of things that will interest you.
E.S./A.R.: The Spellers should know, because they work with me and it is really so important that they recognize me. Borg then shows her another photo.Who is in this photo? That should be Olga! So old; she is older than me six years. That’s the signature and writing of Maria. Why did she put… he shows her another photo
M.G. (aka Borg): Mushka who was brought through the red borders in a wash-basket. Do you know who Mushka is?
E.S./A.R.: It would be Maria, Mushka. It could be me. My mother said I was like a little fly.
M.G. (aka Borg): No. Do you know who was brought through the red borders in a wash basket?
E.S./A.R.: Yes, I know. My father wanted me to forget it. He said so. I was stolen from my family. My father, my mother, my sisters, my country, everything. I have the impression you understand me. Please, have patience with me. I have to return to my family, but I will always be happy to see you.
M.G. (aka Borg): Have you something that could help us? Some things can be helpful. Do you have photos to give to the graphologist? He points to the handwriting on the photo. That was written in the hand of your sister, Maria Nikolaevna, and you can give it to a graphologist. Your sister is in Warsaw, your fingerprints are in London, and it is there that it should be proved that you are Anastasia Nikolaevna.
E.S./A.R.: In what place? If these fingerprints really exist, and we can prove it, and really have it, then there would be no doubt at all. I hope you are the person I think you are.
M.G. (aka Borg): Do you remember Father said, “Neskin?” She cries out.
E.S./A/R.: He knows. He knows. He is my brother, Alexei. She’s crying. My darling, my darling. They should know. I cannot believe it. They are good people. Perhaps Mr. Borg, no not Mr. Borg. He is my brother! It is wonderful! !t is unbelievable!
M.G. (aka Borg): Anastasia, dear, do you know when father died in nineteen fifty-two? I will show you his grave and the place where I buried him with my own hands. He was a very good Russian man. What did you do? The people did not let me see you. They prevented me from doing everything necessary. They say that you are not you and that I am not I. But they know very well. Maria Feodorovna knew very well that our father was alive.
E.S./A.R.: Grandmother knew that father was alive?
M.G. (aka Borg): After Lenin’s death, Mother remained in Warsaw. Father, Maria and I went to Poznan near the German border. I was two times a child because of my sickness. Do you believe you are you, so it is with me. I know and I believe that you are you. They all know that I am Alexei. Mrs. Anderson is bringing a suit. The Botkins have been helping her for years. We will arrange to bring that to order. Everybody knows who we are. My dear Anastasia, the hunger that I suffered, nobody could ever suffer.I could not eat at all because of my sickness. Maria also suffered terribly. She was taking care of me and Father.
E.S./A.R.: Did Mama know about me? That I went?
M.G. (aka Borg): She did. I am not yet married in church, but as soon as I do so, I will let you know.
E.S./A.R.: How did you find where I was living?
M.G. (aka Borg): I knew where you lived, but I couldn’t come and say, My dear, how are you? And after 40 years, I didn’t want to give you a shock.
E.S./A.R.: Do you have any things of mothers?
M.G. (aka Borg): Mother prayed before an icon. Maria has the icon and a little lamp. They are the only things we have from her.
E.S./A.R.: But how is it possible that you have anything at all?
M.G. (aka Borg): Some things we had with us.
E.S./A.R.: I had only the diamonds, but nothing was left after the flight. Now I have only a handkerchief.
M.G. (aka Borg): Are you still Orthodox?
E.S./A.R.: Yes, we have never changed. My husband was a Catholic. He would have liked that I become Catholic. But I knew that my parents would have disapproved. And so I always stayed Orthodox. I was married in Bukovina. My life was very difficult.
M.G. (aka Borg): I also had a very difficult life. Maria had a lot of trouble with me. Mother was dead.
E.S.:A.R.: All you would like, I will do for you.
M.G. (aka Borg): I came with a lot of goodwill, and I was received like a dog. It was my duty to see my sister, to say hello to her, to speak about our parents. When and where can we see each other?
E.S./A.R.: As soon as possible.
To Mr. Speller Sr. Is it all right in your apartment?
Mr. Speller, Sr.: Yes, of course.
M.G. (aka Borg): Take a good look at me. I’ve aged a lot. I am nearly an old man now.
Mr. Cleve Backster enters.
E.S./A.R.: Hello, Mr. Baxter. Can I present you to my brother, Alexei?
-end-
GARRETT ROCHE:
And so now, John, would you like to comment a little bit before we hit news and station ID? And then when we return, you can perhaps read some more further. Sure, there’s a lot to dig in here. Victoria does have a note here about Mrs. Eugenia Smith. She purported to be married. Life Magazine in 1968 went to Croatia and found Marijan Smetisko. He said, “I don’t know that lady. I’m not married to her, and I never even met her.” Victoria, would you like to read that note?
V.S.: Yes, it says although Mrs. Smith makes no mention of a husband in her autobiography Anastasia it ends with the events of 1918. She told friends here that she was once married to a Croatian Marijan Smetisko on her immigration papers in 1922.She listed herself as Mrs. Eugenia Smetisko. She said that the marriage was dissolved a few years after her arrival in the US.- Which I believe was fraudulent, that it was a ruse that she came as a married lady and that she was never married to him. She took his identity; this is what I’ve come to.
G.R.: I believe it we can talk about that more after the break sure apparently her aka husband or her you know alleged husband was questioned by someone, and he said, “I don’t know who you’re speaking of.”
JF-P: If you read Anastasia Again you will find the section where she comes across the border when she’s escaping Russia, She’s coming across the border, and a Croatian does pretend that she’s the wife so that he can get her across the border. And in the course of that time together, she may have been able to pick up enough about his name, his whereabouts, to create a new identity for herself at least to get herself a passport so that’s what I think happened. She stole his identity and became his instant bride.
G.R.: Yes, that’s leaning towards more or less likely what would have happened i would say so we have just a few seconds here We’re going to hit news and station ID, Garrett Roche, Monday morning show. Please call in 518-828-0290 if you’ve enjoyed what you’ve heard this morning and help us move forward.
