NEWARK, N.J., Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Nicholas II, the last Russian czar, comes across as a much more likeable family man in an exhibition previously unseen outside his native land.
Historians do not speak kindly of his political legacy, proclaiming Nicholas' 19th Century rule of the massive Russian Empire out of step and ineffectual.
But, an exhibit in Newark, N.J., paints a different picture, the Voice of America said. Here the czar's more intimate side shows through in a rare collection of cherished family heirlooms, letters, books, photographs and home movies.
More than 250 objects depict the passions and pastimes of the czar, his wife, the Empress Alexandra, and their five children. Ulysses Grant Dietz, the Newark Museum curator, says even the portraits that hung in their bedrooms reflected Nicholas and Alexandra's deep love for one another.
The entire Romanov family was executed during the Russian revolution in 1918.
