This is the partial translation of a letter which Pit Scherzl, one of representatives of the Iv.I (the prisoners association which called for the hungerstrike) sended us shortly afterwards. We believe it is good when people read directly his words, not mediated by us, in order to better understand his perspective.
ABC Berlin
"The hunger week is now over and over 550 prisoners in 49 different prisons nationwide took part in it. Beside this, many prisoners from neighboring nations like Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, France and Spain.
One could even speak of an european-wide action!
The goal and meaning of the action was (and is), build solidarity among prisoners and sensibilize them about it.
The administration, - which knows exactly that prison functions...only because most of prisoners bluntly work...recognized already long ago that solidarity among prisoners could be a seriously sharp...and powerful sword...and therefore try to do everything (...) in order to stop any larger solidarity among prisoners and its resulting real opposition.
The widespread disappearing of prisoners critical post... is one of our best example for this.
The fact is: the administration is really awake about collective actions and therefore their initiators will be subtly terrorize (to act as a deterrent for all the others), sometimes more, sometimes less. This takes shape in form of arbitrarious transfers, isolation and several, endless arbitrarious acts and harassments, from prison to prison.
There are many prisoners who could sing a song with hundreds of strophes about this.
But this should be not the theme here.
There will more actions. Right now, we concentrate all our energies to motivate thousands of prisoners to make official complaints against several un-conditions in prison.
This will costs millions to the State...and at the same time spread further solidarity among prisoners as well the feeling that they are not alone.
Many of them resigned or believe that they can not do anything. We must communicate them they are wrong.
Only at this moment - and as soon as there will be a large base - this could be the beginning for.............!!!"
"Many anarchists see our way of acting only as "reformist".
Yes, - on a first look it seems like...and is partly true as well. But I would like to spend few basic words on this:
Many ways conduct to "Rome"!!!Point!!! Inside prison... - and therefore being 105% delivered to this system, which has the power...and the possibilities to terrorize its critiquers and opponents (only because they are sure that state attorneys, courts and so on mostly look away and stay in silence...), to isolate them, criminalize them, keep them in prison for life through the SV (note of the translator: Sicherungsverwahrung, a detention which follows after your served sentence in case you are considered as extremely "recidive" and "not willing to conform", this can happen straight as continuation of your sentence or be decided afterwards, so that you get in prison again. Recently it has been approved a "reform" which can apply such measures also to minors) or destroy them by other means...it is not only difficult, but also risky to act against such scum, who daily infringes the present Right and so on...
Even if such counterattack would be completely legal, it is risky, since the administration will not forget it.
One has to pay high attention within his/her struggle... in order not to offer them a "justified" way for acting even worse tit-for-tat responses.
As example, a call for revolt or insurrection signed by a prisoner...a thing to be punished under the current Right, and one can be sure that Justice and administration would use all their possibilities within such situations without any pity.
To break the law in prison...this would be a clear condition for considering one "dangerous and unteachable"...which could produces, in case of real opponents, to the hanging of the Sicherungsverwahrung and surely to their transfer in isolation.
This is a reason enough to scare other prisoners off. This system does not kill its very critiquers, - why should do this indeed? They have many ways, as example, to bury me for life.
Neither myself, nor the Iv.I. incite to riot. We do not offer them the possibility to "legally" keep our mouth deadly shut or bury us for life through the SV!!!
Surely, - and they know this better than us!!! - each prison would break down within few days if prisoners would simply refuse to act in conformity and stay in their cells.
Prisoners wash their clothes, prisoners cook food and distribute it, prisoners cover all the necessary works in order for prison to function.
Without such work, the system would break down within few hours.
Towards this, one does need any violence, - by no means.
Simply, - the one who would call for this....will be finished off!!! And even if there would be such calls...at least the 95% of prisoners would not follow them.
On the contrary...such a call would be buried under a pile of stones straight after its "proclamation"
What i want to say: many anarchists call for another way of struggling instead of the one we practice right now.
In my case, dear people, - you run with this towards open doors...and the happenings in Belgium warm up (privately) my heart!!!
However, this is hard to happen here because of the lack of a "mass". Everyone who would try it, would conduct a kamikaze action!!! And this for nothing...and nothing again???
It has its reasons, why we always call for using legal means to counterattack. Even if for many this is not understandable, - but not doing more carries its existential reasons.
