english activity

In the summer of 1994, not minding the consent of authorities or owners, activists decisively started to look for premises. Several buildings were found, but the most appropriate one was the barrack of the bankrupted warehouse. It was situated in an deserted area that used to be a warehouse-industrial complex.

Initially, squat Rozbrat's role was a house similar to freedom communes. Some more serious actions that were creating and supporting the squat took place. In summer 1995, it was still being adapted. On one hand, it had only a residential function, one the other hand almost every resident of the squat was somehow active in social activity.

With time, concerts started to be organised at Rozbrat, because of safety reasons, the entrance was allowed only with an invitation, but they were organised more and more frequently, and the character of those concerts started to be more open. This kind of cultural activity was the leading one for following several years. A bigger room was adapted and prepared, sound equipment was collected. Slowly, the character of the place started to change and it became an independent culture centre.

After the activities were created in a closed group a time for creating a wide coalition for sustaining and keeping the squat has come. Squat started to be treated not as a whole, but as a part of activity. A wider bunch of people not living at the squat started to get involved in Rozbrat, laying the foundations of new quality of the Rozbrat Collective.

In 1997 Anarchist Federation started their activity at Rozbrat. Since then, it has gathered the more active participants of Rozbrat Collective and plays very important role in shaping the place, both in the ideological way and in material one. Meetings called the Liberation Feasts were initially a forum for both solving the problems of Rozbrat itself and the outer activity. The Anarchist Federation created the Anarchist Library in 1997, and in 2000 the Anarchist Club, where weekly meetings of AF still take place. In 2001 another room was adapted for initiative "Lame Mule" (Polish: Kulawy Muł), where recitals, poetry evenings, discos and lectures take place. The back of "Lame Mule" was transformed into the Gallery, that is open for all kinds of independent artists. With time, a technical structure and a management system based on self-governance was being created. In 2005, a new cafe bar next to the Gallery was created, it is a chillout zone. All the time, we are creating and improving the infrastructure. With small steps we are developing the place engaging ourselves in it.

Rozbrat is a peculiar centre of independent culture in Poznan, and actually, in whole Wielkopolska region. Actions that are taken here would be very difficult to be taken in a commercialised world. We are creating a place based on independent social and cultural activity: without donations, subsidies, sponsors, outside of the system, outside of the good or bad economic situation, for ourselves, for propagating an independent thought, for building social consciousness.

That is how Rozbrat has changed its side and blended well into Poznan's surrounding, for some people it has been a nice accent, for others being a thorn in their side. The outside-of-institutions character of the place was attracting and still attracts people wanting to create culture in an active and independent way, and also undertaking others actions on social-political level.

Free houses for free people.
Squat is nothing but an uninhabited building, usually in a very poor shape, being occupied by a group of people who repair it, move in and create a certain kind of community. Therefore squat becomes home to them.

From the community...
The original idea of Rozbrat was to set up a commune composed of the people who did not approve of the world based on "the rat race". Then it has evolved and developed: the place itself was changing, different people got involved in the formation. The goal has broadened from residing to carrying on cultural, social and political work.
The group, initially small, has grown larger becoming kind of "open community" with the aim to keep the place and build free ideas upon it.

...to revolution
Today Rozbrat is the center of the alternative culture both for Poznan and the whole region called the Wielkopolska. This is the social space where the activities, which would not have happened in the commercialized world, do take place. Everything here is based upon the independent social and cultural activity: we don't get any donations, subsidies, we are not sponsored by anybody, we are out of the establishment and shady relations; we do it for ourselves and to spread the free, independent thought and raise social awareness.