Greetings. Welcome back, everyone. Garrett Roche here. The Monday Morning Show, 90.7 FM, Acra Catskill, Hudson. And we’re going to go right back into it with our fine guests here. Some commentary by John Parker and we still have Patrice Maynard, Victoria Signorelli, John’s friend from college, Bob Martin with us. Linda’s still all smiles sitting listening in the waiting room and this is my ideal as I always say I love a packe studio. So, John, can you take it away please with your next commentary from the book and then also you brought some extra side notes here.
JF-P: Yes, some later research.
G.R.: right and so we’ve just finished that beautiful transcript i must say it was i felt it was transported back in time listening to you.Thank you, John, thank you. It was excellent and Anastasia (Patrice) took the cake with Anastasia. We have to say bravo bravo, thank you to all. Vicky and Bob for chiming in as well.
JF-P: Thank you. Anastasia has just spoken to Mr. Backster, Mr. Cleve Backster the father of the CIA polygraph lie detection unit whose methods are still used today. And she says to him, can I present you to my brother, Alexei. So, now she doesn’t know his name is Goleniewski. She knows him as “Mr. Borg,” because his identity of Goleniewski the defector has not been made public yet but she’s now met him and she purports that he is her brother Alexei. Whether she really believes it or not believes- that’s for each listener, researcher to come to his or her own determination But I’d like to continue with what Mr. Guy Richards wrote right after that particular conversation ended. And here we go. This highly emotional scene. was followed by two or three weeks in which the reunited pair remained on the most cordial terms. They held three meetings in the Speller’s apartment, in which Mrs. Smith frequently alluded to Goleneski as “my brother, Alexei.” It should be re-emphasized, however, that the name Goleneski had still to make its appearance in the life of the Spellers.
They also told the Spellers that they had had a few meetings elsewhere. Then they broke up. They remain estranged to this day in December 1969. Not many miles separate them. Goleniewski lives in western Long Island, within the New York City limits. Mrs. Smith divides her time between the city and Long Beach, Long Island, which is on the south shore, about 20 miles from Goleniewski’s apartment. One can imagine the Speller’s reactions when they were told that there had been no assassination at all in Ekaterinburg, that the Tsarevich himself might be standing in front of them. Do either or both of the two on the transcript seem to be charlatans? The reader is just as well qualified as we to judge that to his or her own satisfaction.
Certainly, the possibility can’t be overlooked that the whole confrontation scene was staged by design of the “sister” and the “brother.” to convince the witnesses and, through them, all others who would hear or read about it. The matter of probability is something else. The reader should weigh that for him or herself. Assuming for a moment that it’s all perfectly genuine, the transcript does provide clues to Mrs. Smith’s frame of mind and why she later decided not to live up to her promise to Goleniewski. All you would like I will do for you. And that leaves us in a moment of suspense. Why did she not do everything that she promised to do for Goleniewski?
I must say, I have done some two-dimensional visual face recognition analyses on Tsarevich Alexei, and Mikhail Goleniewski, and they do not match at all. There’s quite a disparity between the two faces. But I have to also say that until his death, he did maintain Evgenia was truly Anastasia. And he never wavered until the day he died about that. And he would have come from the Soviet Union, Poland, with knowledge of deep state secrets, I should think.
G.R.: I gather. Yet another mystery. Another mystery. Would anyone like us to help solve this mystery? Please call 518-828-0290. And if you’re dialing internationally, put a 001 before that number, please. And also, you’re welcome to reach us on Skype. Our Skype account is simply WGXC 90.7. Request to for us to add you and we’ll do so straight away, and I understand there are more and more listeners out there to my show all over locally nationally internationally and of course thanks to you john especially in particular with this episodes so to speak uh we have some a wide stretch of worldwide listeners and the archive will be up on thank you website also and on of course the archive be up on the website and we’ll be spreading the love even further there and thank you again to all listeners both whether you’re a programmer here at WGXC fellow programmer and or locally, nationally, internationally, if you’re a dear friend of mine, a pen pal, a dear friend of Mr. Parker’s, please call in 518-8280-290. And John, you also have some side notes here that you brought in.
JF-P: We did find that previously secret document from the CIA which has now been declassified- it’s available on cia.gov. and it’s a memorandum for Chief Leob and the subject is a letter dated the 27th of January 1968 from Thomas DiBaggio to Mr. Herman Kimsey. There is a blurb about Goleniewski and about Guy Richards, and then an analysis of some interesting thoughts that Mr. Richards had about the CIA and about Goleniewski. Bob, could you begin with Mikhail Goleniewski?
G.R.: Oh, the suspense of it all, everyone. Oh, please bring the mic right down to you there, Bob.
B. M.: It reveals that the Director of Security is cognizant of the latest developments in subjects’ claims against the agency. The latest memorandum in the file, dated 3rd August 1967, recommended that a final stand be taken with Goleniewski that no further efforts be made to placate him and observe that the news media is no longer listening to his pretension to be the Crown Prince Alexei Romanov volumes 9 and 10 attached. Guy Richards is the author of The Imperial Agent: the Goleniewski Romanoff Case, published in November 1966, almost 53 years now. Attached is a summary of the information on Guy Richards, prepared on 15th of December 1965, at the time the agency became aware of his forthcoming book. Attached also as a memo to the DCI dated 10 November 1966 which is an analysis of the book and from the Washington Independent subject Guy Richards reference file contains a transcript of the Barry Farber Show over station WORAM New York on the 3rd of May 1967, entitled Journalists Discuss CIA and Espionage. Richard was queried regarding his book on Goleniewski and his views on the CIA. Richard’s replies were critical of the agency. Richards. “Now, let’s take a look, for example, at the Central Intelligence Agency in the year 1967. If history were to ever be made of the great American bureaucracy, I think it quite correct to say that they would pause and pay homage to a remarkable fact, namely, that in the form of the Central Intelligence Agency, there has suddenly been created and evolved a great idea, namely the idea of combining the FBI with Santa Claus, with the British East India Company, with Barnum & Bailey and the Ringling Brothers Circus.
