Res Humanitariae

The article analyses the Holodomor and the instruments the authorities employed during the famine, through the prism of testimonies and memoirs about the famine by witnesses and survivors. The author focuses on how the authorities organised rural communities and their way of life before and during the man-made famine, and the perception by the survivors of this social engineering and the activities of the perpetrators of the Holodomor at the level of ordinary people. Archival and oral history data are used, and the source criticism method is applied. The author shows its limitations, and suggests options for further research on the perpetrators.

The article deals with a popular image in traditional peasant culture, that of a supernatural being that is believed to be stealing milk and dairy products, and bringing them to its (usually female) owner, thus enhancing her wealth. In Lithuania, this milk stealer figure is called aitvaras/kaukas, in Latvia pūkis, in Finland para, and in Sweden bjära. despite the different names and some other discrepancies in origin and nature, all these images are shown to be essentially similar. The author considers all of them to be rooted in the traditional peasant culture and mentality, which can be characterised to a considerable degree by the concept of ‘limited good’ (Foster 1965).