The author presents the story of Hilarij Tofan, refugee from Chernivtsi (Bukovina), who lived in Maribor together with his wife Constanze between 1919 and 1929, teaching history and geography at the local grammar school for the first few years. The Tofans were indicted in the District Court in early 1929: Hilarij for the rape of their maidservant Cecilija Miško; and Constanze for providing home medical care and causing the death of the 15-year-old maidservant Margareta Dobaj. After settling in Maribor, Hilarij showed signs of paranoia, and the couple began healing the emotional wounds caused by the loss of their home by turning violent towards their servants. Hilarij tried to soothe the symptoms of identity shift following his arrival in Maribor by studying theosophy, which helped him overcome alienation from the new era following the Great War. The author finds that the life of the couple, who represented a mix of German, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Slovenian and Romanian awareness, provides a unique illustration of the disintegration of cultural imaginaries following the decline of the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires.