Squatting Amsterdam — Ep. 5: Squatting Artefacts from 20 Years Ago

In the previous episode 4 we had occupied our second squat in Amsterdam West. I wanted to end this series with how we got evicted eventually when the Dutch Squatting Ban got enforced. However, I was cleaning up some old boxes and actually found some cool items from my squatting period. So here's a bonus episode. Enjoy.

Gerard Dreese's Letter

When we entered the Ruyschstraat I told you about the body builder from episode 3 who was panicking on his balcony. We later got to know each other and he actually wrote us a letter in which he confirmed the flat had been empty for over a year:

"With this, I, Gerard Dreese Ruyschstraat 34-2 in Amsterdam hereby confirm that the flat on Ruyschstraat 32-1 has been vacant for over a year. I support the people who on August 13 2006 have entered this empty floor. I have no complaints of any nuisance."

I find it both extraordinary that I had still kept this and the old man had used a typewriter to convey his support to us. We had asked him to write a letter as this strong evidence if they had wanted to evict us based on claiming the apartment hadn't been empty for over a year.

The Small Squatting Manual

A summarized version of the more detailed one. This is basically the introductory course. The bigger ones explain the nitty gritty of doing everything related to squatting. In the big one I remember reading things like putting matches inside the doors to track activity. I found that so cool to know.

The Target Diary

Here are two excerpts from the booklet I used to track vacancies in my neighborhood. As you can see they were sorted on street name. The addresses contain dates when I spotted and confirmed the empty state. The strikethroughs were the flats that eventually didn't remain targets as some movement, change, or burning light, or story from a neighbor and subsequently the space was disclassified as potential squat.

Squatting Flyer

This was a call to gathering for the squat at the Ruyschstraat 32. I created this one and posted this into the letter boxes of the known squats in the east.

That's it for this bonus episode. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions, please ask.