“A knot for death”, “mortals”, “smertnye”, “mortal vuzel” - this set is called differently. Old people prepare clothes for death, so that “in the next world” they will be no worse than others, so that among the dead they will be recognized by their Dziads.

We asked Nina Mikhadyuk (84 years old), Alexandra Stasiuk (93 years old) and Anastasia Mikhadyuk (81 years old) what they keep in their death bundles - and learned a lot about life.

Text: Snezhana Inanets

Photo: Dmitry Brushko