asked by Tom, Answered by Grzester.Polish Autonomist Scene Squat "Rozbrat"
The following is an interview with one of the squatters
living in probably one of the best functioning squats in Poland. There are
many other squats in the country but Rozbrat has survived the longest, and
the other reason why it's special is because it's not only a place to live
for the squatters, but it plays a big role in our underground scene as a
collective. Most of the time when you think of a squat, you think of a dirty,
ugly place where a bunch of punx hang out and drink. I know this is stereotypical
to say that but unfortunately, that's the reality. Rozbrat, and I'm sure
many more squats all over the world, break this stereotype. Hopefully this
interview will give you an idea, or motivate some people to try to start
something just as cool The interview was done in Polish, it was translated
by Niki (Alert Zine),
asked by Tom, Answered by Grzester.
PS. Please excuse if some things won't make sense, it's really hard to translate things exactly how they are.
Q: To start with, say something about the history of the squat. Do you keep in touch with other squats?
A: Rozbrat has existed and developed for over three years now, and we do keep in touch with the other squats but it's not in a form of cooperation or something, rather normal visits. Too bad that the squatters movement in Poland is not so big. With the two squats in Wraclaw and Krakow, we visit each other on occasions. But Razbrat cooperates with squat "Kopi" in Berlin, Germany. I guess you can say that our cooperation is based on friendship and brotherhood. They are familiar with our situation, and we are with theirs. In the Spring, when our electricity got cut off, they (Kopi) decided to organize Solidarity, from which the money was put towards helping us. Also a PA system was bought which just last night was tested at our show. Sometimes our bands go to play at Kopi and their bands come to play here at Rozbrat. Kopi is always offering help whenever we need it and we will always be thankful for that. Even though the squatters at Rozbrat are not very mobile, people outside our country have heard of us. For example, the vocalist for Gedeon Jurubal, who lives right now in Canada, and when he was in Lisbon he heard of Rozbrat there. When he came to Poland he found it somehow and visited.
Q: Where do the squatters get the money from? You have to survive somehow.
A: Everyone has their own way of getting money: work, child support, student loans, sometimes parents help out. But many squatters here don't do anything and they never really have any money. It's not easy, even if you're squatting you gotta have some cash for food, to pay for electricity, to chip in for stuff. Before it was different, no one wanted to work (welfare makes people lazy) which wasn't too good because then they had too much free time which brought up stupid ideas, and that collided with those who were in school or working. Right now, in Rozbrat, 2 people are in University, before students were the majority.
Q: In February 1996, a few boneheads broke into the squat at night, and tried to trash the place and beat up the squatters. They ended up stabbing a girl (Sloma) who was asleep. Say something about what happened and what were the consequences.
A: Feb. 96, I wasn't living there at the time, so I don't want to talk about what their feelings were when it happened. Some people moved out after the incident. Sloma, who was injured, lives in a squat in Berlin. She came down for the last court session. One of the skinheads went to jail, the rest got fines and probations. I guess it's not that bad but it could be better. And the one convicted is probably not the only one guilty. I don't think anyone here is afraid of that happening again, but actually, in September '97, at night, three people with guns showed up and the day after, a group were on there way to start something but they got caught by the cops. The boneheads that we meet on the streets regularly get their asses kicked. It's actually easier to get in shit with someone other than a bonehead here.
Q: How do the parents of the squatters react to the fact that children are living in a squat?
A: Well, our parents have different views about this place (same with some friends), but that's normal. Some accept it, and some don't. Some parents visit us here, some don't even know where we live. Sometimes it's a waste of time and patience to try to explain it to parents, or grandparents. For example, only a small part of my family knows where I live, and they don't really like it, rather tolerate it, but I'm too old to listen to them about where I should live. It's similar with the others. And friends who aren't in the scene don't understand either, but they don't understand our ideology, and we don't expect them to.
Q: How did the 3 year anniversary
go?
A: Thank god less people showed up than last year. The party went on for about three days without stopping. The bands that played were: Swiat Czarownic, 7 Godzin Snu, Rottweiler, Upsidedown, Incommunicado, Kontext, Impotencja, Brudne Dzieci Sida. There was a stage play, dancing (pogo), drinking, smoking, etc. Too bad that the weather wasn't too great. I guess the most emotional time of the party was when everyone was singing 'happy birthday'. There was a birthday cake with three candles, and champagne. The whole thing was a lot of fun but I think three days was a little too long.
Q: What do you think about theft?
A: Right now I have a negative view on stealing, because three weeks ago, one of our new bikes got stolen and awhile ago money was getting stolen from our rooms, and that's fucked. I used to steal from stores, not on the squat, but now I think it brings more damage than benefits. If there's thieves in our scene, then it's a great "scene". There's no place here for that. And as to shoplifting, a wave of that came here from the states, it's totally stupid. I guess if you won't steal from stores, you won't steal on the squat.
Q: Rozbrat provides a place for collectives, and organizations to meet. What kinds of meetings take place at the squat?
