97 www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorehttp://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol29/voitka.pdf
THE SAGA OF THE VOITKA BROTHERS
IN THE ESTONIAN PRESS: THE RISE
AND FALL OF A HEROIC LEGEND
Eda Kalmre
Abstract
Ülo and Aivar Voitka, who had been found guilty in petty offenses during
the Soviet period, hid from the authorities in the woods for 14 years, conducting
robberies also during this period. The capture and the following
arrest of the Voitka brothers was a media event which attracted the attention
of both the entertainment and commercial circles. The Voitka case
prompted a public dialogue about social and political values in the Estonian
society. The article analyses how heroic legend repertoire has influenced
the media case of the Voitkas, its literary associations and the historical
Estonian forest brother lore*.
Keywords: hero, media legend, journalism, Estonian history, literature,
society.
Introduction
Ülo (born 7.10.1968) and Aivar Voitka (born 17.03.1967) grew up
in a family of seven children in a country household in southern
Estonia. Ülo graduated from the primary school and continued
his studies in a school of agriculture, but both brothers, especially
Aivar, had problems with learning and had records of petty
offense since boyhood. The boys also liked to roam around in the
forests on their own and sometimes lived there for days and
nights, skipping school. In 1986 they fled into the woods after
having stolen a tractor with a shelter for construction workers.
An accessory to the theft was Aavo, Aivar’s and Ülo’s older brother,
who took the blame and was convicted by the Soviet court and
sentenced to prison for seven (!) years.
Ülo and Aivar reached the age of military service and should
have joined the Russian Army for their compulsory term. For
this theft and for evading military service, the Russian militia
(police) declared them to be dangerous recidivists wanted all over
the Soviet Union.
The Voitka brothers lived in forests for years, often changing
their locations and dwelling mainly in underground bunkers. In
98www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
Eda Kalmre Folklore 29
1991 the political system changed, the Soviet Union collapsed
and Estonia regained its status as an independent and democratic
state. But the brothers stayed in the woods.
While living in the forest, the Voitka brothers had several encounters
with the police and forest officials, and always mastered
the situation. The brothers became objects of public awareness
in June 1999 when they forced two policemen to give away
their official weapons, mobile phones and car keys. Since this
episode the seizure of the brothers became a matter of honour
with the police, and something like a Voitka cult began to spread
in Estonia. Every week papers wrote about their life and the
police search for them.
Regardless of the fact that they were searched by all police forces
in Estonia, the brothers remained in flight for almost another
ten months. On July 2 Helju Voitka, their mother, pleaded Aivar
and Ülo to come out of the woods. On August 25 the brothers
sent a public letter to two major dailies containing a plea to the
government of Estonia, where they asked for immunity and a
permission to come out. The papers published their letter, which
swarmed with spelling mistakes and had been signed - along with
their names - as ‘Voitkas, the forest brothers’. The government
did not comment on the letter as its authenticity was questionable
and it was not sent to the government through routine chan-
nels.
The Estonian police finally managed to apprehend the brothers
on February 29, 2000. All Estonians could follow the course of
events on a live report broadcast over the public state-regulated
TV channel, and it was a front-page story in all the major dailies.
“Like a song festival. Only mulled wine was missing.” A telling
headline in the major Estonian weekly Eesti Ekspress (02.2000)
read “The seizure of the Voitka brothers was the media highlight
of this winter”.
During the years that the brothers had been hiding in the woods,
they had committed dozens of smaller and larger acts of theft,
mainly robbing food, clothes and money they needed for living.
They had taken weapons from three policemen. Robbing weapons
of office was perhaps the most serious of the offenses they
99 www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
The Saga of the Voitka Brothers
committed, but the list included also kidnapping and unlawful
detainment of a man and a woman for one and a half days, and
firing towards policemen in the course of arrest. The Voitkas had
remained in the forests for 14 years.
In retrospect, there has been no comparable event in the newly
independent Estonia to attract the interest of so many people
and to be exploited for the purposes of both entertainment and
commercialization. This is an utterly remarkable and atypical
story in the modern society. The roots of its telling and understanding
lie in both the period of the historical legend of forest
brothers and the sociopolitical situation a few years before. A
narrative researcher cannot help noticing the impact of folk narratives
on the media legend concerning the Voitka brothers. The
following observations discuss the aspects of the media legend
ranging from its structure to the social contents and the overlapping
of its contents with the heroic legend. A folklorist used
to distinguish between folk tale types and motifs can easily recognise
a folkloric character, though juxtaposing a modern media
hero and a folkloric hero is much more intriguing and more com-
plicating.
The tale of the Voitka brothers as a media discourse
In a media-driven world there is usually no clear-cut distinction
between an actual event and its presentation in the media. In
other words, media creates the event, it enables to present the
event in the way it finds appropriate. Media narration about the
Voitka brothers combines many different angles and subplots,
comments and versions. Simultaneously with the articles discussing
the course of events of the Voitka case, articles analysing
the journalistic heroic saga were published. This is, in a way,
a genre of cognitive discourse where historians and literary theorists,
psychologists and sociologists functioned as consultants,
advisors and experts. The Voitka saga entailed a number of
smaller and major discussions about history, society and politics.
In March 2000, as a folklorist studying the field, I was asked to
give an interview about the legends of Estonian outlaws, their
social and political background in history. In the written press,
however, the opinions of journalists prevailed. Nevertheless, hun-
100www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
dreds of people expressed their views in Internet portals and
forums. These texts, functioning as archived research material,
are an important source for public attitudes and opinions on the
Voitka case and its reverberations in the media.
The Voitka saga evolved through three successive stages: (i) the
period prior to their capture, (ii) the period following their arrest,
and (iii) the period following the trial. Each of these three
stages display certain characteristic features. The first stage could
be characterised by a folklorisation process. The mysterious image
of forest brothers was intensified by police sketches published
in various papers (Figure 1.) Certainly, the media told the
Voitka tale according to the principles of heroic outlaw legends
(see Holt 1984; Gašparíková, Putilov 2002). The evasiveness of
the brothers transformed them into skilful and magical heroes
in the public mind. The first stage of the events intended to provide
the readers with excitement, adventure and entertainment.