For a start few words about Rozbrat's structure. It is divided in several autonomic but altogether integral pieces: the inhabited building - squat, the anarchist library, two rooms- concert hall plus another hall, the anarchists' club and other smaller spaces. The activists work in different groups but they cooperate with each other in the Rozbrat Collective.
The activity of the Rozbrat Collective is very wide. The Technical Collective is very important here - it is in charge of technical maintenance of Rozbrat (for instance reconditioning and improving the infrastructure, raking up the leaves in the autumn and so on) and it also coordinates the squat's activity.
From the very beginning Rozbrat has been a flat for the group of people; now there are here 15-20 squatters. There is broad cultural and social activity undertaken at Rozbrat, for example concerts, exhibitions, festivals and many other events. As individuals and as a group we are very often invited to take part in organizing some projects. We reach the people by arranging the lectures and workshops; they can also see our ideas being carried into effect.

Rozbrat has always been connected with music; actually, it was the beginning of its cultural work. People setting it up were involved in the "independent scene" based on "do it yourself" method, which applied to everything from organizing concerts, recording to releasing records; Rozbrat is also a fruit of this maxim.

The first concert at Rozbrat took place spontaneously in the autumn of 1995. Oi Polloi, legendary band from Scotland, had their gig in Poznan canceled, but they showed up at squat because of social contacts and played for a small group of people. That was the beginning; next gigs were organized by inviting certain bands to play. Only squatters' and activists' friends knew about the concerts, because it was a bit risky at that time to let unknown people come at Rozbrat. Then there were leaflets and posters spreaded, and now the info about gigs is fully official; it took several years to make people respect us and the place. But still we may refuse the entrance to some folks; some people praise us for it, but some find it pissing off. Well, the place got its own specificity and it is of big importance in the chain of interdependences around us. At the end of the day, every place got its policy and so does Rozbrat. Our aim is to influence the society through forming the alternative culture. We are alternative to plastic pop culture, which patterns got nothing to do with building free and conscious society. Pop world is the world of neon signs and stars, spectacle and sham brilliance; it is expansive and effusive, because it is based on big dough. In this world you can be a radical or an asshole, but still you are a part of this system. We don't mind popular culture, its creators and its consumers. Consciousness is the most crucial, the most important; how you act, what you do is your business- life is nothing but a constant choice!

We create our own world here and now, without menagers and visagists; we do it, because this is what we want and what we feel. We might be unprofessional because of it (though it very often appears that we are more professional than it would seem to), but we feel good about ourselves and people trust us.

THE ANARCHIST FEDERATION

The Anarchist Federation aims at abolishing all social structures and laws that restrict personal freedom in any way - the power that comes from appropriating the means of compulsion, production and indoctrination. We judge necessary: identifying work as the property, the law of protection of life (and health of every living creature), freedom (deciding about your body and mind by yourself) or work (and its effects). Anything else shouldn't be neither ordered nor banned, and decisions about actions should be made only by people involved and interested in the action, not by some people from the outside, especially from institutions. Organizing life on social scale shouldn't be based on authority from above but on solidarity and workers', local councils etc. people have the right to make mistakes on their own account.

The Anarchist Federation is a federation of groups and individuals that undertake actions towards liberty, peace, self-governing, social justice and solidarity amongst humans. The Anarchist Federation (formerly Anarchist Intercity Agreement) exists since 1988.
It unites a dozen or so groups from all over the country. The principal of the cooperation is taking actions together to execute certain tasks. In the AF different ideological platforms co-exist. The activity of AF is based on task groups that undertake actions on e.g. social-political level or cultural one, making the AF's principles come true.

Activity of Poznan's section of AF has a really wide range of actions. On the one hand these are various forms of protest and agitation. This kind of activity could be called as temporary. It is characteristic with the "outer" message of our group. This activity gives an opportunity to voice our opinion, it is a form of pressure on authority and other institutions and it also constitutes a factor of propaganda for us. In this range of activities, there are such actions as both spectacular ones like demonstrations, happenings, direct actions and those less spectacular like petitions, posters, zines and so on.

For centuries anarchists have always had the same attitude toward all forms of authority, exploitation and any harm done to any person. In today's world there is far too much of such injustice. A part of it are open actions of the system of authority. That is why in some cases our activities have been in form of campaigns.