And before we get lost in the derision that this implies, let’s take pause on two very positive possibilities. One. that this may not be such a bad idea at that. It may take its form among the great diversions.
G.R.: Thank you so much, all of you, for reading that. That was on CIA.gov, rather, declassified information on Goloniewski. It was quite the hot topic in that day because the CIA owed him a debt of gratitude for uncovering many undercover KGB agents. and Polish also, in the West, embedded in the British system and in the American also. And we also found some other information in the CIA archive about Goloniewski. Fascinating. And this appears, John, to be out of the San Francisco, California Examiner? I believe the Wilmington, North Carolina Star.
JF-P: Oh, Wilmington, North Carolina. Oh, yes, up here it says Wilmington, North Carolina Star. Date, March 27th, 1964.
G.R.: CIA blasted, praised during debate in-house. From Stars Wire Service, a Republican House leader Thursday denounced wild accusations, ” against the Central Intelligence Agency.” But a Democrat shot back that the whole story was not being told. Representative Leslie Arends, Republican from Illinois. Thank you. House Republican whip and senior GOP leader of the Armed Services Committee as a member of a CIA “watchdog subcommittee.” He said from that vantage point, he knew the intelligence agency was doing a good job. By Representative Michael A. Feighan, Democrat Ohio Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration said it was, “time that Congress obtained the full story of Russian Soviet penetration of our government. It is time to weed out our government. Judases.
JF-P: Judases. Oh, it is time to weed out our government the Judases.
G.R.: Thank you, John.
G.R.: Stories to the effect that Michael Goleniewski, a Polish defector, had been prevented by the CIA from appearing before a Senate Internal Security Subcommittee. He added that newspaper stories about information Goleniewski supposedly revealed, are not correct. Feighan, taking the floor more than an hour after Arends, charged that what Arends left out about the Goleniewski case “is far more important than what he said.” “It is not true that he, Goleniewski, revealed deep penetration into the CIA by the Soviet KGB.
Is it not true that a million dollars of CIA funds fell into the hand of the KGB and that $400,000 of that money was pumped back into the communist part of this country? Is it not true that he named Russian agents in the State Department and the CIA and that to date none of these have been arrested, unquote, Feighan said.
G.R.: Wow. So, a little Russiagate even then. It’s amazing. He seems to have really caught the eye of the CIA and of the House of Representatives. And here is a man claiming that Evgenia truly is Anastasia. Fascinating. More and more so as we go along, John. He seems to gather credibility, you know, as we go along.
JF-P: Indeed.
G.R.: And you have another piece for me to read here, John.
It’s from an article off of intelnews.org, and the headline is MI5 Releases New Information About Soviet Portland Spy Ring.
JF-P: Yes, that’s one of the spy rings that he helped to uncover.
G.R.: The section you have for me to read here, it was by Joseph Fitzsinnakis from intelnews.org, November 28, 2017. The newly declassified files about the spy ring were released by the security service known commonly as MI5, primary counterterrorism and counterintelligence agency. They reveal how British authorities managed to bust the Portland spy ring. According to the files, the initial tip-off came from the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA. The American agency had managed to recruit Michael Goleniewski, codenamed Sniper, a Polish military counterintelligence officer who led the technical office of Poland’s military intelligence.
In the spring of 1960, Goleniewski told the CIA that Polish intelligence were running a British agent who was recruited while serving in the Office of the Naval Attaché at the British Embassy in Warsaw. The CIA shared the information with British intelligence, who soon identified the agent as Harry Hofton in Dorset. MI5 agents followed Hofton and his girlfriend, Ethel Gee, as they met with a successful Canadian businessman Gordon Lonsdale, real name Conan Molody. Molody had grown up with a family member in California in the 1930s and spoke fluent English. He had joined Soviet intelligence during World War II and sent to Britain posing as a Canadian. When he arrived there in 1954, he established the KGB’s first known illegal residency in the British Isles. The newly classified documents show that MI5 decided to move against the five members of the Portland spy ring after Golonyewski became an open defector and was exfiltrated to the United States by officers in the CIA’s Berlin station. British authorities feared that Golonyewski’s open defection would prompt the Soviets to pull out Houghton, whose identity was known to Goleniewski. Houghton and Gee were sentenced to 15 years in prison. They were released in 1970, married the following year, and died in the 1980s. Molody was sentenced to 25 years in prison, but was released in 1964 and exchanged for Graville Wynne, a British spy captured in the USSR. The Coens received 20-year sentences, but were released in 1969 and exchanged with Gerald Brooke, a British teacher who was arrested in the USSR for smuggling anti-communist literature and trying to organize dissidents inside the country.
So you see, the case of Evgenia Smetysko, a.k.a. Anastasia Romanov, is entwined with this Cold War espionage and intrigue. It’s not a simple case, and I don’t know. I’d be very interested in what my friends here in the studio opine and what the listeners in radio world think. about what they’ve heard and whether they think Anastasia Evgenia has any credibility or if she’s an imposter. We shall see, John. Please, anyone who would like to add to this discussion and discovery, 518-828-0290.Let’s make it happen. And 001 before that number if you’re dialing internationally or if you come on Skype with us, WGXC90.7. Please do contact us. Let’s bring any thoughts together, throw them all into a pot, and see what we come out with here.
P.M: And, yes, let’s have some commentary by our participants here, if you will, as Mr. Parker requested. I want to know, John, was there any attempt, so suspending all disbelief and believing that the Romanovs were not executed and more than just Anastasia survived? Was there any attempt, and you and I have spoken outside of being on the radio here. about how the envious brother Cyril to Nikolai, Tsar Nicholas,was ambitious for the throne and his mother supported him and contributed to the downfall of Nicholas and Alexandra as Tsar and Tsarina. And I know that he escaped to Germany and he did try to organize armies and attempt to take back the Romanov imperial throne. Was there any other symptoms of Romanov aspirations to reclaim Russia in the name of the imperial highnesses?