One has all the reasons to have fear when completely delivered to
Them, - fear already in using completely legal means against this fucking, hypocritical dirty system with his double or triple morality.
Also legal means represent renitence in the eyes of the administration, against which they try to oppose and repress by any means necessary.
I am surely not a sensible one or a wimp...i can take many things on myself, - but what they' ve done with me in the last five years...this brought me often close to the end.
They tried to accuse me of planned evasions or kidnappings in order to have free hands to bury me down through the SV, they tried to accuse me of writing several call to incite prisoners riot (right now the ones from Bayern declare that we would incite to riot!), one put me in isolation, denied health care, caused me psycho-stress after years shaped by hundreds acts of harassment and arbitrariousness...which not always rolled off like water by pissing on somebody and produce hard physical and psycological damages.
I have been threaten (at least they tried) and beaten up, - no chances against the administration - and the justice's mafia which cover themselves with each other - even some other prisoners (who got the same treatment and could confirm that...let it go because of fear for possible, automatical "tit-for-tat responses").
I am by no means a single case ? many suffer the same treatments. We are delivered to Them and i can not accuse anyone when they do not denounce the perversion of the justice because of fear. Denouncing!!! One can not do much more here!!! Not one, not hundred...as long as 80.000 behave calmly (for whichever reasons) and conform to the system. Now 550 represents "only" a drop...a small begin, - but it represent at least a begin...for whatever situation might develop from it.
In such a way, this has never happened before inside prisons.
I know that the administration (at any level) takes our efforts with extremely serious consideration and that such actions move high waves behind the courtains. They know that one can attack them legally by their own means (as example, through thousands of claims, which create rumour in the public opinion...- public opinion which the administration try to avoid, like the devil with the holy water) which would cost them millions.
We push forward such collective claims. There are enough reason for them. People like us represent the "State enemy nr. 1" in front of the administration, which wants to force us to silence.
And the one who will not let be him/herself silenced or broken down by arbitrariousness and harassments (in their form they are way more than "only" psycho-terror, but rather an advanced form of torture), he/she will be describes as notorious griper, psychically disturbed or supposed liar and his/her claims will be delayed, not worked on...they simply disappeared unworked.
Complaints will be dismissed being allegedly unfounded, after that they "elegantly" investigated faraway from their origins.
This is the system.
One can only complain at the ones who are the origin of claims and complaints, - but as written in advance: they cover themselves with each other, within their corps spirit.
But...therefore one should not get active within his/her own possibilities?
I say it loud and clear NO!! What we do is for many too...shallow...they feel it as it would be too conform to this shit system.
When i read such declarations...- sorry, - but then my comb swells!!
From where such people take the "Right" for themselves and charge us with such things???
I want to say it again: for us, it is not possible to do something more here inside, without the risk of being isolated and destroyed one by one.
To be destroyed one by one. This what we do...is not at all too little, but rather quite a lot and linked to a high production of victims.
What prisoners like Thomas, Finni, Werner, Gabriel, Jose', Nadine, Katharina, Peter, Markus or myself do, only by describing the prison situation... this is not easy. (Sorry to all the ones who i forgot now - especially the representantives of the Iv.I. for their engagement).
Even if non-violent, - this is struggle!!!
And we are not happy to see this belittled or played down.
For what concerns myself, - also this flows away on me like water...since i do what i do not in order to satisfy others and therefore it is not my praxis to conform myself to other's opinions, - but such a belittle of our praxis produces high damages when trying to create a larger solidarity among prisoners.
I listen often other prisoners saying:"Even the groups on the outside say that your Iv.I.'s praxis is shit!"
Such a comment finds many ears willing to listen...therefore preventing a lot to happen.
We do not have at all the energy to fight on two...or even three fronts. The ones who are willing to do more...and can...then they should do so and have my (private) solidarity.
But - please don't pick on others. To sit with a safe ass in a dry corner...it is easy to speak about "more".
We are delivered - we can not escape or run away indeed, in the case they want to play with us or bury us down for life through the SV. Sure, - the way of acting is different through this, - but the enemy as such remain the same.
We try to agitate! We try to make the public opinion understanding that they are being cheated, lied and frauded by this system. That the reality inside german prisons looks very different to the one they make believe them.
We try to make a mob out of a herd of apathetic sheeps (prisoners), which would be able, sometime, to show their refusal at least in a legal way."