THE AMERICAN-SCAXDIXAVIAN REVIEW 
475 
worked with admirable heroism under these hopeless conditions, de¬ 
prived of their own personal belongings, frequently even without in¬ 
struments or dressings. In Krasnoyarsk they operated with pen¬ 
knives as well as this was possible, and death which daily claimed 
enormous tolls was greeted as a deliverer from unspeakable sufferings. 
And yet, the last thought of these unfortunates turned to their dear 
ones at home, their mothers, their wives, their children. For years 
they had had no news from home, and the anguish of uncertainty 
as to the fate of their loved ones was not the least of the sufferings 
of these martyrs whose lives ebbed out within the prison camps. The 
bodies were piled upon sleighs and carried away by the comrades of the 
dead; and at the edge of a large common grave the bodies were dumped 
from the sleighs into their last resting place. In Totskoje about 350 
prisoners died daily; out of 25,000 prisoners about 17,000 passed away. 
These are only a few illustrating figures. 
In this hell on earth, which perhaps in its way was even more 
terrible than the battlefield and the trenches, Elsa Brandstrom worked 
and fought. She visited the prison camps all over Siberia from Omsk 
to Vladivostok, and according to her own statement came in touch with 
approximately 700,000 prisoners in the hospitals, the camps, and in 
the open field. But of her work as Bed Cross nurse, as spokesman 
with the authorities, as organizer and above all as the good Samaritan 
among the prisoners, she says nothing. Her fame, however, has gone 
before her and told almost legendary stories of her noble work of char¬ 
ity. With never-failing energy she worked among the sick, always 
trying to improve the conditions of the prisoners as much as possible, 
and she seemed endowed with an extraordinary gift to carry her will 
through. Most remarkable was her influence upon the prisoners. Elsa 
Brandstrom is the real Northern type: tall, blond, with blue eyes. 
Without being handsome of features there is something wonderfully 
attractive about her appearance; she possesses a charming personality, 
characterized by a spontaneous alertness and a natural graciousness. 
When knowing her better, one is struck by the qualities which above 
all must have aided her in her work among the prisoners: a clear 
intelligence, a practical sense, and an indomitable will combined with a 
rare tact and a gift of handling people, which traits were developed 
to perfection during her activities in Bussia and Siberia. When she 
had decided upon a matter, there was only one solution, namely to 
carry it to a successful end. 
It is natural that her sound and strong will power, her pres¬ 
ence of mind, and her resoluteness must have had a wonderfully stimu¬ 
lating influence upon those whose spirits were broken and whose 
initiative and will had become dulled in dark despair and utter hope¬ 
lessness. There are numerous stories of how Elsa Brandstrom under¬ 
stood how to bring renewed hope and encouragement to the most 
