1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: To stay in History Class. It's a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,760 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey everyone, I'm Eaves and welcome to another 3 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:11,920 Speaker 1: episode of This Day in History Class. Today is March. 4 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: The day was Mar Swedish nurse and philanthropists Elsa Branstrom 5 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: was born. Branstrom became known as the Angel of Siberia 6 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:39,520 Speaker 1: for her work with prisoners of war. Branstrom was born 7 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 1: in St. Petersburg to Edward Branstrom and Anna velamina Eskilson. 8 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:49,559 Speaker 1: Her father was a Swedish military attache to Russia, and 9 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:51,879 Speaker 1: her family went back to Sweden for a while when 10 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: she was a child. Her father went back to St. 11 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: Petersburg as an envoy in nineteen oh six, but she 12 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: stayed in Sweden, where she was training to become a teacher. 13 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: She went back to St. Petersburg in nineteen o eight. 14 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:08,680 Speaker 1: Elsa's mother died in nineteen thirteen, just before the outbreak 15 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:12,319 Speaker 1: of World War One. In nineteen fourteen, when the war began, 16 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: Elsa and her friend Ethel von hayden Stam were trained 17 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 1: as nurses. Elsa began serving at a military hospital. There, 18 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 1: she cared for wounded Russian soldiers, but she found that 19 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:28,319 Speaker 1: Russia was not providing the necessary support to prisoners of war, 20 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 1: so she and von hayden Stam worked to find private 21 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: donations to help care for the POWs. In nineteen fifteen, 22 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 1: the Swedish Red Cross asked her to go to Siberia 23 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: to do relief work in the prisoner camps. Conditions were 24 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 1: poor in the camps. They lacked winter clothes, blankets, medical supplies, 25 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 1: and other basic necessities. Many people got sick because of 26 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: these conditions, and diseases like typhus killed a lot of 27 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: prisoners of war. During these ships, she gave out food, clothing, 28 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: and medical supplies to POWs at a Siberian camp calls 29 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: three tens. Branstrom's inspections led to changes that helped slow 30 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: the typhoid epidemic. When she was in Europe, she met 31 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,959 Speaker 1: with families of Russian POWs. Though the Central Powers and 32 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 1: Russia signed a peace treaty in nineteen eighteen, ending Russia's 33 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:25,679 Speaker 1: participation in World War One, the Red Cross continued its 34 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: relief work. Elsa was accused of being a spy and arrested. 35 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:33,240 Speaker 1: At one point, she was even threatened with execution, but 36 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 1: her sentence was revoked. Also got typhoid in nineteen nineteen. 37 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: The next year, she was imprisoned, but soon released. She 38 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: went back to Sweden in July of nineteen twenty. In Sweden, 39 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 1: she continued to support POWs in Siberia. She collected donations 40 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: and sent winter clothing to them. In ninete, she even 41 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 1: published a memoir called Among Prisoners of War and Russia 42 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: and Siberia. With the money from her book, from a 43 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 1: lecture tour in the US, and from her work at 44 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:07,920 Speaker 1: a relief association, she was able to fund a health resort, 45 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: a home for the children of POWs, and a labor 46 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 1: sanatorium to train POWs to work jobs like farming or fishing. 47 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 1: In the children's home, she only accepted kids who would 48 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: become quote first class people, and refused those with disabilities 49 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: and character traits deemed unacceptable. Elsa married Robert Ulick in 50 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: n and they moved to Dresden. They had a daughter 51 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 1: together in nineteen thirty two. Because she worked with prisoners 52 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:40,840 Speaker 1: of war, she was recognized by Hitler, but she and 53 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: her husband disapproved of the rise of the Nazis. The 54 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: family moved to the US, where Ulick had gotten a 55 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 1: job at Harvard. Elsa helped refugees from Nazi Germany and 56 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: occupied Scandinavian countries get residency permits. She died in nineteen 57 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 1: forty eight and Cambridge, Massachusetts. I'm Eves Jeff Coote and 58 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: hopefully you know a little more about history today than 59 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:07,720 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. 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