The general public could follow the story of the Voitka brothers’
going to the woods, hunt for them, their outwitting the Soviet
and Estonian police and other authorities. The Voitka case was
discussed by the most reputed journalists. In the leading Estonian
daily newspaper “Postimees”, for example, most articles
about the Voitka brothers were written by Toomas Sildam, who,
Figure 1. “The Voitka brothers enjoy the support of the locals”. Postimees,
06. 14. 1999.
Eda Kalmre Folklore 29
101 www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
relying on his sources, offered four intriguing versions of the
arrest of the Voitka brothers in his news article “The Voitka brothers
enjoy the support of the locals” (June 14, 1999). The most
unlikely (in other words, boring!) version was the brothers’ surrender
without a fight.
His/(s)tory and folk/lore
Oskar Loorits, the reputed Estonian folklorist of the older generation,
argues in his essay (1933) about the difference between
these two terms. According to him the difference lies in that a
“story” is a fact, the way it actually happened, whereas “lore” is
how the “story” is wished to be seen. Analogously to a well-known
Estonian film’s (Viimne reliikvia, or ‘The Last Relic’, which promoted
freedom from oppressors1
) turning into a cult film, the
flight of the Voitka brothers formed an associative link to the
Estonians’ aspirations of freedom in the period of national awak-
ening.
The media attuned to the saga of the Voitka brothers with an
article published on January 5, 1995 in Maaleht, a paper for the
rural population2
(Hagelberg, Oll 1995). The article, which did
not receive much public attention, was a story with a nationalromanticist
undertone about disobedient boys and their being
drawn to the woods, the theft of the tractor and the shelter
(they needed a place to stay while having a conflict with relatives).
The article was illustrated with photos of their “bunker
architecture as an inherent part of the national architecture”.
All the thefts conducted by the Voitkas and their conflicts with
the police were described in a slightly humorous undertone. Five
years later, in 2000, the journalists of Maaleht of the time characterise
the article accordingly:
Like me, Hagelberg has a university degree in history, and
perhaps owing to this fascination with the forest brothers, our
article expressed quite romantic notions. If we were to write
the article now, it would probably be quite different; nevertheless,
I never considered them, nor do now, true criminals.
(Lõhmus 2000).
The Saga of the Voitka Brothers
102www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
This journalistic metatext reveals two main aspects of the Voitka
story: firstly, the straightforward attempt to link the events with
history, and secondly, the issue of justice.
The entire Voitka saga presents, in a sense, an idealised view of
the freedom fight of the recent past. People associated the most
famous forest brothers of the recent past with legends about the
horse thief Jüri Rummo (Rummu Jüri), the Estonian “Robin
Hood”. One of such forest brothers was Ilp, who was active in the
postwar period on the island of Saaremaa. In 2001 I recorded in
Sõrve, Saaremaa, two typical plots of the Estonian outlaw legend
describing Ilp’s courageous pranks, how he, dressed in women’s
clothes or a military uniform, pulled the leg of Soviet soldiers.
Ilp’s crimes of blood are less remembered but the heroic
myth glorifying his actions is very much alive and feeds on repetitive
performances of such typical plots.
While discussing the topic of forest brothers, it is important to
remember that a fragile mythological background is characteristic
of the political forest brother lore in the entire Baltic area.
Only a few decades ago local informants were reluctant to talk
to a folklorist interviewing them about August Sabbe, the last
Estonian forest brother who had to hide himself for 33 years and
tragically died in 1978. For the local people he was almost a mythological
character and his death was not believed, as heroes never
die3
.
The Voitka brothers were presented in the media as heroes who
never surrender and whose one reason for hiding in the woods
was to escape the Soviet military service. A hero, however, ought
to be a collective image of what was felt by thousands of people
of the time, and the hero should be doing things that many would
like to but nobody dares. In the media discourse the argumentation
of the Voitka-experts contained opposing views on whether
evading the (Soviet) military service was a feat of heroism or a
recreant act. According to psychologist Inge Tael (2000) it was a
feat of heroism. Literary theorist Rein Veidemann, however, expressed
the opinion that the boys escaped in the woods out of
cowardliness rather than displayed courage like their fathers
and grandfathers.
Eda Kalmre Folklore 29
103 www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
What happened to them is by no means comparable to what
happened to the Jüri Rummos, Robin Hoods, or Robinsons.
The frequently applied comparison with forest brothers is inappropriate,
if not disparaging of the forest brothers’ movement
of the 1940s-1960s (Veidemann 2001).
I tend to agree with Rein Veidemann, because not only was Enn
of Erastu a definitely negative character in the Estonian litera-
ture4
, the attitudes towards evaders have been disapproving even
in folklore. This applies even to the evaders from the Soviet military
service, as evasion from any responsibility and obligation
has never been considered an act of courage. Oral narrative repertoire
includes stories about evading military service and the
topic has also been of interest to journalism today (see Illak 2004).
We can quite confidently agree that the issue has been topical
for centuries and ways how to evade the Russian army have been
discussed in the written press since the very beginning. The earliest
report on the topic is probably an article by Otto Wilhelm
Masing in the paper Marahva Näddala-Leht, discussing a court
ruling at a case where five young country men had feared doing
the military service and had all their teeth pulled out to be found
unfit for military service. This case had an unfortunate ending as
their deception became known: they still had to join the army
and, on top of that, were sentenced ten pairs of lashing (Masing
1823: 215).
In folklore poetic legend justice usually prevails: evaders escape
the service but receive some other punishment. Several articles
published in the Estonian press around the peak of the Voitka
affair5
bear similitude with one of the most remarkable jokes in
the repertoire of the Soviet period.
A country boy had great fear for the Russian army. Didn’t
know what to do to escape the military service. His acquaintance
gave him an address of a town doctor who might be able
to help him for a consideration. The boy even sold his cow to
get the required sum together. So he went to town to see the
doctor. The doctor accepted his money and gave the boy a checkup.
Couldn’t find anything wrong with him, the boy was fit as
a fiddle. But since he had accepted the money he offered a
The Saga of the Voitka Brothers
104www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
deal: “I could castrate you, and you would be unfit for the
service!”
