Perm, Perm Krai, Russia, June 14, 2024
Photo: pravperm.ru
On Sunday, June 9, a memorial to two martyred servants of the Russian Royal Martyrs, Sts. Anastasia Hendrikova and Ekaterina Schneider, was blessed at the site of their burial.
The memorial was erected at the New Yegoshikha Cemetery in Perm, near the Church of All Saints. The service was attended by local authorities, historians, representatives of the public, academic, and museum communities, and parishioners, reports the Perm Metropolis.
Then a memorial litiya was served in the Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God in the Old Yegoshikha Cemetery, at the relics Sts. Anastasia and Ekaterina.
At the end of the service, His Eminence Metropolitan Methodiy of Perm addressed the faithful with an archpastoral address, in which he noted the significance of the event for the Perm land, saying that by the grace of God, after the research and labors undertaken, the honest remains of faithful servants of the Imperial Family were uncovered.
Countess Anastasia Hendrikova served as a lady-in-waiting to Empress St. Alexandra, and Ekaterina Schneider taught Russian to Grand Duchess St. Elizabeth and later became a devoted friend and confidant of St. Alexandra.
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Photo: pravperm.ru
Paul Gilbert of tsarnicholas.org writes:
In May 1918, Anastasia Hendrikova and Ekaterina Schneider arrived in Ekaterinburg from Tobolsk, however, they were not admitted to the Ipatiev House, but were instead, taken by train—along with 33 other prisoners—to Perm, where they were transferred to a local prison. They prayed fervently and tried to remain cheerful, although both were exhausted by the illnesses and burdens of imprisonment.
On the night of September 3–4, 1918, Hendrikova and Schneider were awakened and taken with the other prisoners outside the city to the irrigation fields situated on the 5th verst of the Siberian Highway, where they were all shot. According to the Whites investigation at the time, they were both shot at point blank range followed by a strong blow to the back of the head.
On May 19, 1919, the bodies of Hendrikova and Schneider were recovered by the Whites, who buried their remains in the Yegoshikha Cemetery in Perm.
After the Bolsheviks had established power in the region, the graves of Hendrikova and Schneider were destroyed, and their location was lost. It was not until 2020 that the site where Hendrikova and Schneider’s remains were allegedly buried was established, thanks to historical photographs taken on the day of their burial—May 16, 1919.
The remains of Hendrikova and Scehndier were exumed on September 8, 2020, followed by a thorough forensic study, which lasted nearly four years. On May 20, 2024, an announcement was made, confirming that the remains were indeed those of Hendrikova and Schneider.
On November 1, 1981, both Anastasia Hendrikova and Ekaterina Schneider were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) as New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. Schneider was canonized in spite of the fact she was a Lutheran, however, she has not been canonized by the Moscow Patriarchate due to her faith.
On October 16, 2009, the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation decided to rehabilitate 52 persons of the Imperial family and their retainers who had been subjected to repression, including Hendrikova and Schneider.
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