Alcatraz, one of the most famous prisons in the history of the United States, closed its doors in 1963. Today, Alcatraz looms large in popular culture, and many people visit the island to learn about its history. But Alcatraz is more than just the shackles that once held America’s most dangerous criminals. Its story is one of fear, hope, and survival.
The history of Alcatraz
Where was the first US federal penitentiary? For almost 30 years, Alcatraz, a prison on an island off the coast of San Francisco, has been regarded as the safest prison in the United States. For this purpose, the government rebuilt an old military prison in 1933. The background also includes the increase in crime levels in major US cities throughout the 1920s, as well as the police fight against organized crime.
Alcatraz held the worst criminals who made the United States unsafe at the time for over 30 years. But also incorrigible and difficult criminals who were transported there from other jails. Between 1934 and 1963, about 1,545 prisoners were kept there. Al Capone, who was imprisoned on the prison island between 1934 and 1939, is undoubtedly the most renowned of these.
Anyone who visits Alcatraz now can only imagine what it must have been like when the “big guys” were imprisoned there. On America’s Devil Island, there was an icy silence. The prisoners were kept in small cells with only a sink, toilet, and bed, and they were locked up for 18 to 23 hours a day in the cages, which were only 1.52 meters wide and 2.74 meters long. T
Completely sealed off
No other prison is feared by criminals as much as Alcatraz: one warden for every three prisoners, constant surveillance, and no privacy. “They had to wake up at the same hour every day of the year, even on public holidays,” historian Michael Esslinger says. Those who refused to work were imprisoned in their rooms for 23 hours a day.
The prisoners are entirely cut off from the outside world for the first several years, with no access to newspapers or literature. Inmates are not allowed to communicate with one another. A cell is a little more than four square meters in size, and it generally lacks windows and natural light.
The jail system was considered to be cruel. No one was allowed to walk about freely on the premises, the speech was only permitted at work and in the cafeteria, and the prisoners were constantly guarded.
Isolation has consequences
The stubborn are imprisoned in D-gloomy Block’s cells. “I ripped a button from my shirt, threw it in the air, spun in circles, and then I was on my knees looking for that button,” Jim Quillen, a former inmate, recalls.
Every prisoner probably has his own way of not going insane. Even if jail conditions have improved over time, psychologist Gerd Reimann believes that the constant isolation must have had consequences. “Then the body lacks the stimuli it absolutely needs to behave appropriately.”
Filmed breakout
Many prisoners try to escape. Almost everyone is caught or drowned in the cold water. In 1962, Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers, John and Clarence, made a dramatic escape. They use nail scissors and a spoon to dig a hole and exit through a shaft. Clint Eastwood starred in the 1979 film “Escape from Alcatraz.”
The end of the super-prison
The island prison is no longer state of the art after so many years. However, a renovation would be too costly. The former super-prison became a dilapidated relic as a result of the saltwater used in the toilets and the salty air. So, the final 27 prisoners at Alcatraz were transferred to other prisons on March 21, 1963.
Today’s Alcatraz
After occupations by the Indian movement in the 1960s and early 1970s drew renewed media interest, and plans to transform it into a casino went down, the island was ultimately opened to the public in 1972. The former prison island is now a museum tourist attraction with about 1 million visitors each year as part of the Golden Gate National Seashore.
Alcatraz is open every day of the year (excluding Christmas and New Year) and is open until 6 p.m. in the summer and 4 p.m. in the other seasons. . The prison and the island are free to visit, and tickets for the boat that sails every 30 minutes from San Francisco to Alcatraz must be purchased. The cost includes a cell block audio tour, which is also accessible in other languages. Original recordings from contemporary witnesses, on the other hand, are exclusively available in the English edition.
Visits to the prison
The cell block, dining hall, library, and prison yard can all be seen inside the prison. In addition, a prison display has been set up in the guards’ cells. There is also a model of Fort Alcatraz during its military use between 1865 and 1868, which, like the remaining buildings from the Civil War era, offers an impression of how Alcatraz looked in the nineteenth century.
The handwritten phrases “Indianland” or “Indians welcome” from the American Indian occupation in the 1960s and 1970s may still be seen today.
In addition to its floral gardens, which provide a striking contrast to the somber concrete structures, Alcatraz provides a habitat for uncommon plants and countless birds.
