A SMALL island off the coast of Croatia might appear from a distance to be nothing more than a peaceful place for farmers’ flocks to graze.
But a closer look will reveal a haunting abandoned prison with rusted cells and torture chambers, previously described by its inmates as a “living hell”.
9
9
9
9
Goli Otok, a barren and uninhabited island in the northern Adriatic Sea of 4.5 square kilometres, was used between 1949 and 1989 as a dumping ground for prisoners of war and political dissenters.
More than 15,000 people were estimated to have been sent to the island by 1956, including some who were allegedly tortured to death.
They are said to have suffered from both physical and psychological abuse at the hands of their captors.
Croatia was part of Yugoslavia at the time, whose government was led by controversial communist leader Josip Broz Tito.
Read more abandoned prisons
A top-secret political prison and labour camp was established on the island as Tito broke ties with the Soviet Union.
It would become a “living hell” for all of the people sent there to be “re-educated” through a punitive system carried out by other prisoners eager to prove their loyalty to, and be forgiven by, Tito.
The facilities were basic and overcrowded, surrounded by rocky cliffs with only one entrance, with prisoners subjected to hard labour and frequent interrogations.
Over the 40 years the prison was in operation, thousands of Croatians were killed on the false assumption of “Stalinism”.
Its facilities were also used by Austria-Hungary during World War I to house Russian soldiers.
The prison closed at the end of the 1980s when the Iron Curtain began to crumble and the Soviet Union began sliding towards collapse.
Today, grey and empty buildings with crumbled walls and chipped paint provide a chilling glimpse at the torment prisoners once had to endure on the island grounds.
Rusting tools and pieces of furniture fill the cold, abandoned buildings – from offices to prison cells, a hospital, a school, and several factories.
Red and orange painted countdowns on the walls of cells, paired with a thick silence which hangs over the island, are enough to send shivers down the spines of all brave enough to visit.
A Central Intelligence Agency report described Goli Otok as Tito’s Adriatic “Devil’s Island” and claimed it was as much a prison for Stalin supporters as it was for people who dissented in Tito’s regime.
Others have called it the “Croatian Alcatraz” in reference to its isolated location, harsh conditions, and high security.
A Dutch filmmaker with an interest in documenting the prison’s remains, Bob Thissen, said in an interview with National Geographic: “Walking among ruins… It’s pretty creepy.
“You can see the high walls and the cells still there.”
Now a protected nature reserve, people are allowed to explore the abandoned prison buildings and learn about Goli Otok’s dark past.
9
9
9
9
9
