Alcatraz - Quick Facts mid level How big was the most cells? Each cell in B & C block was 1.5 m wide and 2.70 m long. Cells at Alcatraz had a small sink with cold running water, a small bed, and a toilet. Most men could stretch their arms and touch each wall in their cell. The cells in D Block were bigger, but the most impopular. In D-Block, prisoners were looked up in their cells 24-hours per days, except for one visit per week to the recreation yard (utevistelse i inhängnat område), and during these visits they were alone. 1
How many cells were there? There were 336 cells in B & C Block. There were first 348, but 12 were taken away when stairways were installed at the end of each cellblock. There were 36 segregation (avskilda)cells, and 6 solitary confinement (isolerings) cells. Two cells on the end of C-Block were used as restrooms for the guard staff. What had Clarence, Sam and Miran done? The cells in A-Block were only used a few times for short time lock-up periods when an prisoners did not need full isolation, but needed to be away from other prisoners. Books show that Clarence Carnes, Sam Shockley and Miran Thompson were all imprisoned in A-Block because of the 1946 Riots (uppror) and waiting for trial for the deaths of two Alcatraz Guards from the 1946 Escape Attempt (flykt försök). Otherwise, A-Block was used for materials storage (förråd). 2
Were Alcatraz Prisoners allowed visitors? Prisoners were granted one visit per month and each visitation had to be approved directly by the Warden. What rules did they have to follow during the visit? No contact was allowed and rules said that prisoners were not allowed to discuss things from the prison life. Prisoners talked with visitors via sort of phone and a guards listened to the conversations during most of the time. Those who did not follow the rules during visits would get no more visits and/or other privileges. 3
Where did the families of the guard staff live? There were about 300 civilians living on Alcatraz that included both women and children. The biggest living areas for families were Building 64, three apartment buildings, one large dubble and four large wooden houses for older officers. What things could the families do on the Island? Families enjoyed their own bowling alley, a small store, and soda fountain shop for the children. Families did most of their shopping on the mainland since the prison boat made twelve runs to the Van Ness Street Pier each day. The Warden lived in a large house next to the cell house and he used prisoners with good behaviors for cleaning and cooking. 4
Do the prisoners who were imprisoned at Alcatraz have anything good to say about the prison? Willie Radkay (he shared a cell next to Machine Gun Kelly), said that having your own cell was a great better than in other federal prisons. By having your own cell, it was less risk of being sexually violated and the privacy was also a much liked thing. He also said that the staff (most of the time) treated the prisoners respectfully but they almost never spoke to one another. The food was the best within the entire prison system and he said his time at Alcatraz to be better than at any other prison. 5
What did prisoners dislike most about Alcatraz? The most common thing that most prisoners though was the rule of silence which was taken away in the late 1930's. In the earlier years of Alcatraz, prisoners were not allowed to talk to one another except during meals and recreation (utevistelse) periods. Some prisoners emptied out the water from their toilets and created a primitive communications system through the sewage piping (avloppsrören). This rule was seen as harsh (sträng) and prisoners were punished for small things. Why didn t the prisoners like the cells on the ground level? Prisoners also said that the island was always cold. Most agree that cells on the higher floors with window views were more popular since they were warmer than the ground level cells. 6
Why were not executions performed at Alcatraz? Alcatraz had no facilities (anläggningar) for Capital Punishment (dödsstraff) and this was usually done in State institutions. For Alcatraz, prisoners who had a death sentence were moved to San Quentin State Penitentiary for execution (avrättning) in the Gas Chamber. How many people died while at Alcatraz? There were eight people murdered by prisoners on Alcatraz. Five men committed suicide (begick självmord), and fifteen died from natural illnesses. The Island also had it's own morgue (bårhus) but no autopsies (obduktioner) were done there. All dead prisoners were brought back to the mainland and handed ower to the San Francisco County Coroner (dödsfallsutredare). 7
How many prisoners did Alcatraz have at any given time? The highest number ever was 302, and the lowest number 222. The average (medel) number of prisoners during the 29 years of service was around 260. There were about 1545 total men there. How long time did most prisoners stay there? Most men was there about eight years. Men were never directly sentenced to Alcatraz and usually had to earn (förtjäna) their way. There were only two men ever set free directly from Alcatraz to the free world. 8
How many people escaped? 36 prisoners were involved in different attempts (försök). Two prisoners actually successfully made it off the island but were quickly captured (tillfångatagen). Seven prisoners were shot and killed trying to escape. Did anyone make it? Two drowned and 5 have been unaccounted for ( inte hittats) most likely drowned. The most famous escape was that of Frank Morris and the Anglin Brothers. All three were successful in swimming off Alcatraz, but all three are believed to have drowned. 9
Why did Alcatraz close? Mainly because of high costs and old buildings that needed to be fixed. Alcatraz was the most expensive prison of any state. It was said that other prisons could do the same thing for less cost. How many birds did Robert "Birdman of Alcatraz" Stroud keep while on Alcatraz? Stroud had bred (fött upp) and studied birds at the prison in Leavenworth, Kansas Stroud was a prisoner at Alcatraz from 1942 until 1959. They said that Stroud was misusing (missbrukade) his research privileges (forskningsfördelar) and sent to Alcatraz. He was not allowed to have any birds at Alcatraz. Stroud was very disliked by many prisoners and guards. 10
Who were the most famous inmates to stay on Alcatraz? While several well-known criminals, such as Al Capone, George "Machine-Gun" Kelly, Alvin Karpis (the first "Public Enemy #1"), and Arthur "Doc" Barker did time on Alcatraz, most of the 1,576 prisoners there were not well-known gangsters. 11
Was it true that prisoners were locked in dungeons for punishment? The cellhouse had been built on top of a 19th century fortress (fästningen) that was used by the military to protect the Bay. Below A-Block was a set of cells that were know as the Spanish Dungeon (fängelsehåla). These cells had been used mostly during the military prison era (tiden). In the late 1930's it is said that the dungeon cells were sometimes used for prisoners who were difficult to manange. Many guards have agreed they had heard, or were aware (medveten)that some extremely unmanageable prisoners were handcuffed (satt fast i handbojor) to bars (järnräcken) in the dungeons for short periods of time. A-Block was often used as the isolation place before D Block had beenthe transformed into a lock-down unit (ett ställe man kunde låsa in någon i). 12
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