Page "Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia" Paragraph 36

In the summer, the privations of the captivity, including their closer confinement at the Ipatiev House negatively affected the family.

According to some accounts, at one point Anastasia became so upset about the locked, painted windows that she opened one to look outside and get fresh air.

A sentry reportedly saw her and fired, narrowly missing her.

She did not try again.

On July 14, 1918, local priests at Yekaterinburg conducted a private church service for the family.

They reported that Anastasia and her family, contrary to custom, fell on their knees during the prayer for the dead, and that the girls had become despondent, hopeless, and no longer sang the replies in his service.

Noticing this dramatic change in their demeanor since his last visit, one priest told the other, " Something has happened to them in there.

" But the next day, on July 15, 1918, Anastasia and her sisters appeared in good spirits as they joked and helped move the beds in their shared bedroom so that cleaning women could clean the floors.

They helped the women scrub the floors and whispered to them when the guards weren't watching.

Anastasia stuck her tongue out at Yakov Yurovsky, the head of the detachment, when he momentarily turned his back and left the room.