Homeless Poles in Germany. Stories that need to be heard!

Three episodes of the “COSMO po polsku” podcast on “Homeless Poles in Germany” (Bezdomni Polacy w Niemczech) from November and December 2024 focus on the stories behind this phenomenon and introduce listeners to a world of poverty, addiction and the fight for survival on the streets of Berlin, Munich and Hanover.

 

1. It was supposed to be so good
 

The first episode of the podcast illustrates how the dream of a brighter future abroad is so often shattered by the brutal reality of life on the German streets.

“More Polish homeless people are treated in our hospital than in all the hospitals in Warsaw put together”, says Dr Tomasz Skajster, a neurosurgeon at the Vivantes-Klinikum hospital in Berlin. Every year, around 1,000 homeless Poles in need of help are treated in his accident and emergency department, of whom 200 are long-term patients. The extent of this phenomenon is a cause for concern; the stories of the people who have become homeless illustrate just how varied the paths are that lead them to this situation. But what are the root causes of the problem?

For Polish people, Germany has always been a byword for higher wages and more stable working and living conditions. Many of them come to Germany in the hope of finding quick success, convinced that it will be easy to find work and a place to live here. However, the reality of everyday life soon brings an end to such hopes. As Barbara Paśnicki from the Caritas charity organisation explains: “Many people still believe that Germany is the promised land. They think that they can make easy money here. It’s not until they arrive that they find out that there is no work for them because they don’t speak German”.

Many Poles turn to temporary employment agencies who promise to find them work straight away. However, they are often disappointed. Piotr, a young homeless Pole, tells his story: “I found a job via an employment agency, but I couldn’t cope with the work. On paper, I was supposed to fix waste bins onto waste disposal lorries, but instead, I was made to sort through the rubbish, and there were a load of syringes in there. I refused to do that kind of work.”

Some of them also see emigration to Germany as an opportunity to flee from their own difficult past, whether it’s criminality, addiction, or family or social problems. Marek, a young man driven onto the streets by drug addiction, explains: “I had been shooting up for a long time, and I finally ended up on the street. I lost the trust of my family, and I’m too ashamed to go back to Poland.” In Berlin, he was given medical support and completed a course of therapy, but he still faces a long, challenging path back to normality.

In the German social support system, it is easier for homeless people to access help than it is in Poland. Emergency night shelters, free meals and medical assistance make life on the streets in Germany more bearable. Berlin has a good reputation among homeless Poles. The broad offers of support available also attract people who had already slept on the streets before.

The stories of the Poles who live on the streets in Germany tell of failed plans and of dreams that have shattered in the face of harsh reality. A lack of planning and knowledge of the language, as well as inadequate social support, often lead to homelessness. As the social worker Wojciech Greh, who has worked with the homeless for many years, explains: “They come here believing that they can start earning 2,000 Euros net straight away. However, that simply doesn’t happen, since they often don’t have any qualifications and don’t speak the language.” In situations like these, people often become reliant on external support. They take advantage of emergency accommodation, free meals and other forms of assistance without making an effort to get themselves out of this situation.

However, despite the extensive help on offer, Germany is unable to fulfil all their expectations. The people who don’t have the opportunity to lead a better life often remain on the margins of society and are dependent on charity organisations and the goodwill of individuals who want to help them.

 

2. Prisoners of the street
 

The second episode illustrates everyday life on the streets – the fight for survival and against addiction, as well as the mechanisms that prevent homeless people from breaking out of the vicious cycle of hopelessness.

“For a homeless person, Germany is the best”, says Jędrzej, who has been living on the streets of Berlin for ten years. “You just need to cash in a few returnable bottles, and you already have two Euros. Then, you can go off and buy whatever you want, wine or beer, as there’s free food here on every corner.” An irony of fate? After all, even though homeless people are given a great deal more support in Germany than elsewhere in Europe, life on the streets is brutal. It not only ruins a person’s health, but also their relationships with other people and their hopes for a better future.

There are 5,000 homeless Poles living on the streets of Berlin. Many of them end up in emergency accommodation, such as the “Ballon” on Frankfurter Allee, where they can escape from the chaos of the street for a short time at least. Like many other homeless people from Poland, Beata also visits the “Ballon” regularly for a midday meal. “I sleep in the ‘rat cage’, in other words, in the emergency accommodation. There, you get woken up at six in the morning and thrown out. Then you have to wander the streets the whole day long. Sometimes the situation I’m in makes me cry. I miss Poland, but it’s better here; here, you at least get decent food to eat.”

For many Poles, life on the street in Germany seems easier than in Poland. However, here, too, it is all too often a bitter fight for survival. “We go cupping or bottling”, says Marek when asked how he supports himself. He means collecting returnable bottles or begging outside banks with a paper cup.

Alcoholism is one of the biggest problems facing Polish homeless people. As Czarek admits: “I’ve lost all my jobs because of alcohol. Now I live on the street.” A lack of documents also makes it harder to return to normality. As Beata openly admits: “I can’t go back to Poland, because I have a suspended sentence hanging over me. I don’t have an ID card or a passport, and without documents, I can’t get a job.”

Yet despite all these challenges, many homeless Poles try to preserve their dignity and support each other. “The Poles here stick together,” Beata says. “We don’t steal from each other, we help each other. These people here are real Poles.”

Compared to other countries, the German social welfare system has a great deal to offer. As Jędrzej, who has already spent time in the Netherlands, France and Spain, stresses: “The Germans have a very humane way of treating homeless people. If you’re sick, you get taken into hospital. Food, clothes, a place to sleep – it’s all provided for free here. But it’s also hell, because people come here, and think it’s paradise, and then they get into a vicious spiral of alcohol and drugs.” In spite of the many opportunities available, many homeless people don’t manage to find their way back to a normal life. “Berlin is a hellhole,” Jędrzej says. “It’s a cursed place. Poles die here on the street from alcohol and drugs. I’ve seen my friends slowly dying in their tents, forgotten by everyone.”

