MILWAUKEE -- Proof of the identity of a young woman who claims to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia, daughter of Nicholas, last czar of Russia may be given soon by a Milwaukee music master and his daughter.
The woman whose claims to royal lineage is backed by many of the late czar's supporters is said to be on her way here to have William J. Schmidt and his daughter Mrs. Ella Fitch, Chicago, help prove her identity.
She is reported to have left Germany last week escorted by Mrs. William B. Leeds, the former Princess Xeia of Greece. They departed from the castle Seeon. Bavarian refuge of Duke Georges of Luechtenberg, grandson of the czar who preceded Nicholas. Duke Nicholas is reported to have found the young woman in a German sanitarium.
Six years ago the Milwaukee musician and his daughter were traveling in Germany, Schmidt says, when a young Russian approached them and inquired if they would care to look at a pair of ear rings which were for sale.
They were led to the bedside of a young woman who told them that she was Anastasia daughter of the slain czar. She offered to sell the ear rings to obtain medical aid.
Schmidt purchased the jewels and he and his daughter returned and placed the ear rings in his museum here.
Last May United States customs officers seized the jewels on the charge that they were brought into this country undeclared. Taken to the federal building, the ear rings were examined by jewelry experts who declared they were part of the crown jewels of Russia.
The bodies of the czar, czarina, the young czarevitch and three of the four royal daughters slain during the revolution were found in Siberia. The body of the youngest daughter, Anastasia, never was found and all trace of her was lost.
The young woman claims that she was rescued by a young peasant at the time of her family's death.
