Tsar Nicholas II

A moment from yesterday

1 November 2017|Viewpoints|Volume 21 Issue 21

Laureen Harder-Gissing

21-23tsar_forweb

Tsar Nicholas II, seated on a chair at centre of this photograph, is surrounded by patients, Red Cross workers and other staff at a hospital for wounded men in Ekaterinoslav, South Russia. Abraham Dick, a Mennonite non-combatant serving in the medical corps, was present that day. He carried this photograph with him when he emigrated to Ontario in 1924. This was probably one of the last public occasions for the Tsar, who was deposed in March 1917. Knowing what was soon to happen in Russia, how does this picture make you feel?

For more historical photos in the Mennonite Archival Image Database, see archives.mhsc.ca.

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3 Responses to “Tsar Nicholas II”

  1. James Neufeld Avatar
    James Neufeld

    Photograph
    Hello,
    My grandmother showed me this picture of the Tsar, with the explanation that my grandfather was in the honour guard, so not in the picture.
    For both the Tsar and Mennonites in Russia, it was the end of an era. Tsarist autocracy ended, Mennonite families were divided and a second migration, fifty years after the first, began. The previous migration had been less traumatic and the one after the photo included more refugees in flight from persecution. No longer were Mennonites in Russia allowed to serve in the medical corps in wartime.
    James Neufeld

    1. Tamara Tepox Avatar
      Tamara Tepox

      My mother used to tell me the same!
      She would tell me that her father, Abraham Harder, was in the Tsar’s honour guard as well. They even climbed Mount Everest. I wonder if there is a way to find out more about this subject.

      1. Aaron Epp Avatar
        Aaron Epp

        More about this subject

        Hello Tamara,

        Laureen Harder-Gissing may be able to give you more information about this subject. 

        Here is her contact info: https://uwaterloo.ca/grebel/people-profiles/laureen-harder-gissing

        Aaron Epp
        Online Media Manager, Canadian Mennonite

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