The squat at the former Topf & Soehne area

The building where the deaerators for the gas chambers in Auschwitz were manufactured is the former plumber's building of the company Topf & Soehne. On April, 12th in 2001 it was squatted along with other parts of the area. The urgently needed space was taken to have a place for discussions and meetings, to organize concerts and to have rooms to live in, to be engaged in politics and to hang around.

picture: function room in the squat

The squatters are engaged in developing a criticism of the current social circumstances, to find ways to implement our beliefs. We are striving for a society where the goal is not the creation of added value, but where the fulfillment of the wants of all people has the highest priority - which calls for the abolishment of capitalism. Though the squatters not only stand for the abolishment of capitalism, antisemitism and nationalism, but for the abolition of any kind of social relations of force, e.g. the social division of people into man and woman and the sexist oppression of the woman by the man.

To spread our criticism, we organize and take part in lectures, rallies and demonstrations. We are striving to realize our ideas and claims by trying to avoid hierarchical structures within the group of squatters, to decide things in consideration of all people concerned, to overcome existing power structures and to exclude nobody from our events because of financial reasons. The virtual tour about the former Topf & Soehne area came into existence in 2002 as part of our criticism of the dealing with the history of germany and our own concern in the criticism of antisemitism.

The squat on the area was evicted on 16th April 2009 by a violent police operation. The new owner - Domicil Hausbau GmbH - teared down all buildings on the area, except the former administrative building. He wants to build apartment houses and a shopping market on the area. The former administrative building will be reconstruted and the city of Erfurt will rent two floors of the building for a official historical place. The place will be opened in 2011. The former squatters of the area are looking for new rooms and started a campaign against the repression after the eviction and for a new object.

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