JF-P: And I’m sure there were, and if any Romanov authors or researchers are out there in the world who are listening today, please call in with any insight that you might have about Patrice’s question. I do, and I have gathered from reading the Evgenia’s/Anastasia’s memoirs, which are included in Anastasia Again, The Hidden Secret of the Romanovs, (editor’s note: also in GRAND DUCHESS ANASTASIA: STILL A MYSTERY?) that even before the absolute overthrow of the monarchy, there were inter-familial discussions going on- plots, intrigues, that the Romanov family was aware of. Evgenia/Anastasia was quite aware of. She makes it known that she’s not very happy with some of the things that her relatives are doing. So it was not, I think, safely. say that it was not one big happy family at a Thanksgiving dinner when it comes to the Romanovs.
One Romanov descendant asked me personally, why, if Evgenia is Anastasia, why did she not look for us? She knew we were in the United States.Why didn’t she come to look for us? And, of course, I cannot speak for Evgenia or Anastasia, but what I have gleaned is that there were hard feelings, unresolved issues, every family has them, but in this case it had to do with the overthrow of an empire, the overthrow of a monarchy, the establishment of atheistic communism. where statism is over the individual, many, many other side issues come together in this confluence of events that made for rough feelings, I think, amongst some of the Romanovs.
G.R.: And if any Romanov descendants are listening,today or friends thereof who have any more in-depth knowledge we’d be very happy to hear that because this program will be archived and will become part of the historical record that would be a good time to call if you would please yes please thank you for that john area code 518-828-0290 if you’re dialing internationally 001 before that number and or contact us via skype wgxc 90.7 we’ll add your request straight away but please do call in contribute and uh as Mr. Parker just so eloquently stated this is a historical moment going on record and into a recorded archive file so perhaps maybe some of our diligent members of the Justice Department would like to listen to this as well as to the tape that they allegedly listened to at some point in time, I gather, that Evgenia Smetisko sent them of her lie detector session.
P.M.: But John, that internecine family warfare could be pointed to as deeply interwoven into the causes of World War I. Queen Victoria had way too many children who had children. And, you know, Kaiser Wilhelm was Anastasia’s godfather. And the Romanovs felt deeply betrayed. In your book, Anastasia Again, it chronicles really the first recorded case of deliberate disinformation implanted with foreigners. Anastasia notices in her memoirs that most of the guards that are guarding them are not Russians. They’re foreigners,that they were sent from Germany by the Kaiser to undermine the Romanov throne.
G.R.: That is an interesting point, and I’d also like to add to that. Many people are unaware. This actually comes through my friend Rob Gelles. He’s been a librarian all his life. He’s now retired, and he’s big into history. As many are aware he pointed out that Stalin was not of, although he was in charge of Russia so to speak, he was not of Russian background himself he was Georgian from Georgia- that’s from the country of Georgia. I’d just like to interject, of course, the listeners in Radio World are not able to smell what we are able to smell here in the studio, but each of us has a blessed candle, beeswax candle made out of Belgian wax. Thank you, John.
P.M.: Created at the Jordanville Monastery where a.k.a. Evgenia Smetisko/ Anastasia Romanov is buried, and I’m getting these wafts of very perfumed beeswax candles, so it’s an interesting sort of new space between the monastery chapel and your studio. We’re sort of creating a brand new interspace between the two.
G.R.: Indeed. And thank you so much again, John. And don’t worry, everyone, listeners out there, we have not lit the candles in the studio. We’re sitting here holding them, admiring their finely made wax and the tips with the homemade wicks. And it’s interesting that the monks order the beeswax from Belgium, and then they make the candles out of this beeswax right in Jordanville, New York, and if I may give them a shout out because this is in our regional our local and regional area the Holy Trinity Orthodox Monastery in Jordanville, New York, Herkimer County has a beautiful website jordanville.org and there’s actually a click a button for candles, if you’re interested in ordering candles online, you can. And there’s nothing like them. Not even the best perfumed candle can match a real beeswax candle.
No, you almost want to lick them after you smell them.They’re so sweet. And I’d just like to thank Patrice again. Earlier, just a few minutes ago, you had some excellent, excellent talking points you hit on there. and about Kaiser Wilhelm etc and we also per our agreement John we agree to give a thank you and a huge shout out to Moto for allowing us to utilize their table inside one day for practicing this skit that all of the listeners heard today.
JF-P: With Mr. Chris Foster of Questar 3 Boces.
G.R.: Oh, yes, as well. Who kindly listened to us and gave us some great pointers about how to interpret this transcript. So, Mr. Foster, if you’re listening, thank you so much. We do appreciate it.
And also, if the one gentleman, he has a name like Ban or Bram, if I remember correctly. He’s an employee at Moto. said he would be doing his best to listen today he was very intrigued by our story i handed him one of your postcards this is john last minute in the last within the last week has been circulating as I have postcards with aka Evgenia Smetisko on one half of the front of the card and then a photo of Michael Goleniewski just adjacent to her on the same side and then on the opposing side there was opposite side rather there was information about this upcoming production. May I just mention to Patrice’s question about Kaiser Wilhelm? In the book, Evgenia/Anastasia recounts how the name was banned amongst the Romanovs.
JF-P: Nobody in the family would ever mention his name. They felt so betrayed by him.
G.R.: Interesting. Yeah, the Kaiser Wilhelm, Uncle Willi, that was not able to be said anymore after the turmoil of the war. Yeah, and I had read from previous books from all different authors that even Queen Victoria, his grandmother, didn’t like him very much.
P.M.: She thought he was quite bombastic, and she didn’t trust him. All over Europe, nobody wanted to say the name of Kaiser Wilhelm at the end of World War I. That I have heard. He was considered the reason for the war happening at all. And truth be told, he was goaded.He was goaded by his enemies in the family, Edward VII in England, and, you know, he was a choleric, reactive, greedy sort of a guy, it would seem, considered a madman by many by the end of the First World War.