A: Anarchist Federation (FA) from our region meets here every once in a while. Every week, on Wednesdays, autonomists from our city (Poznan) meet here. Before they used to meet at a bar downtown, and I guess that was better because "normal" people could of ended up there, but now here only the ones interested in this come. But still, that's good that something's going on and we can provide a place. When it comes to major meetings, like the FA ones, or others, the squatters prefer that the people don't sleep in the main building where we live. As to the national FA, or Feminist meetings that took place here it seems like many people just come to hang out and party. It's loud at night, parties till the next morning, broken bottles everywhere. We don't really approve of that anymore.
Q: Considering that it's illegal to squat buildings, how do you deal with that.
A: The cops have given us tickets many times for squatting. For now, the only legal thing we have is electricity. Our electricity got cut off before, so that was a reason to get it legally. We're hoping to register our collective for this building so we wouldn't have problems with the cops, so it will be more "legal" to live here, but we haven't gotten around to it yet. But I have to add that Rozbrat, for 2 and a half years was 100% illegal. They wanted to give us a huge fine for "stealing" electricity but thanx to our friend's (Piszpunt) good negotiation skills (he was in a city council), the amount was dropped to be more reasonable for us to pay. In the summer our water got cut off too, and soon we gotta get it somehow, maybe even legally. Some "ideologists" might accuse us of betraying our beliefs, but they can fuck off and try to bathe in a teaspoon of water for months. For now we're using the kindness of neighbors (a print shop and a car saloon) but we can't keep doing that forever.
Q: What do you see happening in the future? Do you think that sometime you'll regret this choice?
A: Personally I'm not afraid that in a few years I'll look back and say that living in a squat was a waste of time, I hope that others think the same. I think I made the right choice coming here. It's hard to write about this, you'd have to experience it. Sometimes I have doubts but overall, it's some kind of initiative. Here we don't have time to be bored. There's so much stuff to do here and it never ends.
Q: What happened to the people who started the squat? What will you do when Rozbrat will be gone?
A: Some of them came back after awhile, some went back to live with parents, some rented apartments and are happy that they got privacy and peace. That's their life. I've observed that many people don't look at them in a very good way. They were just normal people. They did a great job, and even harder than what we do here now. They made some mistakes for which we sometimes have to pay. But the beginnings are always hard and we're thankful for it. The future? 1.No Future. 2.The future is created everyday. If you got drunk and fucked something up on the way to the squat, then you're making the future harder in a way. We have to concentrate on our everday actions.
I don't really know the answer to the second question. I don't know what I would do if Rozbrat wouldn't be there anymore. Maybe there will be another squat, maybe many, maybe none. We'll see when it happens.
Q: What is currently going on in the squat?
A: For a few months now we have an anarchist library going, but that's mostly thanx to the people in the Anarchist Federation (FA). It's still expanding, we get new books all the time and the library has over 100 members right now and there's always more signing up. We're thinking about getting a computer. A lot of people from out of the scene come here too, if they need information on some topic for school or something. We still need more books/zines/newspapers, etc., so if anyone's's got anything they don't need, please send it to us.
We also have a bar/pub called "A-Raj", in the winter time it's not open that often, and in the summer time it's open everyday, the whole day. When we have shows, and mostly on the weekends it's packed, and what's most important no one has to go downtown for a beer (ours is cheaper anyway). Sometimes when we need to have a meeting, usually we go there. The pub is a big part of our collective. Right now we don't have a "squat band" for a lot of reasons. And the initiative of forming "20 Dirty Squatters" ended after the first practice. We have a newsletter out by the same name. It's mostly aimed for the people living here, but I guess anyone can get it. We have a hall for band practices, where bands can come and practice for a small amount of money. I know that's too bad, but the electricity isn't free and someone has to pay for it.
Q: How do you deal with overnight guests?
A: It's not a problem if we know the people who want to stay over. If anyone wants to crash, that's cool, but it's a bit different if no one knows them. We have to have a talk with the individual first. We have a guest room where 3-4 people can stay. Sometimes shit happens and we have to kick out our guests. That is if someone's not behaving respectfully to the squat or the squatters, if they 're really drunk, or causing trouble. In the summertime we have problems with drunk punx who "squat" the other buildings of the squat and make a total mess there, they go on our neighbors property, which they don't appreciate, or sometimes even try to threaten us. So we just have no choice but to chase them out with bats. So then they go and spread rumors about us that we charge people for sleeping over or something, which is not true. Also, another thing, if someone's under 18, they're not allowed to stay here. That is because too many times we had parents or cops coming here, looking for their runaways, and we'd end up getting in shit. So not always "to want" is "to be able to" stay. Many people we took in turned out not how we expected. A few days ago we had two punks here (one German and one Polish) and when they were leaving, they wrote all over the walls with markers. We thank them very much and they'll never be allowed here again.
Q: Anything you want to add?
A: To end with, I want to say, one more time, that the biggest problem on the squat aren't the skinheads, or the cops, but our friends and ourselves. We gotta have some "self discipline". To keep a squat , there's a lot of initiative needed. Also, you gotta be ready for the worst, that someone may break in, that the temperature might drop in the middle of winter, and shit like that, not to be surprised later. OK, that's about it.
Grzester, on behalf of Razbrat / PO Box 5 / 60-066 Poznan 31 / Poland