Is it ever possible to get away from the streets? Stories like the one told by Sylwia Jasion from Hanover give cause for hope. “One lady, who had lived on the streets for a long time, got herself together, applied for a passport, found a job, had a baby and began a new life,” she says. Changes in fortune like this one are made possible by street workers such as Zuza Mączyńska from “Gangway” and the collaboration between organisations in Poland and Germany. However, the professionals who work in this area stress that a strong commitment is needed from both sides – the organisations and the homeless people themselves – if any intervention is to work.

Homelessness is more than just a statistic. It affects the lives of real people, which are often filled with pain, loss and a fight for survival. Beata dreams of returning to Poland one day. Jędrzej says that Berlin has destroyed his life. Marek, however, is in search of hope in the form of small, everyday caring gestures. Their stories remind us that there is a life story behind every homeless person that deserves to be heard.

 

3. Help that saves lives
 

The last episode is dedicated to the people who are there every day for those in need: the street workers, doctors and social workers. It becomes clear that their work can change the lives of the homeless people, even if it’s just for a moment. 

“Our patients have nothing when they come to us. No documents, no friends, no insurance,” explains Barbara Paśnicki, head of the “Krankenwohnung” (“patients’ flat”) project in Berlin. Here, in this special place, homeless people, including those from Poland, are given medical assistance and an opportunity to live in decent conditions, at least for a short period of time. However, there are only 20 spaces like this one in the whole of Berlin, while the number of people who need them runs to the thousands. 

The German aid network for homeless people is very highly developed. The system offers support at many different levels, from street workers to social workers and specialist facilities such as the “Krankenwohnung”. However, the extent of the problem dwarfs the level of support on offer. “Every day, we receive up to ten applications for a space in our flat, but we have just 20 spaces to offer,” Paśnicki explains. “It’s particularly hard in the winter, since we get a lot of amputees or people suffering from frostbite. We can’t simply send them back out onto the street.” The “Krankenwohnung” is also a place where those in need of palliative care can spend their final days in dignity. “We simply can’t allow people to die out there on the street,” Paśnicki says.

The role of the street workers is to make “home visits” to the homeless people every day, under bridges, at train stations and in parks. Zuza Mączyńska from the Berlin-based organisation “Gangway” has been doing the rounds in these places for eight years, offering people help and support. “Sometimes, they just want to talk. Sometimes we help them obtain documents, or accompany them to hospital or to the embassy,” she explains. But not everyone feels like talking. “Our job is to treat people with respect and not to force them into doing anything. We visit them at home, even when that home is the street,” Mączyńska says.

In the Caritas walk-in clinic in Berlin, Dr Inka Wisławska has been a volunteer doctor offering treatment to homeless patients for years. “The people come to us with injuries, infections and illnesses that are a direct result of living on the street. We treat and stitch their wounds and give them advice about general medical issues such as diabetes and high blood pressure,” Wisławska explains. Around 40 % of her patients come from Poland. “Most of them are men who have already been completely worn down by life on the streets of Berlin,” she adds.

Sylwia Jasion from Hanover has been supporting homeless people for years. She organises Christmas gifts, coordinates donation campaigns and helps the homeless obtain documents. “If the German Polonia hadn’t been so committed to helping, we wouldn’t have managed to achieve all this. Together, we can really get a lot done,” she says.

Pastor Janusz Kuskowski, a Salesian in Berlin, is a regular guest at Ostbahnhof railway station. “For the homeless people, it’s often a shock when a pastor brings them coffee or a sandwich. But it’s precisely this that creates the sense of trust that they so urgently need,” he says.

Despite all the efforts being made, however, success stories are few and far between. As Dr Wisławska admits: “In the eight years that I’ve been doing this work, I’ve had maybe five patients who have managed to get away from life on the street.” And yet: each one of these stories is living proof that it is possible.

Dr Tomasz Skajster, a neurosurgeon living in Berlin, points to one aspect of the problem that is all too often overlooked: mental illness. “Homelessness is a symptom of untreated personality disorders, which are frequently hidden beneath alcohol abuse and other addictions,” he explains. He also stresses that those affected are often not capable of functioning in a social, family or professional environment. In Germany, these people are eligible for medical care and support, but the system is not perfect. Dr Skajster’s comments shed a new light on the problem of homelessness and point to the need for specialist psychological and psychiatric care for homeless people. Dr. Skajster stresses that systemic solutions are needed here. “I gave a presentation about the needs of Polish homeless people to the Polish expert committee for the prevention of homelessness. Changes at constitutional level are urgently needed in order to be able to help these people effectively,” he says.

Homelessness is a problem that needs to be addressed not only through individual interventions, but through systemic support. The podcast “Homeless Poles in Germany” proves that it is possible to help those in need. But the road back, away from the street, is often long and laborious.

 

Monika Sędzierska, February 2025

 

The podcast is produced by Monika Sędzierska and Adam Gusowski, journalists at the RBB/WDR COSMO public radio station.

All podcasts in the series “COSMO po polsku” are available at COSMOPOPOLSKU.DE and via streaming services such as Spotify (1 / 2 / 3), ARD Audiothek (1 / 2 / 3) and Apple Podcasts (1 / 2 / 3). 

“COSMO po polsku” is on air from Monday to Friday from 10pm on Radio COSMO (WDR, RBB, Radio Bremen).

Contact: cosmopopolsku@rbb-online.de