He was goaded in a way that other leaders, his relatives in Europe, knew he would respond in a violent way to prove his point. But I just found it interesting that this deliberate campaign of disinformation using gossip to undermine the Romanovs was really a new thing. And it was in America in the First World War; it was the first time a government actually used psychology to an advertising. Techniques that have become sort of normal now to manipulate the people into believing and making an enemy out of Germany, same way as Kaiser Wilhelm was doing in Russia. I was surprised, reading the memoirs also, that a woman who I greatly admire, Elisaveta Feodorovna who was born von Hessen und bei Rhein, Grand Duchess Elizabeth, the sister of Empress Alexandra.
Anastasia seems to criticize her mildly in these memoirs because, remember, there were terrible rumors.tabloid rumors something like out of one of our tabloid magazines at the supermarket here in the United States yes intimating that Rasputin was molesting the Romanov girls that he was being inappropriate with them and she conjectures that this may have had impetus with Grand Duchess Elisaveta, who did not like Rasputin, and who was telling her sister all the time to distance herself from them. Now, is that true or not true?
JF-P: We may never know, but at least this is the perception. If you believe that Evgenia is Anastasia, this is the perception that she has as a young girl.or as an adult woman now looking back on her childhood years, that her aunt may have had something to do with the propagation of that disinformation and misinformation that Rasputin was somehow in disrepute and was harming the family.
V.S.: Well, and even in what we reenacted today to the question you brought of why did she not come to find us, she knew we were in the United States from other identified Romanovs. She says she tried to see her Aunt Olga in Canada.
JF-P: Very good point. And I’d like to recount an anecdote, now that you’ve brought that up, because I’ve had discussions with Orthodox clerics, and of course they are unable to fathom the idea that anybody could have been Anastasia, because theologically they believe, still, she died in 1918. Whether that will change. I’m not sure. I’m not Orthodox, so I don’t know what the protocol is to be decanonized, and because they died at the hands of the Bolsheviks that they are then martyrs for the faith so they aren’t able to entertain even in the face of growing information including to three-dimensional visual face recognition technology, that she could have survived.
But one cleric did say to me, “Well, if she were truly Anastasia Romanov, why didn’t she try to find other Romanovs? Why didn’t she try to reach out to them?” And she did. She tried to see Olga in Canada, and Olga rebuffed her. Now, does that mean that Olga really did not believe she was Anastasia? Or maybe there’s another reason, a more benefic reason, why she rejected seeing Evgenia /Anastasia.
G.R.: Yeah, absolutely. It could be that she was protecting her. Protection is my first response to that. Yeah, absolutely. This is the Cold War. Goleniewski is afraid himself of being offed by the KG. In fact, he was allowed to carry a revolver in order to protect himself from the KGB until the CIA, I’ve read.
G.R: So if Golonieski, who can fire a weapon and is a trained KGB agent, is in fear of his life, I can imagine that Evgenia somewhat, she may have been oblivious to the fact that she was in danger, but other Romanovs would have said, hey. She may be my niece or my cousin, but I better not contact her publicly because I’ll be putting the bullseye upon her. So that can be interpreted in a number of ways, Vicki. And, John, let’s reiterate to the listeners, if we will, please. You’re not. in a sense, a direct descendant of the Romanov family yourself, but you are a direct descendant of Friedrich Froebel the founder of the ideals for kindergarten.
JF-P: Yes. And he is related along the way to the Romanovs. He was assisted by Maria Pavlovna of Saxe Weimar Eisenach, who was born a Romanov grand duchess, and she actually helped him, embroidered a rug for him to auction off to help the kindergarten movement. But you ask about being related, descended from the Romanovs, no, but descended from family which the Romanovs are descended from, yes. More clearly the Saxon family von Minkwitz, which occurs in our DNA lineage and from which many or most of the Romanovs are descended to a German family because they had many, many German relatives and ancestors.
G.R.: Oh, by all means. Yeah, especially Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
JF-P: Yes. They’re all, many of them from Thuringia, the area where the founder of kindergarten, the educator, Friedrich Froebel, comes from, Thuringia.
G.R.: And a shout out to anybody listening from Thuringia because I did send a few cards out and emails to different entities there. Please call in. You have some time. We have a few minutes, well, 1047 here in the United States, New York Eastern Standard Time. And then at 11 o’clock, we’ll hit top of the hour news and station identification. And. Mr. Brendan Donegan of The Morning Sampler.Fine gentleman he is. And also, I’d like to mention that, of course, I’ll be back with all the listeners next Monday morning between 9 and 11 a.m. It’s even a little bit of a surprise to me as to what the show is going to entail. And as it’s the third Monday of the month, I did hear…
A bit more time for some Anastasia talk. I have one more mystery question for everybody here.
P.M.: Why does Anastasia start this conversation that we reenacted with, I am so ashamed of myself, do you think?
JF-P: Hmm. Well, that’s an excellent point, Patrice. I must say, and I cannot take any credit for this, but I have had some kind correspondence with Marie Stravlo, another Romanov researcher, who has her version of facts, her version of the facts as she sees them are very much in keeping with Guy Richards that there was no execution at all. Of course, I have never studied that and I have never really dealt with that very much because my focus has been Anastasia. Marie, if you’re listening, I hope I am saying this correctly, that when they all escaped together or were trained, transported, exfiltrated, as we’ve heard that word used, that she was separated from the rest of them where she should have been with them.