But on the other hand we are trying to build our reality through creating consciousness in every-day life. We are creating a community of liberation, that is taking up some actions towards life created from below, that is independent and self-organized. This activity is based on Rozbrat that gives he group a stable character.

The idea

Anarchist Federation aims at the abolition of all the social structures and laws that limit personal freedom, it stands against the structures of power that arise from mastering of means of production and compulsion mingled with indoctrination. We think it is necessary to identify ownership with work and we accept the law that protects life (and health of all the creatures), freedom (of having at one's disposal one's body and mind) and work (and its fruits). All other issues should not be either required or forbidden; only the agreements between the interested parties should decide about their actions, and not the will of the third party, especially not the institutions. Therefore the organization of life in a social scale should be based on solidarity and local and workers' self-governments and autonomies. It ought to come from the grassroots, not from the top. People have a right to stumble on their own account.

Anarchist Federation is a federation of individuals and groups who undertake actions for the benefit of freedom, peace, self- governing, social justice and human solidarity.
Anarchist Federation (former Interurban Anarchists) has existed since 1988. It organizes people from a dozen or so centers from all over Poland; they work together to realize specific tasks. There are different ideological planes coexisting within AF. Its activity is grounded on the tasks' groups working on the precise levels, for example on the socio-political level or the cultural one. Each of them accomplishes the Federation's foundations in a given range.

The activity of Poznan's section of Anarchist Federation includes a lot of different forms of protest and agitation. One of them can be called "summary activity", which is about "external" message of our group, expressing our point of view and exerting a pressure on the authorities and institutions. This is the propaganda factor- demonstrations, happenings, direct actions, petitions, posters, papers and so forth.
The anarchists have always had the same attitude towards any forms of power, exploitation and injustice being done to a human being. In today's world we have got too much of that unfair treatment of people and partly it is the apparent system of rule which is responsible for this situation. That is why we have decided to lead campaigns concerning some issues; one should mention here the most important ones like:

- Anti military Campaigns
- Anti repression Campaigns
- Anti racist Campaigns
- Ecological Campaigns
- Campaigns against the war in Chechenya
- Antiglobalist Campaigns
- Social Agreement "Poznan - the city for people"
- Workers' Initiative

On the other hand we try to form our reality being 'conscious' in every day life. We are independent community which works for the proceeding from the ranks, autonomous life. Our activity is focused around Rozbrat which gives our group a firm character.

In 1997 the Anarchist Federation opened the Liberation Library and in 2000 it started the Anarchist Club and the office of Poznan's AF branch.

Anarchist Library, open almost seven days a week, is a very special place. More or less 700 people use it and on the shelves you can find fairy- tales as well as philosophical books. The archive is very extended, composed of well filed stationery concerning the antiauthoritarian movement worldwide. Our library is the biggest Polish public collection of documents, posters and publications of this environment; thanks to its assemblage a lot of papers and thesis have been written, from minor ones to PhD dissertations.

Everyone can take part in creating the library, for instance giving away his or her books, and everyone who fulfils a duty can belong to the librarians' collective. The library's sources are both gifts and books bought from a special fund. There is a press distribution joined with the library.

Anarchist Club acts as our direct place. It is a quite big place with a homely atmosphere and it is used in many ways; all the meetings are organized here and it is also a night's lodging space for our guests.

Thanks to the fact that we have our own place we can widen and disseminate our activity. Here we create fundamental elements of a society's structure - but it is completely different from the "official" world's one. We are interested in the independent, free thinking and views and building conscious society. In oder to achieve this goal we have set up the Free University. This scheme includes discussions in small and big groups as Independent Debate Club, where we invite guests who are specialists in their field so that one can always ask them about the issues he or she wants to get know about.

In the framework of the Free University we also organize workshops where you can master the specific skills mainly connected with the maintenance of squat (for example glazing the windows, designing and making complex constructions) and learn how to work in a group and think pragmatically.

