98 Missing and Presumed Dead

The violent overthrow of governments by revolution, especially when the assassination of royalty is involved, often leads to remarkable myths. Romantic stories about survivors begin circulating almost immediately, put forth either by supporters of the deceased royalty or by individuals claiming to be family members who have miraculously escaped. Two of the longest-lived survivor myths involve Louis XVII of France and Anastasia, daughter of Russian czar Nicholas II.

Louis XVII, the dauphin (heir to the throne) of France, was only seven when his father was beheaded by supporters of the Revolution in 1793. Strong evidence exists that the young boy died in prison of tuberculosis two years later; in fact, his uncle assumed the throne in 1814. But for at least 50 years afterward stories about the “lost dauphin” circulated widely. One claimed that after his father’s death Louis was put in the care of a shoemaker and eventually smuggled into America. Over 30 individuals at times claimed to be the dauphin, including a priest who died near Green Bay, Wisconsin, but none of these claims was ever substantiated.

The Anastasia story is equally bizarre. In July 1918 the entire family of Czar Nicholas II of Russia was assassinated by Bolshevik revolutionaries in Siberia. Almost immediately rumors began that the youngest daughter, 17-year-old Anastasia, had been spared, and pretenders began to proliferate: one, a woman named Anna Anderson, claimed to be Anastasia until her death in 1984. But DNA testing has laid this story to rest: Anderson was proven to be a fraud, and the remains of all of Nicholas’s children were found and identified at the assassination site.

98 失踪并推定死亡

革命暴力推翻政府（尤其是涉及皇室遇刺时），往往会催生离奇的神话。关于幸存者的浪漫故事几乎立刻开始流传，这些故事要么是已故皇室的支持者编造的，要么是声称自己是奇迹般逃脱的皇室成员的人编造的。两个流传最久的幸存者神话，涉及法国的路易十七和俄国沙皇尼古拉二世的女儿阿纳斯塔西娅。

法国的王储（王位继承人）路易十七在1793年父亲被革命支持者斩首时只有7岁。有确凿证据表明，这个小男孩两年后在监狱中死于肺结核；事实上，他的叔叔在1814年继承了王位。但此后至少50年里，关于“失踪的王储”的故事广为流传。其中一个说法是，父亲死后，路易被托付给一位鞋匠照顾，最终被偷偷带到了美国。有超过30个人曾声称自己是王储，包括一位在威斯康星州格林湾附近去世的牧师，但这些说法都从未得到证实。

阿纳斯塔西娅的故事同样离奇。1918年7月，俄国沙皇尼古拉二世的全家在西伯利亚被布尔什维克革命者暗杀。几乎立刻就有谣言说，最小的女儿、17岁的阿纳斯塔西娅幸免于难，冒名顶替者开始大量出现：其中一个名叫安娜·安德森的女人，直到1984年去世都声称自己是阿纳斯塔西娅。但DNA检测终结了这个故事：安德森被证明是个骗子，尼古拉所有孩子的遗骸都在暗杀现场被找到并确认了身份。