In years gone by it was a fearsome prison where hundreds died and inmates were forced to beat each other.
Now the crumbling remnants of the eerie Goli Otok – branded ‘Croatia’s Alcatraz’ – have been revealed in all their horrors.
In the 40 years it was open from 1949, Amnesty International estimates up to 50,000 prisoners were held there, and 600 of them died.
The eerie images show the current state of the Goli Otok prison, which has been branded the ‘Croatian Alcatraz’, where prisoners were beaten and tortured
In the 40 years it was open from 1949, Amnesty International estimates up to 50,000 prisoners were held there, and 600 of them died
Among those locked up there were supporters of Russian dictator Joseph Stalin after Yugoslavia had broken away
Among those locked up there were supporters of Russian dictator Joseph Stalin. Prisoner accounts described the place as a ‘living hell’, recalling how guards forced them to beat and torture one another, in a bid to obliterate any allegiance to Stalinism or one another.
Photographer Bob Thissen, 36, from Heerlen, the Netherlands, believes the haunting history can still be felt while walking around the site even to this day, despite being abandoned for 28 years.
Bob said: ‘Prisoners were tortured there, former inmates called it a living hell, even people who were not-guilty were deported to this prison.
‘The cells are small, dark and uncomfortable, the conditions were unbearable.
Prisoner accounts described the place as a ‘living hell’, recalling how guards forced them to beat and torture one another, in a bid to obliterate any allegiance to Stalinism or one another
Bob Thissen, 36, from Heerlen, the Netherlands, believes the haunting history can still be felt while walking around the site even to this day, despite being abandoned for 28 years
‘It makes you think how those political prisoners must have felt there.
‘It’s hard to say how many cells there because some buildings are completely stripped, but I would estimate up to 50,000 prisoners were held in Goli Otok between 1949 and 1989.
‘You can only imagine what happened here when it was active. The history makes the atmosphere chilling, when you just visit it without information you’re just walking between some ruins.
‘Although you are on an island you miss vegetation a bit, ‘Goli Otok’ means barren island, it’s a rough island where there’s barely any vegetation.
Photographer Bob Thissen said: ‘It would have been cool to have seen it just after closure, it’s a mix between a Gulag work camp and a prison’
Supporters of Russian leader Joseph Stalin were among the thousands locked up in the prison, which is close to the Croatian coast
The crumbling remnants of the eerie Goli Otok – branded ‘Croatia’s Alcatraz’ – have been revealed in all their horrors
‘It has a unique setting, a prison on an uninhabited island in the Adriatic sea, the prison part was the most interesting part of the island.’
Bob advises people visit the site, which can be reached and explored without breaking the law.
Bob said: ‘It was a cool experience to spend the night at an uninhabited island, the isolation prison building was impressive.
‘I have been to Alcatraz as well, it’s the same idea, a prison on a ‘barren island,’ which is the translation for Goli Otok.
‘The only difference is that Alcatraz is preserved better, I believe a lot of stuff was stolen from the island.
‘It would have been cool to have seen it just after closure, it’s a mix between a Gulag work camp and a prison.
The inside of the prison may be crumbling, but the photographer who took the images said its history makes the atmosphere chilling
In the 40 years it was open from 1949, Amnesty International estimates up to 50,000 prisoners were held there, and 600 of them died