Whats more, we organize excursions and we show films; after projection there is always time for discussion about the movie.

As members of Free University we are often invited by other groups to give lectures or to run workshops.

One could write much more about our activity which is facilitated by squat - first of all it gives us the possibility of direct and easy contact among the people. At Rozbrat you can meet persons who share the same attitude towards the world, you can talk to them and together you can help the others, for example the ones who don't want to fulfill the military service (which is compulsory in Poland) - there is Anti military Emergency Department "Szwejk" where you can get the info how to flee it.

Through dozens of years of communist dictatorship any studies about the idea and history of anarchist movement were appearing less than rarely, and most often, and to put it mildly - not in a very objective way. After the rebirth of anarchist movement in Poland, a slow process of finding and de-deceiving its roots. The anarchist publishers' natural reluctance towards national libraries and also not very active winning collections over by employed librarians who got used to "obligatory copy" caused the situation that unofficial publications were almost unavailable. There were and still are private archives but they can be used by only few people.

Posnanian Anarchist Library was founded in 1997 inside squat "Rozbrat" in a small room. With time, the collection was becoming larger and larger and the activity of the Library was more and more popular. The number of people using the Library was increasing and people interested in collecting materials about anarchism as sources for their scientific essays started to appear. After moving the collection to a bigger room separate section of the Library - Archive was created. In archive only documents and later also book publications have been kept.

The Library is situated in the buildings of Rozbrat squat, it is opened three days a week. Currently, it is the largest and the longest functioning anarchist library in Poland. It is the largest and the longest functioning liberation library in Poland. Its collection is divided into archive and lending library. In archive there are documents, posters, books, magazines etc. describing the anarchist activity in Poland and abroad and about other social movements - you can use them only on the spot.

The Library still tries to support other librarian initiatives by e.g. sharing with the double copies and sharing with the experience.

We are trying as much as we can to perform scientific researches and to publish them in forms of studies, with what we are presenting historical facts about our movement that have not been widely known. Once in a while we organize presentations of collections on one concrete topic e.g. publications of underground printing, magazines from between WW I and WW II, art.-zines or poetry volumes from underground printing. As Library together "TROJKA" FELLOWSHIP we started to publish pamphlets about the Library's collection. Since the beginning we are trying to get in touch with other places like this in Poland and abroad, we use them to get new and exchange collections.

The Library is sustained by its own funds from selling its publications and support from its sympathizers and co-founders.

If you want to support the library, please send books, magazines or donations to the following postal address:
P.O. Box 5, 60 - 966 Poznan 31; Poland
or wite us: biblioteka@rozbrat.org
During the duties hours there is a telephone available:
(+48) 61 848 46 72
Web site: http://biblioteka-poznanska.bzzz.net/

"TROJKA" was founded in 1994, in the beginning as the development of the fellowship idea to share with finds of interesting texts found in second-hand bookshops and attics' sheltered spots. It turned put that the interest in that is much bigger that the group of friends, that is why the pamphlets started to be sold and advertised in wider spheres. Trojka was to publish cheap items to propagate anarchism, liberation ideas and creative thinking. With time, it started to publish more expensive items and those that were propagating the ideas and the history of anarchist movement. Nowadays, Trojka is one of the biggest distributions of items published in underground printing in Poland.

Not without a reason, the birth of modern anarchist movement in Poland is said to be on 1st May 1983, when the group of the Movement for the Alternative Society took an active part in turbulent workers demonstrations. From the moment of appearing, after an almost 40-year break caused by the repression of communist regime, the anarchist was always connected with the workers' movement, on the one hand, and on the other and with counter-culture, that was heading to anti-militarism and ecology. At the turn of the 1980's and the 1990's, it caused an engagement of anarchists in movement of building trade unions, on the basis of objectors (in 1988 the regime, under pressure of protests, introduced the law of substitute national service). In that turbulent period of time (1989-1993) the anarchists were supporting and taking part in numerous workers' protests. However, those actions did not cause a creation of anarchosydicalist movement. After a several years' break - in the face of changed social and political reality - anarchist groups had to face the necessity of participating in the workers' movement which had weakened a lot in that period. In 1998 Anarchosydicalist Agreement was created, and three years later Workers' Initiative.