The boy agreed - what of the balls, at least I will be alive! The
doctor fixed the boy. After a while the recruitment office did
find the boy unfit for service - but not because he lacked genitalia
but because he had flatfeet!
Heard in a construction company Harju KEK.
(EFA II 24, 301/2 <Tallinn, Keila - Tiit Birkan (1997))
Together with allusions to history a question was posed whether
all forest brothers were indeed heroes and whether recent historical
treatments, which generally tend to be critical and condemnatory
towards the totalitarian Soviet regime, have not
“overexploited” (or glorified) the forest brothers’ movement (Koni
2001, Tuvike 2000, etc.)
The Voitka brothers - heroes or criminals?
This is one of the fundamental questions in narratives about outlaws.
The main conflict in these narratives lies in that one party
represents the law and the other party stands outside the law.
Quite logically, the Voitka brothers were metaphorically compared
to folkloric heroes Robin Hood and Jüri Rummo during the whole
media saga.
The popular legend about Robin Hood originates in the 14th
-15th
century England (see Holt 1984). Over the centuries its literary
and popular versions have merged and fed on each other. Progress
in television and cinema technology have added to the popularity
and stereotyping of Robin Hood, having turned him into an
important figure of modern pop culture. Estonian folklore introduces
a number of ex lex heroes of the late 19th
and early 20th
century6
. Their sphere of action and fame was restricted to a
village or parish. The collective image of Estonian outlaws is represented
by the character of Jüri Rummo, who stole from the
rich and gave to the poor7
. His wide popularity is based on both
folkloric as well as literary sources8
. The robber and thief, who
was active in the Kehtna, Juuru area and the Rapla County, has
left an indelible impression in the local lore of the region up to
the present day.
Eda Kalmre Folklore 29
105 www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
The media image constructed about the Voitka brothers has made
it quite difficult to categorise it according to the eight traditional
idol types of modern western culture9
. A historical outlaw
does not even occur among the eight types. In fact, a hero and an
idol, which requires cultic approach, are not comparable. Regardless
of the period the preconditions of an idol creation have always
been distance and scope, but in a country the size of Estonia
there is not enough either of these (see Loorits 1933: 112;
Undusk 2003: 53). The archetype of modern visual and verbal
market brand creation is embodiment of a rebellious nature, cultural
estrangement and breaking of taboos. The golden examples
of such brands are, for example, the drama film Bonnie and Clyde
and Harley-Davidson bikes (Mark & Pearson 2002: 107-121).
The association of historical outlaw types and the Voitka brothers
can be done on a very general scale. The hero first and foremost
represents the moral values of its time. Characters of
folktales were exceptional in some aspects, being otherwise quite
simple: eccentrics, master crooks, conquerors, warriors, saints,
good or bad (see also Davidson 1984). Now the main criterion for
an idol’s or hero’s fame is no longer extraordinariness but quantity.
Certain features that a hero requires, however, continue to
be topical. For example, while observing the reconstruction of a
sport’s hero’s image in the Estonian press today, it becomes evident
that it requires, next to the special emphasis on gender
roles and sexual appeal of our period, also patriotism, fighting
spirit, childishness, strong will and strength - in other words, all
these features, which have been important for folklore heroes
(see Song 2003).
In the discourse about the heroic ideal Mikhail Bakhtin (see
Bakhtin 1987, EPL 2001) called the Voitka brothers “a carnival
elite”, towards whom the public attitude was humorous but entailed
a good deal of satire towards themselves and the rest of
the world. We are living in the world where legends imitate life,
and life imitates legends, and where fictitious movie heroes are
imitated by real life heroes, and real life heroes are turned into
movie heroes. Estonian author Andrus Kivirähk (2002) argued
that the Voitka brothers were merely “home-made gunsmen” compared
to, for example, Juri Ustimenko10
and his partner in crime,
The Saga of the Voitka Brothers
106www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
who had been reportedly inspired by the famous Russian action
films Brat 1 and Brat 2.
Oskar Loorits (1933) has considered the presence of sympathy
and empathy, the two opposing sides, an essential requirement
for the emergence of a heroic myth. On the one hand the Voitka
brothers were thieves and criminals who robbed stores and left
their victims tied up for hours. On the other hand, many people
felt sympathy towards them, because they had successfully managed
to live in the woods for so long, were very close as brothers,
consumed no alcohol, kept their human dignity and handled their
problems with as little violence as possible. The prohibition of
unnecessary bloodshed has been central in the heroic image in
several traditional cultures (see also Gašparíková, and Putilov
2002: 199; 163).
The association of the brothers with the woods as if mitigated
the seriousness of the crimes they committed. Even today the
Estonians like to think of themselves as people fond of nature
and forests. This sounds rather paradoxical considering that
nearly half Estonia’s territory is covered with woods and bogs,
but 80% of the population is settled in towns and settlements.
The dream of most Estonians is a small house at the edge of the
woods, quite like the home of the Voitkas. Had the brothers been
robbing and hiding themselves in town, the general public would
have regarded them as commonplace criminals. Readers’ response,
several Internet comments and views of experts expressed
the same opinion (Kolga 2000, Muuli 2001, Soolep 2000).
Preferring positive material over negative in constructing a media
hero is characteristic of the written press: everything that
does not comply with the positive image is omitted (see Virtapohja
1998). This explains why the media was accused of being impartial:
the voice of the victims of the Voitka brothers, or the voice
of those who considered the Voitkas criminals, could not be heard.
It is characteristic of outlaw legends that violence becomes natural
and the victims of outlaws as if deserve their lot. In the original
variants of the Robin Hood legend the hero robbed those who
lied to him, and the rich usually lied about the amount of the
treasures they had taken along. The fact that the victims lied as
if gave him moral justification for his criminal behaviour (Holt
Eda Kalmre Folklore 29
107 www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
1984: 11). The inveterate horse thief Jüri Rummo transformed in
folktales, which fed on literary sources, into the guardian of peasants.
Court records, however, do not reveal that Jüri Rummo
had inflicted damage only to estate owners and court clerks. On
the contrary, his victims were mostly travellers-farmers he met
in taverns. However, it appears that he himself and his two accomplices
boasted with crimes against the authorities. His unbelievable
escapes and the number of crimes certainly inspired rumours,
which, with romantic and adventurous exaggerations
transformed into legends in people’s minds (Ibius 1957).
