Epistle from the All Poland Gathering ​7–9 Eleventh Month 2025, Warsaw
​On the second weekend of November, Polish members and supporters of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) came to Warsaw.
Friends came together, joined by Friends from Gdańsk, Poznań, Toruń and Warsaw, as well as by our visitors: Julia Walloch and Michael Eccles of EMES, and Pavel Marusiniec from České Budějovice.
The meeting took place at Cafe Kryzys, located in the Syrena Squat (Syrena mean mermaid, she’s a symbol and coat of arms of the Polish capital). The squatters community—comprising not only the residents but also activists working for tenant’s and worker’s rights—resembles the community of Friends in many ways. People arrive there from different places: for some it is a conscious choice, for others a necessity, and for some merely a temporary stop. Likewise in our communities, people stay for a short time, a long time, or forever; they come from various religious traditions and seek spiritual refuge. Just as among us the responsibility and engagement of individual Friends are essential for the functioning and maintenance of our small communities, so there everyone is responsible for the physical condition of the space and—perhaps more importantly—for the relationships and functioning of the squatters’ community.