So, this could be, if this is true, perhaps she’s referring, and there is some plausibility to that because Princess Yelena, who was the wife of Prince Ioan Konstantinovich, was in jail in Perm. The Bolsheviks had her imprisoned. And in September, now this is after the July supposed execution, the Bolsheviks bring her a girl, and they ask her to identify her if she is Anastasia Romanova. They said, this girl. is purporting to be Anastasia Romanov. Is she, or isn’t she? Already my ears perked up because I’m thinking, if they are all dead in July, why in heaven’s name would the Bolsheviks be bringing a girl to Princess Yelena in September to ask if it’s Anastasia? Occam’s razor, Anastasia is only dead as far as the official document sent to Lenin because that’s what Lenin either expected or was going to say had happened as part of a state secret, a plot to cover up the survival of one or more of the Romanovs. So, she said, I’m so ashamed, because it could be that she was not supposed to have taken off by herself. Also, she does seem to have gotten money from someplace. According to the Rhode Island Foundation for Non-for-Profits, she had assets in her St. Nicholas House Foundation of $50 million or more. And I can tell you, as a writer of books, book writers don’t usually make that kind of money; she didn’t make the kind of money with her memoirs.
V.S..: I’d like to know also about the Ipatiev house where they were held. Didn’t you mention, John when we were having a discussion outside the radio station uh about them not finding any blood it was a supposed execution.
G.R.: In the meantime, I have read that there were some spots of blood, but not that would have matched the series of events as were reported back to Moscow. And also, we’re discussing that one of the nephews, I believe, who was acting as their houseboy, I believe, was executed.
JF-P: Oh, yes. It wasn’t a nephew. It was another young man who was the kitchen boy, and he was told to go home before the Romanovs were supposedly executed. 18 years later, Stalin sends hitmen to his home and has him executed. Now, why would they execute the kitchen boy? And 18 years later?
G.R.: Yes. Okay. Yes. Any ideas? Why would he have?
JF-P: He knew something or saw something, and he was not going to be allowed to divulge it to anyone.
P.M.: And perhaps, do you believe he may have been privy, John, to any disagreements? Were there disagreements, to your knowledge, within the Romanov family?
JF-P: Oh, amongst the… Caused by outside tensions, perhaps. Well, I know that the czar had rejected a number of different attempts, plots, to extract him from imprisonment. And whether they, as a family, had differences of opinion about that or would have all deferred to the czar, I have no idea.
V.S.: I think so. According to the book, Anastasia Again, The Hidden Secrets of the Romanovs, it appears that what I got out of it was Alexandra was trying to keep the whole family together. She was the heart of the family, and she was trying to keep everybody together, and she would in no way leave her husband, and she would in no way leave her children so whatever he decided they were on board with.
JF-P: Absolutely, I think that is amazing, yes, but that’s of course my opinion and there are other hints in the book about discord. She doesn’t chronicle the discord, but she hints at it. How could it not be tense you know and different tensions and hopes of getting rescued.
G.R.: Sure, how disheartening it must have been when Nicholas said no, I won’t accept that escape plan, you know, and one could imagine even 18 years after, Stalin feeling very threatened by somebody claiming to be a Romanov who could reignite the deeply spiritual and emotional character of the Russian populace into believing that the great age of the imperial Russia could be restored somehow.
JF-P: It was a big threat. And, you know, it’s interesting. It brings up more questions than it answers that Anastasia/ Evgenia in the memoirs mentions that they hear American English being spoken downstairs. Somebody is speaking English. Later on the table, the kitchen table, they see German newspapers. Somebody is reading German. And then they find a key on the floor, and it said Made In The USA. So what is happening in the Ipatiev House?
G.R.: And there was another part in the book, I believe. I read it, where, what was it, the leader? I can’t remember what his name was, but he showed, supposedly, Alexei a USA revolver. Oh, right, yeah, Yakov Yurovsky. And Alexei trembles and said, is that loaded?
JF-P: And he said, no, but it will be, so psychological abuse well yes going on there no matter what happened.that seems to be true that that happened yes that they were being psychologically manipulated and abused
P.M.: Well, the deprivation was so extreme that when they were imprisoned in Ipatiev House, how increasingly strict deprivations were put into place as time went on. And whether the girls were raped by anybody or not, I’ve read accounts where they say it’s inevitable that they were. The memoirs make it sound like no, but the threat was always there, these guards leering at them and not allowed to lock the bathroom door and always going to the bathroom in pairs and making sure they never took their clothing off. It was a pretty awful, pretty dreadful situation for those young women.
JF-P: Many people bring up that Evgenia didn’t act as they would assume that the Grand Duchess Anastasia would act. I think we have to take into account that whatever happened in the Ipatiev house, she probably was suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome.
G.R.: Oh, my gosh. Absolutely. Which they didn’t know, didn’t have a label for in those days. But she seems to have been suffering. And. thank you, John, and all for your commentary here we are at 10 58 a.m New York Eastern Standard Time. John is glowing and beaming! Thank you, John, Patrice, Victoria, Bob and thank you everybody thank you so much, and as we close out with Dr. Zhivago’s theme, I am Garrett Roche of the Monday Morning Show, 90.7 FM, radio for open ears. You’re still welcome to call in the last two minutes, 518-828-0290-001. Before that number, if you’re dialing internationally or on Skype, WGXC 90.7. Thank you, everyone out there for listening. And please do call in next week if you wish, if you didn’t get a chance to today. And heartfelt sentiment to all out there today who partook in leaning their ears towards tuning in here. And I will be back with you next Monday morning, as I said, between 9 and 11 a.m. on my own Morning Show.
Herkimer County (New York) is home to an historic monastery belongingto the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia founded in the 1930s by monks who had witnessed how Bolshevism had decimated Christian life which had flourished in Tsarist Russia. The 21st century brings new battles, this time the Church is resisting Terra-Gen LLC’s planned Rolling Hills wind project. Fifty turbines would allegedly encircle the pristine property. The monastery argues the roughly 50 turbines would nearly encircle the property on which religious services are held throughout the day, students are studying theology and church history, and faithful gather to bury their dead and pray at their graves. Opponents of the wind farm envision monstrous turbines vying for supremacy over the bell tower located over the baptistry and churning around the cemetery, one in which the legendary Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaevna Romanov is purportedly buried under the pseudonym “Evgenia Smetisko.” The monastery has been on the National Register of Historic Places for 15 years.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Trump administration fully supports the monastery in its endeavor to maintain its status as an historic, cultural and religious refuge free from projects such as the proposed wind project. Prime farmland, the USDA insists, is best used for its original agricultural purpose rather than contentious energy schemes which cannot compete efficiently with proven conventional sources. While Terra Gen, LLC insists that its proposed project is in its nascent stage subject to further study and feasibility analyses, the church points out that it faces challenges from New York State’s expanded Office of Renewable Energy Siting Authority, which it alleges is reducing local input. It has circulated a petition which has garnered 11,700 signatures to date, and will host a conference against the project.