The victims of outlaws in folktales appear to deserve their punishment,
and so are the woman and man held captive by the
Voitka brothers considered immoral and undeserving sympathy.
The owner of the store they robbed is also suspicious, as he had
been known to put aside goods, etc. (Russak 2001). Such transparent
reasoning for justification is effective in most outlaw tales.
The positive public opinion of the Voitka brothers was furthered
also by the use of vocabulary in the newspaper articles. The
Voitkas were mostly called lindpriid ‘outlaws’, metsavennad Voitkad
‘Voitkas, the forest brothers’, vennad Voitkad ‘The Voitka
Brothers’, and not ‘criminals’ or ‘lawbreakers’.
Legends concerning the punishment of a hero who has committed
a crime do, in fact, exist in folklore, though they are considerably
less popular than narratives glorifying criminals. For example,
in some unquestionably authentic folktales, Jüri Rummo
and Stenka Razin are chained indefinitely as a punishment for
their crimes (see Oinas 1966).
The Voitkas as a litmus test
The second stage of the Voitka saga, leading to the culmination
of the story which started after the Voitkas were caught, marked
the collapse of illusions about their heroism. The turning point
was the first television interview with the brothers. Their appearances
on television and interviews revealed that the brothers
were men of less than average intellect, suffering under the
blows of life. (Figure 2.)
The Saga of the Voitka Brothers
108www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
Here it would be appropriate to once again quote the essay by
Oskar Loorits:
…wishfully created fantasy images lose their glow of the supernatural
and, through that, their attraction and interest, as
soon as, quite unexpectedly, an ordinary person in an ordinary
real life situation is encountered. (Loorits 1933: 112).
During the second stage of the Voitka case following their capture,
the socio-political aspect of the case was clearly revealed.
The heroes are dead - long live the heroes! Or, in other words,
people need their heroes especially when they have strong doubts
about the social and political values of the society. This period
also marked the acme of readers’ response mail and Internet
comments, concluding with announcing the court’s decision. The
central topic in many readers’ responses and Internet comments
was the issues of justice, humanity, punishment and pardoning
in the society. Letters sent by Aime Maripuu and Olav Sööt apparently
express the views of most people at the time, claiming
that the Voitka case was highly unique and should be assessed
according to the principles of humanity. The brothers were not
heroes but victims of circumstances. The brothers should have
been brought out of the woods with the help of a psychologist
Figure 2. “Aivar and Ülo Voitka wish to be released until hearing”. Postimees,
03. 02. 2000.
Eda Kalmre Folklore 29
109 www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
instead of the special police unit. If the president of Estonia could
pardon the person whose obstinacy caused the death of 14 soldiers
in the tragedy of Kurkse, then pardon should be extended
also to the Voitka brothers (see Maripuu 2000, Sööt 2000). The
discussions unveiled the reasons behind the public attitude towards
the Voitkas and why they were forgiven their criminal
past and also explained why the interest of the media and people
rose four years after the publication of the first article.
Namely, in the year 2000 several scandals connected with government
institutions and officials broke loose or had recently
been topical. Skimming through the papers of the period or reading
Internet comments leaves the impression of public discontent
with the poor police system based mainly on the policemen
of the Soviet period, the ten-million-dollar affair of the then president
of the Bank of Estonia and its hushing up in the court. The
purchase of expensive cars and furniture by members of government
(which was, of course, brought to the public notice by the
media) caused general indignation. In the Internet comments
the situation was repeatedly described with an Estonian proverb
Suured sulid sõidavad tõllas, väikesed ripuvad võllas, or ‘Big
crooks ride in coaches, small crooks hang on the gallows’. The
policemen who had given their official weapons to the two starving
brothers only intensified the poor image of the police and
influenced the public to take the Voitkas’ side.
An online poll conducted by the Estonian daily Postimees on March
2, 2000, asking whether the Voitkas were criminals or not, received
1,705 replies. 65% of respondents did not consider the
Voitka brothers criminals. Therefore the Voitka saga may even
be considered a manifestation of social protest, because compared
to other crimes conducted in the society, theirs was insig-
nificant.
Without attempting to minimise the guilt of Ülo and Aivar
Voitka for hiding in the woods for 14 years, I think they deserve
a milder punishment. They spent many years in the woods
the period of the Soviet regime, for which they would have
probably been deported to Siberia for a long time, had they
been captured. Among all the forest brothers who came to be
called heroes in the time of independence, there have been
The Saga of the Voitka Brothers
110www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
bandits and murderers. I myself have spent seven months in
the woods, including a very harsh winter. We almost turned
savage during that time. I am truly amazed to see that the
brothers have not turned into wolf-men during these 14 years,
that they have not committed any crimes of blood and the
material damage they have done is most likely limited to the
theft of an expensive car. Nearly 2,000 cars are stolen each
year. It would be interesting to know, what a high official of
the legislative agency would look like had he been living like
the Voitka brothers. (Tuvike 2000).
The display of empathy continues
Following the capture of the Voitka brothers on February 29, the
code of press articles about the Voitkas changed, centring on the
sc. ‘Mowgli’ theme, or how the Voitkas accustomed to their new
life in a human society. Newspapers and television mediated how
the Voitkas managed with their daily activities: how they listened
to the radio, read a book, wrote, had their teeth fixed, got
acquainted with the computer, attended the church for the first
time, found women friends. Through this theme, which proved
more accessible for the general public, the case entered the international
media.
The story of the Voitkas is doubly successful because of the
role of the robber who outwits policemen and also because of
the Mowgli theme. The Voitkas who were used to living in the
woods are for people living in comfortable apartments with
central heating as strange as someone who has been raised by
monkeys in some faraway jungle in Asia or Africa. This “Mowgli
effect” successfully sold the Voitka story in the international
press, because with a story like this, it does not matter whether
the events took place in Siberia, India or Estonia. (Rumm 2000).