The beginning of Workers' Initiative coincided with the growing wave of workers' protests in Poland, the largest from the beginning of the 1990's. In 2002 Workers' Initiative and the Anarchist Federation from Poznan established many contacts with workers' groups not only from our town but also from all over the Poland. Active participation in workers' protests (among others in the most famous one, in Ozarow) and in workers' conferences organized by independent structures of workers' movement, allowed Workers' Initiative to associate lasting relationship with their struggle. Since 2002, we have been supporting workers' actions in H. Cegielski Co. Plant, in numerous hospitals, in Uniontex in Lodz. We have also organized solidarity actions with other striking crews. We have stood up for unionist rights (especially in Sulzer Chemtech Poland). We have organized actions against breaking workers' rights in McDonald's, and also in Japanese concern Bridgestone-Firestone. Together with Poznan's working crew form Goplana (at that time belonging to Nestle) we have organized an action of boycotting Nestle products. On the other hand, Workers' Initiative have tried to create a forum, where a discussion about current problems of unionist movement could be possible; that is how we actively participated in the movement of All-Polish Workers' Conferences. In September 2004, Poznan's group of Workers' Initiative brought up a formal trade union. Our trade union organizes workers. It is the instrument of protection of their rights in particular examples.

The beginning of antimilitarist activities in Poznan dates back to the mid 1980's. At that time, all-Polish movement "Freedom and Peace" was created. The aim of that movement, active during communist dictatorship, was the struggle for disarming military blocks on both sides of the iron curtain. "F & P"'s practical activity was a struggle for the abolition of obligatory national service. During that period of time, several dozens of objectors were imprisoned. A s a result of spectacualr protests in1988. The state introduced a possibility of substitute national service for people of conscience objection. In Poznan, in 1988-1989 the movement gathering 90 per cent of students, through massive protests, boycotts of military studies, caused an abolition of obligatory military training from universities. Finally, thanks to actions of "F & P" and NZS (Independent Students' Union) in 1988 the national service was radically shortened. However, in the next years, that law turned out to be a fiction. Despite smaller repression, antimilitarists were still being arrested. "F & P" have never finished to exist officially, but its activity was taken over by the Anarchist Federation in the beginning of the 1990's. During following years, in Poznan bureaus for people wanting to serve substitute national service had still existed. Since 1992, Association "Objector" had offered that help, and from 1994 till today, ANTIWAR EMERGENCY "SZWEJK" and PoznanAnti-war Coalition. For all that time, demonstrations and direct actions against repression for denying to serve national service had taken place. In 1997, e.g. during a trial in court against 23-year-old pacifist sentenced 1,5-year imprisonment, dozens of people occupied the courtroom, and scared judges had to be evacuated by police and fire fighters. Numerous demonstrations against Poland joining NATO took place, also protest against conflicts in former Yugoslavia and during the invasion in Afghanistan. What is more, every year Easter Marches, based on a German idea, have also become a tradition. Big engagement of Poznan Anti-war movement has focused on protests and organizing help during Russian wars in Chechnya. During one of the demonstrations in front of Russian Federation Consulate, demonstrating people forced their way into the institution's premises. That radical action succeeded to publicize the problem of the war in Chechnya, not only in Poland but also abroad.

In the middle of January 2003 an idea to gather all inhabitants of Poznan to protest against the U.S. aggression on Iraq has appeared. Dozens of people appeared at the meeting about this case. Poznan Aniti-war Coalition was created, it gathered groups connected with the anarchist, pacifist and liberation movement.