There exists an interesting tie-in between one of the monastery’s founders and a woman buried in the monastery cemetery who claimed to have been HIH Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov (whom the monastery has buried surprisingly with the date of birth of the verifiable noblewoman: 18 June 1901). Archimandrite Panteleimon (born Peter Adamovich Nizhnik, +1934), from in the village of Rechitza, Grodenenskaya guberniya, Pruzhansky uezd, Gorodechnyansky volost’, immigrated to America and worked at Sikorsky Airplane Factory in Stratford, Connecticut. There the St. Nicholas Orthodox Church was built with many donations from the Orthodox employees at the facility. In her later years, alias “Evgenia Smetisko” who claimed to have been Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaevna Romanov, attended services from Newport, Rhode Island on the occasions she had transportation there.
Alias Eugenia Smith (Evgenia Smetisko) ca age 93, Newport RI. Photo H/T Wally Aulenbach
Eugenia Smith (Evgenia Smetisko) being assisted into St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Stratford, Connecticut. Photo: H/T L. Loranger
Nikolai Sikorsky, son of the founder Igor, who had been a close friend of Tsar Nicholas II, was known to visit “Evgenia” (Eugenia to some) in Newport indicating that she was known to the Sikorsky family. More on her remarkable life at histriabooks.com/product/grand-duchess-anastasia.
A&E Network will feature book on upcoming History’s Greatest Mysteries. Portrait by Catskill, New York artist, Barbara Korr Green
The Manhattan Press had reported on the windfarm as early as June 10, 2026 in an article which can be accessed at:
Early August can be extremely humid in the Northeast of the United States. Just days after terrible flooding and extreme rainfall in the Hudson Valley of New York State, this author traveled from still soggy Hudson (Columbia County), New York with two friends, actually DNA relatives. Restaurateurs Moises Ortiz and Carlos Gomez, owners of La Mision Mexican Restaurant on Warren Street in Hudson, New York, have profound knowledge of the saga of Russia’s youngest grand duchess and had already arranged two presentations on the subject in two of their establishments. Would they enjoy a trip to Newport, Rhode Island where the woman who had claimed to be Anastasia Romanov had spent her last decades? Without hesitation, we were all ready to go. We would begin with a visit to The Breakers, the grand manse built by Cornelius Vanderbilt, a distant cousin to the author.
We would end the first day leisurely at The Reef (https://thereefnewport.com) for seafood feet from the ocean. The weather, although humid, was sunny with a delightful breeze.
The next day would be dedicated by the author to meeting friends of the venerable Evgenia (Eugenia) Smetisko (Smith) who humbly claimed to be HIH Anastasia Nicholaevna Romanov, Grand Duchess of Russia. After a quarter century of research into her claim, and fully convinced between a shadow of a doubt that she was truly the noblewoman who she had claimed to be, the first-hand knowledge by those who knew her well would be enlightening. Would they concur that her claim was valid? As a researcher one is open to listen to all points of view as there are gems of information sprinkled along the way no matter the conclusion.
An early Monday morning meeting was planned in the suburb of Middletown centrally located and easily accessible by all. L and L Loranger along with D. Duggan appeared with good cheer and insights new to this author. We had been brought together via the auspices of Mr. W. Aulenbacher who with Mr. Duggan had known her from the Congregational Church (renowned for orientalist interior design by John LaFarge) which Evgenia (to whom they referred more often with the English variant, Eugenia) also attended.
A church and Christianity is a good point from which to begin this narrative as the name “Anastasia” means “Resurrection.” In a sense we were all resurrecting her legacy and allowing her story to reveal itself on her terms rather than those of “official” historians, mavens of Romanovia, and Soviet era allegations. The first refutation of her claim had come from Orthodox sources who insisted that an Orthodox member of the Imperial Family would NEVER attend a Protestant church. This author had always explained to those who used this non-sequitur, was that her family background was steeped in Anglicanism and more profoundly in confessional Lutheranism. Her mother had been born Lutheran. Her paternal grandmother had been born a Danish Lutheran princess. Her great grandmother, Victoria, was defender of the Christian faith in the Church of England, while her great grandfather, Prince Consort Albert von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha, had been baptised and confirmed in the Lutheran Church (to which this author also belongs in its confessional American form of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod). While historical Anastasia was certainly very steeped in Russian Orthodoxy in which her Christian faith was formed, she would have been totally at ease with “protestantism” even if the Congregational Church was not really “Lutheran” in its theology. The simple reason why Evgenia attended it was that it was walkable from her residence, the third floor flat reached by a private elevator, at 25 Bowery in Newport. The florid interior design by LaFarge is highly evocative of Eastern Orthodox decoration, while the congregants, which included Mr. A and Mr. D., were friendly, Christian, and welcoming! All of Evgenia’s friends gave evidence that when she could she did, indeed, attend Orthodox services, including at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Stratford, Connecticut. She is seen at an Orthodox Liturgy in an article from October 18, 1963 in Life Magazine.
Evgenia/Eugenia/Anastasia attending St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Stratford, Connecticut. Photo: L. Loranger
St. Nicholas Church in Connecticut was in great part subsidized via the philanthropy of a great friend of Nicholas II, namely Igor Sikorsky, known for his contributions to aeronautics. Luckily, he was able to flee Bolshevism making his way to the United States. Why are members of the Sikorsky family important to the claims of aka “Evgenia/Eugenia/Anastasia?” One questions whether a friend of the Tsar would make a pilgrimage to visit an impostress in Newport, Rhode Island. All of Evgenia’s friends recalled visits by Igor’s son, Nikolai, to E.S. ‘s Bowery residence while one recalled spending an entire afternoon with them, described as very pleasant and convivial.