True, taming a savage appears more universally comprehensible
than the myth of forest brothers associated with national ideology
and politics. People of the world have known such folklorised
heroes, who after the end of the war continue to behave as if the
war is still going on. I happened to come across in a section “Folklore
News” in a 1957 issue of an American folklore journal a news
Eda Kalmre Folklore 29
111 www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
piece entitled Straggler X, published in Los Angeles Times on
February 6, 1957. “Straggler X” was the name used for a Japanese
soldier who had been the sole survivor and hid himself in
the jungle on the island Guam after the end of the World War II.
He was probably unaware of the fact that Japan had been defeated.
Living on coconuts and fish and terrorising superstitious
locals, he managed to remain in recluse for 11 years. The locals
scared their disobedient children with him, he was attributed
several crimes, probably many of which he did not commit. The
sightings of X were always talked about as of shows, describing
how a naked man, fully grown in beard and wearing nothing but
a hat, stole food from the frying pan. Eventually, the man was
caught red-handed while trying to steal chicken by two local men.
(WF 1957: 212-213).
The official comments in the written press repeatedly cautioned
readers not to follow consuetude, as everybody must accept full
consequences of their actions. While expressing their opinions in
the media, authorities like judges, lawyers and policemen, who
should have been impartial in their position and abiding the law,
as if split in halves and publicly expressed their sympathy. Suffice
it to say that the preface to the story about the Voitka brothers
by Estonian author Ülo Russak, was written by Märt Rask,
the then Minister of Legal Affairs of the Republic of Estonia.
Media constantly produced news about the special attention and
treatment bestowed on the brothers.
During the year in remand in the houses of detention in Viljandi
and Tartu, and in Patarei Prison and in prisons in Pärnu, the
younger of the Voitka brothers received special treatment even
from the boards of the prisons. In Patarei Prison, where one
cell has to accommodate tens of inmates, Voitka was given a
cell for two. He shared the cell with a convicted student, who
told Ülo, who had been in the woods for 14 years, about the
Internet and other innovations in the modern world.
(Berendson 2000).
In retrospect we would have to agree with law professor Igor
Gräzin who claimed that in the case of the Voitkas the “law of
myth” was extended on criminal law (Gräzin 2004).
The Saga of the Voitka Brothers
112www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
It is rather difficult to determine the extent to which the media
myth constructed around the Voitka brothers influenced the
court’s decision. (Randla 2000). Had the Voitkas been found guilty
on the initial charge, they would have been sentenced to 15 years
in prison, as was sentenced to Jüri Rummo in his time. In reality,
Ülo Voitka was sentenced to 2.8 years in prison, 1.3 years of
which he physically spent in confinement. (The court found Aivar
Voitka non compos mentis.) Constructing a media hero tends to
be a process of mutual benefit11
.For the Voitkas, the benefit lay,
no doubt, in influencing the court’s decision in their favour. Interviews
given by Ülo Voitka and his lawyer served this very
purpose, contributing also to his positive image in public.
Legend characters conform to a very simple and clear-cut pattern.
Characteristic of this pattern are clear oppositions - there
are positive characters and there are negative ones. Analogously
to legend characters, media drama arises from a typical fight of
adversaries (see Virtapohja 1998). Since the very beginning, antipathy
towards those who hunted the Voitkas concluded with an
on-the-spot report in the home farm of the Voitkas following the
brothers’ arrest in the national television by a well-known Estonian
television journalist Vahur Kersna. The report enabled the
viewers to decide upon which of the characters were negative
and which were not. In the written press, former Soviet policeman
Mikk Puhalainen was presented as the most negative of the
characters - a true Inspector Javert who chases the unfortunate
Jean Valjean (Kärmas 1999, etc.).
Other considerations on the iconography of the Voitka saga
The strength of outlaw legends lies in their social contents and
the element of humour (Holt 1984, etc.). The latter enables to
explain why such often naïve and superficial stories are passed
on from one generation to another and adjust to new cultural
contexts. Jüri Rummo, a horse thief clad in women’s clothes and
knitting a stocking in the carriage, or Ilp, the forest brother,
appear similar, likable and humorous at the same time. Pictorialtextual
humour played an important role also in the iconography
of the Voitka media saga. In an article by Kivirähk (Aasta inimese
nääripuu, ‘Christmas Party for Person of the Year’ 2000) the
Eda Kalmre Folklore 29
113 www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
Voitka brothers were depicted as the Ivan the Fools from the
woods, who socialised with the Shmigun sisters12
at the President’s
New Year’s Party, taking tree-bark and hedgehog meat out
of their pockets and eating it. On an April Fool’s Day the largescale
police operation was mocked in a joke about the Voitka’s
alleged escape (Voitkad pääsesid põgenema, Sikk 2000). A piece
in the weekly Maaleht (Vennad Voitkad suvetuuril, ‘The Voitka
Brothers on Summer Tour’, Vaino 2003) compares the Voitka
brothers with other summer entertainers. Caricatures entitled
Operatsioon metsavennad, ‘Operation Forest Brothers’ (Fig. 3)
and Karu muidugi ei saanud kõigest jälle päris hästi aru, ‘Again,
it was the bear who couldn’t quite understand what was going on’
(Fig. 4) by Urmas Nemvalts in Postimees are both humorous and
seriously socio-critical. An advertisement of car tyres emphasising
sexuality (see Hiiob 2000) is a rare exception.
Most of the folklore inspired by the Voitka case and the various
commercial goods named after the Voitkas convey the message
of managing in wilderness and the historical forest brother experience.
One of the few examples of authentic Estonian compuFigure
3: Operation Forest Brothers. Hare: “Look, what they are doing to
our men! If the bear wouldn’t be hibernating… I would go and kick their
butts…” By Urmas Nemvalts, Postimees, 03. 01. 2000.
The Saga of the Voitka Brothers
114www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
ter lore is the Curriculum Vitae of Aivar Voitka, which began to
circulate in the Estonian Web around the peak of the Voitka media
story in March 2000 (Fig. 5). This is a humorous account, which
also touches upon several social aspects. Of course, people do
not usually read computer lore very closely, and those who forwarded
the CV did not seem to be bothered about the fact that
Aivar Voitka’s resume has a picture of Ülo Voitka, grown in beard
and dressed in fatigues, attached to it.
