Price Busting News! $189 Nigh Quality Dry Cleaning Each Item Is Only $2.89 Shirts Beautifully Laundered •No Minimum • Box or Hanger •Must Be Paid For In Advance •Same Day Service For Only each ci H llpaid •Excludes: Suedes, Leathers, Formal Gowns, Wedding Dresses And Household Items •All Items Paid For In Advance Are $1.89 Otherwise 50( Extra Per Item Same Day Service UJ Cn $)89 IN DRY CLEANERS 8 26019 Southfield Rd. UJ 40 (at 10'/i Mile Rd.) Across From MA Lathrop Village Master Card 569-1440 1 C • .1 S 1111 P•7 0,1 A Bi-Czar Story Were the Romanovs really saved by a Jew? ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR Q: I continue to be amused, and amazed, by this whole Marilyn Monroe thing. She was a lousy ac- tress, yet everyone seems to think she was the most fascinating per- son in the history of Hollywood. Didn't anyone dislike her? A:Actually, many loathed working with her (chief among her detractors were Clark Gable and Laurence Olivier). For a unique Jewish per- spective, Tell Me Why offers this insight from actor Tony Randall, who said of Monroe, "I never could understand what it was all about. She was ab- solutely talentless. To work with her was agony. In the first place, she never was there. You'd wait. Five o'clock at night she'd show up on the set." The first Ben-Gurion on record lived many years earli- er. His name was Nakdimon Ben-Gurion, one of the wealth- iest men in Jerusalem of the 1st century B.C.E., in the last years of the Second Temple. He was sometimes known by a Greek name, Nicodemus. Nakdimon Ben-Gurion was a pious man who studied with rabbis and was a great philan- thropist. During the siege of Jerusalem, he and two other magnates helped lay up stores of food and supplies. The Zealots burned the provisions, hoping the starving people would fight the Romans. With the fall of Jerusalem, Nakdi- mon lost his wealth and his family was reduced to poverty. Q: The most compelling conspir- acy story I know involves the Ro- manovs (the last living Russian czar, his wife and five children). I've heard that not just Anastasia and Alexei may still be alive, but that all of them supposedly sur- vived. One story I recall even has a Jew saving the family (though they were, of course, decidedly anti-Se- mitic). What does Tell Me Why know about this? A: Count me in with those who believe all the Ro- manovs were killed. But many continue to insist oth- erwise, and each year we seem to see a new book or TV show about how Nicholas and/or his family "escaped." The most popular of these has a guard saving a woman who came to be known as Anna Anderson and claimed to be the czar's youngest daughter, Anastasia. Ms. Anderson had many David Ben-Gurion, how did you get that name? (including surviving mem- bers of the czar's family) fooled. However, DNA test- language for Jewish life, both in and outside of the Land of Is- ing has since shown she could rael. As an adult, he would in- not have been Anastasia — sist that Jews change their though her DNA did match surnames to Hebrew names. that of Franziska Schanzkows- In 1906 Ben-Gurion made ki, a Polish woman and former aliyah, building a living as an mental patient who looked ex- agricultural worker. He was ac- actly like Anna and conve- tive in the affairs of the left-wing niently disappeared soon before Poalei Zion political party. In Anna showed up as Anastasia. 1910, he moved to Jerusalem (Wow! What a coincidence!) The Jewish man who sup- and joined the editorial staff of the party's newspaper, Achdut. posedly had a hand in saving He wrote articles under the by- the entire Romanov family was line Ben-Gurion. Thereafter, he Aaron Simanovitsch. Simanovitsch met Czar was known as David Ben-Guri- Nicholas through their mutual on. friend Rasputin, the mysteri- Q: I've always been interested in how David Ben-Gurion, the former Israeli prime minister, got his unique last name. Did he come up with it himself? A: David Ben-Gurion was born in 1886 in Plonsk, north- west of Warsaw; his original last name was Gruen. From his youth, Ben-Gurion was an ardent believer in the exclusive use of the Hebrew ous confidante of the czar's wile, Alexandra. Seeking to improve life for the Jewish community so often the target of govern: ment-sponsored Pogroms Simanovitsch appealed to Rasputin to speak with the Russian minister ofjusticeln. stead, Rasputin brought Simanovitsch directly to the czar (who reportedly was sym. pathetic — this once). Simanovitsch maintained contact with the czar, including in the days after the Communist Revolution when Nicholas and his family were sent to Ekater• mburg. Here, they were hidden away in an estate, Ipatievialsi known as "The House of Special Purpose"), until the new Soviet leader, Lenin, could decide what to do with them. Most believe the czar andhii family were shot in 1918 and their bodies buried in a forest outside Ekaterinburg. Another story has it that Simanovitsch was contacted by King George V of England, who was desper• ate to save his relative, Czar Nicholas II. According to this tale, Simanovitsch befriended the head of the troupes guarding the Romanovs and convinced him to release the family. They managed to fool eveiyone by fir. ing off a massive round of hi- lets into mannequins (provided by King George), which were then burned and buried along with treasures that had be- longed to the czar. Ipatiev was doused with human blood, and Nicholas and his family whisked off to safety in Eng. land. (For complete details, see The Conspirator Who Saved the Romanovs, by Gary Null.) Interesting story, but Tell Me Why isn't convinced. The main problem has to do with the fact that scientists have positively identified numerous bones as those of the Romanov Could it really be that King George had the mannequins n b a o rn c t?elysI e.. hoEuf t n h, ae exactly te that, dm matched Send questions to Tell Mell'hy, The Jewish Netus, 27676 1 M Franklin Road, Southfield , (810) 354.6069. 48034, or fax to All letters must be signed and in. elude the writer's address. (2 116!„' tions answered in the column oil initials feature only the writer's and city of residence.