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Alcatraz - Quick Facts midlevelHow 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.
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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