It seems that in contemporary consumer culture the line between
reality and reality reconstructed by the media is often
quite thin, and often bordering on hyperreality. The Voitkas, heroes
produced by the media, fictional characters and mythological
characters can nicely co-exist in modern Estonia. Those who
might want to disagree could take a look at the official website
of Tartu, where a legend to a hiking trail in the vicinity of the
town is described as follows:
Figure 4: Again, it was the bear who couldn’t quite understand what was
going on… Hare: “Mommy, are they going to take them to the zoo now?”
Bear: “Way to go, boys! My training has finally paid off!” By Urmas Nemvalts,
Postimees, 03. 03. 2000.
Eda Kalmre Folklore 29
115 www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
Figure 5. Letter from Internet:
Curriculum Vitae; Personal information;
Name: Aivar Voitka;Age:32 years; Place of residence/address:In the past 14 years
- forests of the Viljandi County.; Current address: Viljandi House of Detention;
Marital status:A virgin; Education:The school of life;Training: Practical training
in construction, cooking. Further training: jumping from tree to tree; Work
experience: fishing, chopping firewood, making fires, security and other experiences
necessary for a good life; Languages: Estonian as a mother tongue (requires
practice), good command of bird language in speech and writing, average
command of animal language; Characterisation: Good communication skills
(14 years of experience in communicating with Ülo). I have practical skills in
medicine (14 years of experience in treating myself with herbs). I am enthusiastic
and energetic. I am willing to travel (14 years of experience). I am almost
independent (although it would be nice to have Ülo to rely on). I think that I
can drive Citroen Xsara and I am otherwise a nice and happy person. I sincerely
wish to take up a position in your company. I am able to progress professionally
and I believe that I have very good chances to advance in your company.;
Recommendation by: Ülo Voitka; Expected salary:A sack of potatoes and
a loaf of bread.
The Saga of the Voitka Brothers
116www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
The trail passes a dugout - the meeting place of free men,
among whom there were Tasuja13
, Chingachgook and the Voitka
brothers, the last forest brothers in Estonia, who remained
true to their nature long after they needed to. (See also Kohler
2002).
Interestingly, according to another legend offered on the website
there is a dwarfs’ and ogres’ grove nearby! According to contemporary
consumer ideology the media saga of the Voitkas connects
with a tourist attraction in southern Estonia - it is a forest
brother’s dugout in the Forest Brother Tourist Farm in SouthEast
Estonia, where a tourist can spend a night for a fee, or
could attend a theatrical play about the life of forest brothers
staged in the summer of 2004. This, in a sense, renders the media
saga about the Voitka brothers more understandable.
Visual and verbal aspects are equally important in the media
legend about the Voitkas. Photographs intensify the image created
by the text. During the first stage of the saga (during the
construction of the myth) Estonian newspapers published the
police sketches mentioned above, childhood photographs of the
Voitka brothers and photos of their dugouts or bunkers. After
their capture, the Voitkas appeared before the public as they
were expected to - as forest brothers, grown in beard and dressed
in camouflage clothing. Ülo Voitka leaves the impression of a
neat and orderly young man, appearing in court in his creased
trousers and a shirt. Four years after the capture Ülo Voitka
appears on a staged photograph, where he leans against a tree in
the forest next to his newly bought car with a dreamy expression
on his face (February 25, Kroonika, Fig. 6). The photo reminds of
his former life as a forest brother and presents Ülo as a man
who has advanced in life, and who, according to the article next
to the photo, plans to get married.
In conclusion
The Voitka case was a topical media event during 1999-2000. Presently,
the topic of the Voitka brothers has long been dropped by
the media. The Voitka tale might be remembered by people who
happened to come across the “Voitkad” barbeque lighter fluid in
Eda Kalmre Folklore 29
117 www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
the stores in summer 2004, or who played the album Voitkade
metsalaulud, ‘Forest Songs of the Voitkas’ by the Estonian band
Jäägermeistrid. In colloquial use and in the Internet the Voitka
brothers are metaphors standing for close relations, rebellion,
homelessness or reclusion, sometimes simply for someone who
is witless. The documentary „V.O.I.T.K.A - Forest Brothers“ directed
by Pekka Lehto (Kino Finlandia, Hansa Media 2004) and
addressed to the Finnish audience has nothing to add to the
thoroughly discussed media story for the Estonian audience, as
the film is almost like a parody and appears strange (see Paju
2004, Sildam 2004).
In retrospect, the entire press saga of the Voitka brothers should
be valued as a story which evolved in a social interaction between
the audience and the media, the narrator. The Voitka case
prompted a dialogue about social values. Issues of justice, rightFigure
6. Ülo Voitka plans to marry. Ülo Voitka, the legendary forest brother,
has landed on his feet. His next goal will be to have it made: Ülo is thinking
about marriage and launching his own business. Kroonika, 25. 02.2004.
The Saga of the Voitka Brothers
118www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
eousness, and emotional values, like sympathy, were publicly
raised. Attempts to define a modern hero led to shaking the pillars
of the forest brother’s myth. The Voitka case revealed that
in post-modern society law and justice do not operate only in the
downwards direction, and not all heroes are at the top. At the
moment when we happen to wish for and need heroes, even the
least herolike of us may seem as ones. In some aspects the Voitka
brothers fitted the stereotype of a legend hero, and for a while
they became something of heroes of post-modern nostalgia.
Comments posted in Internet portals and forums point to the
fact that the reception of the media legend by the general public
was largely conscious. Many people realised that media offered
them a legend and consciously enjoyed its entertaining and
antigovernmental aspects. (Some examples in the Internet: ‘such
a nice legend, too bad that it’s over’; or a comment about the
Voitkas being heroes, paraphrasing a famous fairytale: ‘nobody is
saying that the Emperor has no clothes, yet everybody knows it’.)
The media saga contained many features characteristic of a heroic
legend, which may be interpreted as an attempt to reconstruct
a new cultural myth from the old folkloric material.
