34. Red Cross Service

In the meantime, things were not going well in and around Omsk.  During WW1 the Mennonites were exempt from active duty but had to do alternative service.

Courtesy of Heritage Remembered p. 245

           Peter Friesen and other family members including Anna's brother Abram shown in the picture, served in the Russian Army Ambulance Corp.

Russian Army Ambulance Corp

Motorized vehicles were common in the cities at the time.

Picture courtesy of "In The Fullness of Time" p.179

About seventy Red Cross trains were served exclusively by Mennonite men during WWI.

Army Red Cross Train Photos 

Courtesy of Heritage Remembered p. 243

                When the war ended and Peter Friesen was released from his Red Cross service the whole country was in confusion.  His hopes and dreams for his young family in Omsk were shattered.

Anna, Vanya and Betty in 1917

The strain of the war years is shown in Anna's face.