SOLIDARITY WITH ROZBRAT SQUAT -IN POLAND- THREATENED WITH REPRESSION Rozbrat squat, active for 16 years now in the city of Poznan, the longest occupied space in Poland, houses social, political and cultural activities that oppose the world of Authority and profit, of social and class divisions. Today it is one more of the self-organized spaces of resistance which are facing repressive plans.

Today at 10 a.m. at Poznan's local court an auction of the grounds of Rozbrat squat was supposed to take place. No one wanted to take part in it and the grounds haven't been sold! It was already the second auction of those grounds and because of that the bank who gave the loan to the company who owns them can buy the plot. But estate analysts claim that this is not likely to happen. The procedure leading to another auction can start in one year from now.

On Saturday, March 20th, the second demonstration in defence of Rozbrat took place. About 1,500 people from Poznan, Poland and from abroad took part in it. Next Friday, on 26th March, an auction of the grounds of Rozbrat is going to take place. Meanwhile, the issue of Rozbrat still has not been solved and the actions of the city authorities stil favor the potential owner and developer.

OUR PHONE NUMBER: +48 506 679 778 There is a legal team at this demonstration. If you face ANY troubles from the cops, do not hestitate to call us, we speak English. BUT if you get detained please TEXT US WITH YOUR NAME, DATE OF BIRTH, THE CITY AND THE COUNTRY YOU COME FROM. If you cannot, then call us, but there is often a possibilty to use your mobile phone before the cops tell you to switch it off. And before you call us, know some basic rules about demonstrations in Poland.

 On Monday, 8th March, about 50 people from Rozbrat squat Collective made a demonstration in front of the gate of Poznan International Fair Center, where a congress of local councils from all over Poland was taking place. Shouting slogans “City is not a company. Rozbrat stays!”, the anarchists blockaded the gate. Many cars with the officials were forced to turn back. After a while, the protesters decided to walk inside the premises of the Fair, they were not stopped by anyone. Then, they tried to go inside the building where the congress was taking place. They were attacked by the police. Some of the anarchists were heavily beaten up, 37 were detained and driven to three different police stations. Most of them were released with minor charges while 3 people who are going to be charged with a battery of a functionary, spent up to 48 hours in custody. All protesters are now free, legal help is provided.

We want to invite you for the info meeting about Rozbrat demonstration and the situation of the place on 10th March (Wednesday) at 9 p.m, just after Vokü at Kopi - Berlin, Germany. There will also be a projection of the film. The auction of the grounds where Poznan's Rozbrat squat is situated will take place on 26th March at 10 a.m. Since January 2008, when the bailiff came to the squat for the first time, we have managed to keep the squat, through different legal actions and protests. If nobody buys the ground on 26th March, the next auction will take place within the next 2-3 years. That is why this is a critical moment for us.

On 27.11.09 at 1 p.m.  around fifteen people, including members of Anarchist Federation and Rozbrat squat collective, gathered under Honorary Consulate of the Netherlands in Poznan to protest against anti-squatters bill according to which from 1st of January 2010 squatting in Holland would be a crime. Consul accepted our statement, the content of which is published below. The aim of the picket was to show international solidarity to Dutch squatters, that soon may be defined by law as a criminals. Similar action is to be held in Gdansk and in many other European cities.

On 23rd October almost 4,000 workers from different trade unions took part in a demonstration in defence of their workplaces. About 500 people are going to be fired from the Cegielski factory due to the so-called economic crisis. Anarchists and members of anarcho-syndicalist trade union Wokers' Initiative also took part in the protest. The demonstrtors first gathered on the premises of the factory and then moved towards the Provincial Office. The bloc of Workers' Initiative and Sierpien '80 together with the anarchists was chanting slogans such as “Government out to the pavement, paving stones on the government”, “One, two, three, four, stop those damn dismissals”, “A worker dismissed, a boss hanged”, “Capitalism isn't working! factories under the control of workers” etc. Rhythms of Resistance samba group from Poznan supported the demo with their rhythms. A banner saying “A worker dismissed, a boss hanged” was dropped from one building on the route of the demo.

Here's the link to the interview with one of the Rozbrat activists on Dissident Island radio, made on the 17th October 2008.http://www.archive.org/download/DissidentIslandRadio17-October-2008/DissidentIslandRadio17-Oct-2008_64kb.mp3

At night of the 2nd of July a banner saying "When you're taking their home, you're also taking part of our home! Rozbrat in solidarity with Milada squat from Prague" was dropped in the centre of Poznan.We did it to express our solidarity with the squatters from Prague, who were brutally evicted on the 1st of July by a private security company, which is employing mostly neonazis. We support all demands of Prague squatters and we will keep on expressing our solidarity as long as the demands aren't met.You can read more about Milada and the eviction here: http://www.milada.org Solidarity is our weapon!

On Saturday, 9th May, at around 3 p.m. a demonstration organized by Rozbrat Collective took place, it started in front of the Opera House. Around 1,000-1,500 took part in it. The participants of the demonstration were also people from different organizations and groups such as Anarchist Federation, members of different groups of protests from Poznan neighborhoods, including those protesting against the F-16 airport, anti-eviction organizations, alternative theaters' members, trade unionists from different unions, representatives of the Berlin autonomous communities, squatters from different cities in Poland and abroad and loads of other supporters of Rozbrat from Poznan, Poland and abroad.

Today (2009.04.06) a small group protested in front of the Polish Embassy in Budapest, showing the letters „Save Rozbrat” in a hopefully not so bad Polish. They gave a letter addressed to the ambassador and the city council of Poznan, which was received by the housekeeper and her small child. Rozbrat is one of the oldest squats in Europe and under threat of eviction these days because of an imminent auction. The squat called for an international day of action for May 6th.

Today, the free-shop on Vatnsstígur 4. was opened again. The shop, which operates in the way that people can both bring and take things completely without money, was opened for the first time, Saturday April 11th but was closed four days later when the police destroyed the upper part of the building and carried people out in a memorable way (read about that by clicking here). Today, the shop was filled with things immediately, since there is plenty enough of surplus that come from the disgusting society of over-consumption that we live in. By-walkers as well as squatters and squatting supporters checked out the free-shop and used this unknown way of ,,shopping”.

The imputation from the state in co-operation with the media about autonomous spaces and squats continues all around Europe. The domestic chapter with the threatency of repression towards squats was somehow publicized with multi-shaped actions and more will continue if needed. A bit more far, in Poland, 2 of the most known squats are seriously threatened with eviction the last few months. Rozbrat in Poznan and Elba in Warsow are those that are targeted by the polish authorities. The social activity of the squats bothers for once again, and the actual spaces many times become an obstacle for the constructive gentrification of the modern capitalistic development model with all its consequences. For the 9th of May, in Poznan, a solidarity demonstration with Rozbrat Squat (that has almost 15 years of life) is planned as also today (6/5) is the day for action in solidarity with Rozbrat. Considering the above mentioned, earlier today a bit before the office of General Consulate of Poland in the center of Thessaloniki opened for the public, a group of comrades "visited" the office in their own way. We glued the door and the locks with polyourethane foam and spray-painted solidarity slogans, both in greek and…

There is a legal team at this demonstration. If you face ANY troubles from the cops, do not hestitate to call us, we speak English.OUR TELEPHONE NUMBER +48 503-877-604 (in english)But before you call us, know some basic rules about demonstrations in Poland.