Rozbrat Collective would like to thank everyone who in the last days expressed their support and their readiness to defend our place. We've received hundereds of e-mails, telephone calls, letters, both from indviduals and organizations, social movements from Poland and from abroad.

Today, around 10 a.m. bailiff together with cops came to Rozbrat squat. The policemen drilled the lock of the gate, the bailiff had a court's permission to come in and estimate the price of the ground. The middle part of Rozbrat squat (including both concert halls, gallery, bars, library and part of the living area) was indebted for a long time by a company that doesn't exist anymore. The ground price evaluation today means that the ground can be auctioned witthin one or two months - that can mean the end of Rozbrat squat - the longest occupied space in Poland.

We want to express our full support for the squatting movement in Germany. We are aware of the current policy of the German authorities, and we are against the repression taking place against squatters all over Germany. In the last few months there has been a rapid increase of police raids on self-organized, unofficial social centers. These acts of terror are disturbing and shocking. It's obvious that local authorities are trying to force their neoliberal politics into city management. This means less social safety net and much higher rent prices.

DemonstrationIndependent Publishing Houses' BookfairWorkers' Conference

On the 9th of August, Krzysztof Wantoch-Rekowski - a longtime activist of the Polish Anarchist Federation and Food Not Bombs from Poznan - was detained by the police. He has been put into jail for six weeks for...destroying his identity card (article 276 of the Penal Code)

On 16th of May, in the evening, an antifasciscist activist was attacked by two nazis, with clear intentions to kill him. They have been following him, and, suddenly one of them steped in front on him and used a pepper gas on him. Then the other one stabbed him in his back with 30cm long knife. Maciek fell on the ground and was kicked by the nazis for a while, with them shouting "We'll kill you, you leftist motherfucker!".

Despite the legal protection employers dismiss them on the basis of the article 52 of the Labour Code. The article lets to brake a contract of employment without giving a notice to a workers only when they heavily violate their duties, commit a crime (when the crime is obvious or is judged by court), or if workers thorough their fault have lost qualifications needed for the job. Heavy violation of worker's duties means for instance drinking in a workplace. In Poland the law protects some trade unionists from dismissals in order to protect them against repressions. It means that an employer must not fire an activist without a permission of the committee of trade union the worker belongs to. Obviously when unionist really violate the law (for example drinks or steals) the committee usually agrees to dismiss him.

We request to take any action in defense of a trade union activist victimized for his activities.The management of the Jutrzenka factory- a popular producer of sweets - has dismissed Dariusz Skrzypczak, the chairman of the Solidarity trade union in Goplana company in Poznan (Poland) (from January 2005 owned by Jutrzenka). He was fired on disciplinary grounds for the interview published in local press. Although Skrzypczak had only confirmed the fact that Jutrzenka had introduced new conditions of wages, which are unfavorable for most of the workers of Goplana, the management of the plant acknowledged those words as harmful to the company. It is the second attempt to fire Skrzypczak - the first one took place at the beginning of year 2005.

The Anarchist Federation and the Polish Anarchist Black Cross in the first report published on 21st of December 2004 have paid attention to the fact that "for several years actions of many different political and social groups that openly protest against the Polish government's policy are submitted bigger and bigger repressions, with the use of the police and a machinery of court". This phenomenon is not an incidental, but on a mass scale. For the past 3-4 years many activists of anarchist, antiwar, radical left wing, social worker and ecological movement, have been put on trial. It is easy to see not only the rising number of "political" cases, but also passing by courts higher and higher verdicts. Today a number of police, prosecutor's and legal proceedings is hard to count, however, we can mention these examples:

A newspaper article from Polish Express - 2004by Monika WojnowskaThe verb "to squat" means to crouch in English. As most people will admit, this position is not particularly comfortable, and it is difficult to imagine an individual who would be willing to remain in this unpolitical position for a long time. No wonder, therefore, that flats known as squats have nothing to do with permanence. Yet there is a squat in Poland that not only amazes with its longevity, but has already managed to become a legend or even a subject of documentaries and MA theses. In August this year the Rozbrat ("Spilt") squat in Poznan celebrated its 10th anniversary.

During a workshop on solidarity economics at the WoGan Decriminalizing Resistance conference last weekend (November 12th-13th) I met Krzysztof Krol, a member of the Anarchist Federation of Poland who resides at the Rozbrat Collective in the Polish city of Poznan. Of the many participators in that particular workshop only the two non-U.S. presenters seemed to have practical solutions for working class people. While Americans talked of seed exchanges, alternative currencies, and green investment schemes Krol told of his groups foray into radical labor organizing and a presenter from Argentina's MST talked about a community center built by the community itself geared around food production and education.As the debate over the validity of alternative currencies roared on past the workshop's scheduled time I pulled the labor-minded Krzysztof aside to get a one-on-one interview.