Painting signed OTMA by Evgenia/Anastasia of Tsar Nicholas II and Igor Sikorsky in The Art of the Authoress of Anastasia by this author
Nikolai Sikorsky, son of Igor, known to visit Evgenia/Anastasia in Newport, RI
Mrs. L. Loranger recalled meeting E.S. in a unique way. At a Yoga class in Newport she saw a diminutive elderly lady watching the class sitting on a sofa at the back of the classroom. The instructor, of Swiss German heritage, asked her to please drive her home. She did, and they became close and trusted friends. Evidently, E.S. alias Grand Duchess Anastasia, loved to cook and was adept at it. She was, perhaps surprisingly, vegetarian. It must be noted that Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was also a vegetarian. One speculates that the origins of these imperial vegetarians might lie in Orthodox Christianity as monks and nuns are obligatorily vegetarian as a routine of their spiritual discipline. Empress Alexandra was very pious and such eating habits may have been a way of approximating a strict monastic exercise even while she remained secular. What did she prepare for her guests (whom she treated, to which all attested, with grace, courtesy and impeccable manners)? Borscht was almost always on the menu! Cold and meatless, while some other Eastern Europeans eat it warm, with meat and a healthy dollop of “smetana” or sour cream! L. Loranger reported that the beet-based recipe was not a favorite dish personally, but that Eugenia/Evgenia/Anastasia used apples liberally in its creation, making it naturally sweet and more palatable. Evidently E.S. also enjoyed preparing a side dish of mixed vegetables with lima beans, sauteed on the stove and served with the borscht. D. Duggan added that she often prepared candied orange rinds as an appetizer.
Candied Orange Peels, a favorite appetizer of aka Evgenia (Eugenia) Smetisko (Smith) alias HIH Anastasia Nicholaevna Romanov
Photo courtesy L. Loranger with original grave cross. Note Anastasia’s date of birth.
L Loranger surprised us all with a photocopy of the original postcard sent by George to Evgenia with Christmas greetings on an undated card. The card, seen here, depicts Gibbes as an Orthodox Monk-priest, which he became after converting from Anglicanism upon his departure from revolutionary Russia.
Original Postcard of Father Nicholas (aka Charles Sydney Gibbes): collection L. Loranger
Back of Christmas Card to Evgenia/Eugenia/Anastasia from George Gibbes, son of tutor Charles Sydney Gibbes. Collection L. Loranger
More information becomes known on an almost daily basis which will be shared in subsequent articles. The revelation of resurrection of a personage deemed “dead” while still living is not new, one must confess. One need only recall the example of Tsar Alexander I who seems to have staged his own death and burial, to leave a freer life under an assumed identity. He would have mirrored Smetisko’s reality, being and not being at the same time, but always being exactly what God had created in divine uniqueness. The word “enigma” is used often when speaking of Evgenia, id est Anastasia. She is at some level the absolute personification of the term.
2D visual face recognition overlay with software by developer, the late Robert (Bob) Schmitt) done by the author, of 93-year-old Evgenia/Eugenia/Anastasia and the young Grand Duchess Anastasia. Eyes dark due to sepia colorization.
More about the enigmatic Evgenia/Eugenia/Anastasia can be found in histriabooks.com/product/grand-duchess-anastasia.
While July 17, 1918 is proposed as the day the entire family and retinue of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia met their demise at the hands of Cheka forces in Ekaterinburg, Urals, Russia, the legend has persisted that Grand Duchess Anastasia (if not more of the family) actually survived.
In the 1990s, the lady known as Evgenia Smetisko, Eugenia Smith and, more plausibly, HIH Anastasia Nicholaevna Romanov, Grand Duchess of Russia, had formed a not-for-profit organization in Newport, Rhode Island called the Saint Nicholas House Foundation.
Here we see an invite from 1990 in which she presents a lecture about Russian history and exhibits her many paintings she completed as an octogenarian.
Hat tip: Wally Aulenbach
The invite offers hints as to her real identity. The immigration papers of aka EVGENIA SMETISKO, state she was born in Yugoslavia. This flyer from her own organization insists she was “Russian born.” It explains that she had “escaped Russia.” Her foundation was meant to “preserve the last effects of Imperial Russia.”
A glimmer of hope for believers in Jesus (Yasua/يسوع) in the Middle East! A woman whom we shall call “Maryam” has won a court case in Iraq to change the designation of her religion in the Iraqi government official database where she had been previously labeled as “Muslim.” Iraq’s Article 26(2) National Card Law had demanded that Maryam coercively adopt Islam as her religion when her widowed mother had remarried a Muslim man.
Maryam has two sisters, still minors, who are Christian in practice but were registered obligatorily as Muslim. When they reach the age of majority, they too will apply for their status to be adjusted and corrected.
Not only Christians but other religious minorities in Iraq will now be able to correct errant state-imposed classifications. Before the introduction and domination of Islam, Iraq was a rich tapestry of monotheistic and polytheistic religions. In Northern Mesopatamia Zorastrianism was prevalent. It worshipped Ahura Mazda as a singular and supreme god. Syriac and Eastern Orthodox Christianity was well established in the territory of contemporary Iraq before the creation of Islam. Other Christian groups, such as Nestorians and Jacobites, were also there. Judaism predated Islam by many centuries, while Mandaeism, which revered John The Baptist, was also a known group in the area. While Islam colonized the area in the 7th century, it never truly eradicated these preexistent groups, as the case of Maryam clearly underscores.
Maryam’s case is far from over, however, as the state will appeal it in the Federal Court of Cassation. Will the case be adjudicated positively for Maryam there? If so, all other religions in Iraq would be protected also.
The designation of one’s faith can affect many aspects of civil life including education, inheritance, marriage, or even obligation to settle certain cases in Sharia courts.
