Rozbrat Explained
Rozbrat is a long-running anarchist self-managed social centre in Jeżyce in Poznań, Poland.
Occupation
Rozbrat is based in a former paint factory squatted in autumn 1994. The name means 'to make peace and get detached from an enemy.'[1]
Activities
Rozbrat hosts many events and discussions. Different groups use the space such as a bicycle workshop, silk-screen printers, anarchist library and infoshop, a gallery, the Breaking (Ear)drums samba band and Food not Bombs. The local branch of the Federacja Anarchistyczna has been based at Rozbrat since 1997.[2]
The centre's longevity means that it is well supported in Poznań, although its future remains precarious.[3]
Antifascist
Rozbrat joined with groups including Stonewall and Poznań Free from Hate to protest when Robert Winnicki, member of the Polish Parliament and then chairman of the far-right All-Polish Youth organization wanted to speak in Poznan in 2017.[4]
Rozbrat has experienced two serious neo-Nazi attacks in 1996 and 2013. The perpetrators of the first attack received jail sentences after seriously wounding a sleeping person.[5]
Related Initiatives
- Workers' Initiative (Inicjatywa Pracownicza)[6]
- WSL Wielkopolska Tenants' Association[7] - member of European Action Coalition to the right to housing and to the city[8]
- Anarchist bookstore Zemsta opened as an offshoot of Rozbrat in central Poznań.[9]
Notes and References
- Book: Piotrowski . Grzegorz . 2014. Squatting in the East: The Rozbrat squat in Poland, 1994 - 2012 . Katzeff . Ask . van Hoogenhuijze. Leendert . van der Steen . Bart . The City Is Ours: Squatting and Autonomous Movements in Europe from the 1970s to the Present . en . PM Press . 978-1604866834.
- News: Blabiush . Al Shami . Leila . Interview with comrade from Rozbrat collective, Poznan . 23 April 2019 . Tahrir-ICN . 8 February 2014.
- Donaghey . J . Punk and Anarchist Squats in Poland . Trespass . 2017 . 1 . 4-35 .
- News: Jasiewicz . Ewa . Poland – this is what neoliberalism looks like . 19 April 2019 . . 22 November 2017.
- Polanska . Dominika V. . Piotrowski . Grzegorz . Local Differences: The importance of cohesion . Baltic Worlds . 2016 . 1-2 . 46–56 . 19 April 2019.
- Web site: Workers' Initiative - Inicjatywa Pracownicza web page .
- Web site: Wielkopolskie Stowarzyszenie Lokatorów - Home . 2022-12-02 . wsl-poznan.pl.
- Web site: Members . 2022-12-02 . European Action Coalition . en-US.
- News: Gregorowicz . Daga . Mellor . Richard . A local's guide to Poznań, Poland: 10 top tips . 27 April 2019 . . 2 July 2018.