In sum, the case left the readers the impression that they have
already experienced all these things, it was like a déjà vu of a
legend, or like a Cinderella tale turned into a soap opera. Or,
paraphrasing Matti Kuusi’s line of argumentation about the interrelation
of poplore, folklore and history: knowledge about the
Voitka saga stands for being aware of oneself, knowledge about
its context, i.e. folklore, gives this self-awareness a historical perspective
(Kuusi 1974: 23).
Like most outlaw legends, the saga of the Voitka brothers hardly
changed anything in the society; nevertheless, it disclosed something
about the society and its members.
The story of the Voitka brothers is more about the mentality of
the Estonians than about the Voitkas. Looking at the Voitkas
we see ourselves, our nature and aspirations. And what we see
is not as nice as we wish it to be or as it might be. (Kolga 2000).
Translated by Kait Tamm
Eda Kalmre Folklore 29
119 www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
Comments
* Forest brothers were Estonian men who in 1941 and mostly during 1944-
53 fled to the woods to hide from Stalinist repressions and engaged in
armed struggle against the Soviet occupational regime.
1. A romantic historical adventure about the Estonian’s fight for freedom
against German landlords and the Christian church (Tallinnfilm 1969).
2 The title of the article (Ai tsihk, ai tsahk, ai velled, me metsavennad
oleme) was inspired by a well-known song from the repertoire of forest
brothers.
3. See EFA I 45, 68/69. Interview with Marju Kõivupuu. Some local residents
claim having seen Sabbe riding a bike to the river on a foggy morning,
some believed that Sabbe escaped from his arrest alive.
4. Enn of Erastu is a well-known character, who cut off his thumb to escape
the Russian army, in a play by Lydia Koidula (Säärane mulk ehk
sada vakka tangusoola, 1872).
5. “Arst kirjutas noormeestele lampjalgu” (’Doctor diagnosed flatfeet on
young men’) (Saare, 1999), “Lampjalgade asemel arvutisõltuvus. Arvutiviirus
muudab sõjaväe teatrilavaks” (’Computer addiction instead of flatfeet.
Computer virus turns the army into a stage’) (Vare 2000)
6. See the files of eccentrics and jokers in the Estonian Folklore Archives,
see also Lõhmus 2000.
7. Jüri Rummo (Rummu Jüri), a farmhand at the Kehtna estate conducted
more than forty thefts and robberies during 1876-1879, displaying remarkable
skilfulness. He repeatedly escaped from almost impossible situations,
once even descending from the Pikk Hermann tower in Tallinn on a
rope. In 1880 the supreme court sentenced him to 15 years of servitude in
a mine in Siberia (Ibius 1957).
8. The character emerged in literature very shortly after Jüri Rummo’s
robberies stopped. The character appeared as a simple robber in L. Koidula’s
„Kosjaviinad“ (written in 1880). In the poem „Röövli heategu“ by Jakob
Tamm (written in 1893) he already appears as the guardian of peasants.
He has also inspired a short story, a detective novel, a play and a musical
(Vinkel 1966: 297). The latest version of the tale about a noble robber was
an adventure film, where a popular Estonian actor Hannes Kaljujärv
played the leading role.
9. The eight idol types proposed by Matti Kuusi (1974: 22) are ruler,
messiah-martyr, killer, partner, fool or anti-idol, creator-pioneer, eccentricprankster-frawdster,
artist.
The Saga of the Voitka Brothers
120www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
10.A serial killer of Russian origin who in the year 2002 killed 6 people
in Estonia. According to Ustimenko himself, his actions were inspired by
the positively depicted murderer in Russian cult movies Brat 1 and Brat
2.
11. „Media produces sports heroes to secure as large an audience as
possible, to be as successful in economic activities as possible. A sports
hero need media to gain popularity and as good income as possible.“ (see
Song 2003: 3).
12. Kristiina and Katrin Shmigun, who are famous Estonian crosscountry
skiers.
13. A fictional hero of the novel Tasuja by Eduard Bornhöhe (1880),
who fought against German feudals in 1343
References
EFA - the manuscript files of the Estonian Folklore Archives
Bakhtin, Mihhail 1987. Valitud töid. [Selected works]. Tallinn: Eesti
Raamat
Berendson, Risto 2000. Metsa vennad, meedia kangelased. [Brothers
of the forest, heroes of the media] Eesti Päevaleht. Pluss. 29. Dec
Davidson H. R. E.(ed.) 1984. The Hero in Tradition and Folklore. The
Folklore Society Mistletoe Series. Vol 19
EPL 2001 = Kas eliit käib vibe’il? [Does the social elite attend vibe rave
parties?] Eesti Päevaleht, 2 January. http: //www.epl.ee/artikkel
.php?ID=139009
Gašparíková, Viera and Putilov, Boris (eds) 2002. Ãåðîé èëè çáîéíèê?
Îáðàç ðàçáîéíèêà â ôîëüêëîðå Êàðïàòñêîâî ðåãèîíà. Heroes or Bandits:
Outlaw Traditions in the Carpatian Region. Budapest: European Folklore
Institute
Gräzin, Igor 2004. Essee. Õigus, Müüt ja õigusemüüt. .[Essay. Law, Myth
and the Law of Myth] - Postimees, 7. March
Hagelberg,Tõnu, Oll, Sulev 1995. Ai tsihk, ai tsahk, ai velled! Maaleht,
5. January
Hiiob, Meelis 2000. Reklaamiklubi. Kummigrupi reklaam. .[Advertising
club. Advertisement of Kummigrupp LLC] Eesti Ekspress, 30. March
Holt, J. C. 1984. Robin Hood. London: Thames and Hudson, pp. 7-13
Ibius, Otu 1957. Rummu Jürist kohtutoimikute valgusel. [On Jüri
Rummo in the light of trial records] Sirp ja Vasar, 27. Dec
Illak, Kristiina 2004. Kuidas pääseda sõjaväest. [How to evade military
service] Eesti Ekspress, 17. June
Jürgen, Madis 2000. Nagu laulupidu. Hõõgvein oli veel puudu.Vendade
Voitkade kinnivõtmisest kujunes talve suurim meediasündmus. [Like a
Eda Kalmre Folklore 29
121 www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
song festival. Only mulled wine was missing. The seizure of the Voitka
brothers was the media highlight of this winter.] Eesti Ekspress, 2. March
Kivirähk,Andrus 2002. Kurjad külalised. [Evil guests] Eesti Päevaleht,
11. May
Kivirähk, Oskar 2000. Aasta inimeste nääripuu. [Christmas party of
persons of the year] Eesti Päevaleht. Pluss, 29. Dec
Kohler, Vilja 2002. Vabad mehed kolivad Jänese matkarajale. [Free
men move to the Jänese hiking trail] Tartu Postimees, 14. Nov
Kolga, Voldemar 2000. Arvamus. Voitkade lugu kui eestlase
hingepeegel. [Opinion:The Voitka case as the mirror of an Estonian’s soul]
Eesti Päevaleht, 2. March
Koni, Juhan 2001.Voitkad ja valitsus. [The Voitkas and the government]
Postimees, 19. February
Kuusi, Matti 1974. Poplore. Folklore tänään. Hämeenlinna: Suomalisen
Kirjallisuuden Seura, pp. 11-23
Kärmas, Mihkel 1999. Vanamees ja lindpriid. [The old man and the
outlaws] Eesti Ekspress, 10. June
Loorits, Oskar 1933. Koodi Jaan. Kuidas tekivad kangelasmüüdid?