Our minimum plan,that is organizing a big, well-prepared demonstration, has evolved into a constant, lasting several months, campaign during which demonstrations, happenings, cultural events, kids' from Poznan schools exhibition called "Children against war" took place, Food Not Bombs was reactivated, that for all the time organizes handing out food in Poznan's streets. Our activity has gained a huge support from Poznan university groups, theaters and also from trade unions.

Currently, Posnanian Anti-war Coalition gathers people who, are observing the tendencies in international arena to solve problems forcefully in the name of interests of great military empires and are definitely protesting against that. It prepared a campaign concerning the problem of U.S. military bases presence in Poland.

You will find more on www.antywojenna.prv.pl - how to avoid military service, on protest against US military bases in Poland or NATO, demonstrations against war in Chechenya, Iraq, Afganistan.E-mail: antywojenna@rozbrat.org

FOOD NOT BOMBS is a world-wide initiative of handing out free vegetarian meals to the unprivileged. The first action was organized in 1980 by American activists protesting against nuclear armaments. Besides from the practical side of the initiative, it has a symbolic meaning. It pays attention to the problem of famine and malnutrition, that takes place everywhere in the world, even in the richest countries. The problem of famine is not caused by the lack of food in the world, but it is caused by the politics of rich countries, that prefer huge money expenditure spent on arming. Meanwhile, the improvement of the existence situation of the poorest is funded fewer and fewer. Statistically, the sum of money spent a week for arming is equal to the cost of feeding the starving people all over the world for a year. In the face of outbreak of the war in Iraq, our action's aim is to pay attention to the problem of poorness and the disability to satisfy all the living needs of part of our society and people all over the world.

It takes place every last Friday of a month. People gather in the very center of Poznan, where they start their drive through the streets of the city from. They shout slogans such as: ROWER POWER (Bike power)! and POZNAN - A CITY FOR BIKES!

"...Even if in the beginning they will be only a handful of people, who would know whether in several thousands years' time people tired with cars' exhaust gases, noise, forcing through metal boxes and risking their lives every time they want to turn left (UK: right) . Maybe thanks to this action we will live to the times of safe bicycle roads and silence zones, where the car "will not be smoking in our face".

With every action there are more and more participants. Currently, around 500 bikers gather at the actions. It is a continuation of a long struggle for bicycle roads in out city.

Having a place allows us to widen our activity. Thanks to it, we create fundamental elements of society's functioning, but it is different form the "official" world one. Our idea is to create a liberated thought and building a conscious society. This aim is executed through thousands of discussions in small and big groups, sometimes behind the façade of the Liberation Ideas Debate Society (LIDS). Within the confines of the LIDS, we invite guests with wider knowledge about particular issues. We also organize different workshops that teach both communal creating and concrete skills. But what is most important, at Rozbrat you can learn to think pragmatically.

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Rozbrat there had been a series of 10 lectures for 10 years of Rozbrat squat. The lectures were amongst others about NATO, Participatory Democracy in Porto Alegre in Brazil, Anarcho-syndicalism in Poland, Anarchism in art., Bakunin, Revolution and the Polish case, Bookchin, Ecological-social anarchism and so on.

Currently we're holding debates several times a month during our Infoshop opening hours, we're giving each other lectures, workshops and so on.

"Thursday Film Dinners" is an initiative of watching films together that came from the idea of widening the knowledge, getting to films that were forgotten (or niche ones), but also those very well-known and belonging to the film canon. It is the continuation of the Anarchist Film Club (AFC) organized at Rozbrat for as long as we can remember. Is there something more pleasant than watching a film in a nice company?! We want to share the knowledge we already have - that is why every film show is preceded by a short introduction by a person that knows most about particular film. Every film screening ends with a discussion that very often turned into real debates. Thursday Film Dinners, as its name says, take place together with a communal vegan dinner that every time is prepared by different person. The menu (of films and dinners) belongs to the participants of AFC.

A lot of films about Rozbrat have been made, about the place itself, about the idea that is behind it and about people that create it. We also translate and publish films about current social-political events.