Office for Social Justice in Warsaw - A Last Hope

Poverty and housing issues continue to plague contemporary Poland. Rebekah Switala and Dominika Wroblewska paid a visit to the Office for Social Justice in Warsaw, which is focused on helping and assisting Polish citizens who are facing hardships.

Evictions and housing issues are an enormous problem in contemporary Poland. Piotr Ikonowicz, a veteran of the Polish left, has been actively assisting those who are facing wrongful evictions; fraudulent seizures of their finances by banks; those with medical needs; and those with other various legal problems at the office he runs, the Office for Social Justice in Warsaw.

Ikonowicz is a busy person, working in a small office space where shelves are overcrowded with books and files of paperwork. The clutter promptly signals to any person entering the place that the office is indeed busy, and that poverty and inequality are pertinent issues in Poland. The atmosphere is inviting, open; every person volunteering and working initiates considerate conversation with all who are present.

We paid a visit to discuss with Ikonowicz day to day functions of the office he runs, and how they manage to continue working without state financial assistance. Ikonowicz explains that their work is successful because of its community-driven focus, and how help is made available through community members volunteering. Ikonowicz explained that what his office is not a social movement or a political initiative: “It is a way of life. If someone comes here and says, ‘I want to help and make a sacrifice,’ I will turn them away, because if one considers ‘help’ a sacrificial act, then I don’t want such a mentality around here. Help is not a sacrifice; help is necessary and normal, it is something that people need to receive and give every day.”

This video was created as part of the Network 4 Debate project, supported by the International Visegrad Fund.

Housing is the most significant means of preventing social exclusion

Bio

Rebekah Switala

Rebekah Switala is a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, working on her degree in Central and East European Studies with specialization in women, gender, and sexuality in post-Soviet context. She received her BA from Western Michigan University in 2011, graduating magna cum laude.
Dominika Wróblewska

She worked as an art curator at Dom Pracy Twórczej in Wigry, Poland. In the Warsaw cultural centre Brave New World, she worked as a marketing specialist. She has been a member of the Krytyka Polityczna team since 2011, where she is a producer of video materials and responsible for the film crew at demonstrations. Her biggest dream is to put patriarchy to death.