Meie, eestlased. [Jaan of Koodi. The emergence of heroic legends? We, the
Estonians] Tartu: Ilmamaa 2000, pp. 108-121
Lõhmus, Alo 2000. Karand soldat, Jüri Rumm ja Voitkad. [Escaped
soldier, Jüri Rummo and the Voitkas] - Postimees. Arter. 11. March
Maripuu, Aime 2000. Vennad Voitkad, olude ohvrid. [The Voitka
brothers the victims of circumstances.] Postimees, 6. March
Mark, Margaret & Pearson, Carol S. 2002. Kangelane ja lindprii. Kuidas
luua arhetüüpidele tuginevaid väljapaistvaid brände. Fontese Kirjastus.
/2001. The Hero and the Outlaw. Building Extraordinary Brands Through
the Power on Archetypes. McGraw-Hill/
Masing, Otto Wilhelm 1823. Kohtomõistmise otsused, mis Rias kinnitud.
[Decisions of court trials recorded in Riga] Marahva Näddala-Leht,
no. 27, July, pp 215
Muuli, Kalle 2001. Voitkad ajaviiteks. [The Voitkas for entertainment]
Postimees, 19. February
Oinas, Felix 1966. Kalevipoeg, Rummu Jüri ja Stenka Razin. Mana, 31-
4, pp 4-8
Paju, Imbi 2004. Film Voitkadest on suurepärane komöödia. [An
excellent comedy - the Voitka documentary] Postimees, 1. Nov
Randla, Siim 2000. Müüt kohtukulli ees. [Myth tried in court] SL
Õhtuleht, 23. Nov
Rumm, Hannes 2000.Arvamus. Legendaarseim kurjategija..[Opinion.
The most legendary of criminals] Eesti Päevaleht, 23. Nov
Russak, Ülo 2001. Ilveste impeerium. Vendade Voitkade lugu. [Empire
of lynxes. The story of the Voitka brothers] Tallinn: Kirilille kirjastus
The Saga of the Voitka Brothers
122www.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklorewww.folklore.ee/folklore
Saare, Anu 1999. Arst kirjutas noormeestele lampjalgu. [Doctor diagnosed
flatfeet on young men] Eesti Päevaleht, 8. Sept
Sikk, Rein 2000. Voitkad pääsesid põgenema. [The Voitkas in flight]
Eesti Päevaleht, 1. April
Sildam, Toomas 1999. Vennad Voitkad naudivad kohalike elanike
toetust. [The Voitka brothers enjoy the support of the locals] Postimees,
14. June
Sildam, Toomas 2004. Voitka filmi tegijad on vabad inimesed vabal
maal.[Makers of the Voitka documentary are free men in a free country]
Postimees, 1. Nov
Song, Matis 2003. Spordikangelase kujutise konstrueerimine Eesti
trükiajakirjanduses. Bakalaureusetöö. [Constructing the image of a sports
hero in Estonian written press. BA thesis. Tartu: Department of Journalism
and Communications, University of Tartu] Tartu: Ajakirjanduse ja
kommunikatsiooni osakond
Soolep, Argo 2000. Voitkad muutis eriliseks mets. [Forest made the
Voitka brothers special] SL Õhtuleht, 13. March
Sööt, Olav 2000. Voitkadele kergem karistus. [Milder punishment for
the Voitkas] Postimees, 8. March
Tael, Inge 2000.Voitkad - inimesed meie hulgast. [The Voitkas - people
among us] Postimees, 3. April
Tuvike, Väino 2000. Voitkadest ei saanud hunt-inimesi. [The Voitkas
did not turn into wolf-men] Eesti Päevaleht, 2. Nov
Undusk, Jaan 2003. Retooriline sund Eesti nõukogude ajalookirjutuses.
Võim ja kultuur. [Forced rhetorics in the Soviet Estonian treatments of
history. Power and culture] Tartu: Eesti Kirjandusmuuseum. Eesti Kultuuriloo
ja Folkloristika Keskus. pp 41-68
Vare, Priit 2000. Lampjalgade asemel arvutisõltuvus. Arvutiviirus
muudab sõjaväe teatrilavaks..[Computer addiction instead of flatfeet. Computer
virus turns army into a stage.] Eesti Ekspress, 9. March
Vaino, Margo 2003. Vennad Voitkad suvetuuril. [The Voitka brothers
on summer tour] Maaleht, 24. July
Veidemann, Rein 2001. Pushkin ei saaks sellest loost ridagi. [Pushkin
would not use a word from this story] Eesti Päevaleht. Arkaadia, 16. Feb-
ruary
Vinkel, Aarne 1966. Eesti rahvaraamat. [Estonian Folk Book] Tallinn:
Eesti Raamat
Virtapohja, Kalle 1998. Sankareiden salaisuudet. Journalistinen draama
suomalaista urheilusankaria synnyttämässä.Saarijärvi:Atena Kustannus
OY Jyväskylä
WF 1957 = Folklore in News. Western Folklore, pp. 212-213
Eda Kalmre Folklore 29