History Main / HellHolePrison

* {{Invoked|Trope}} and {{deconstructed|Trope}} with Pandora's Vault, the resident [[TheAlcatraz Alcatraz]] on the ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP'', in particular its main, maximum-security holding cell, where the prisoner is locked inside 24/7, unalbe to see the light of day, and is forced to eat raw potatoes. A lore stream in mid-Septempber 2021 reveals Sam, the builder and Warden of the prison, initially had a courtyard where prisoners could have some leisure time under the sun, and had plans for a cow farm so they could be served steak. However, Dream shot all of this down and insisted that the conditions inside the jail be as inhumane as possible. This [[HoistByHisOwnPetard backfires on Dream]], however, when he's the one locked up in Pandora's Vault in the end. When he complains to Sam about the horrible conditions, Sam reminds him that ''[[GoneHorriblyRight he's]]'' [[GoneHorriblyRight the one responsible for the prison's conditions in the first place]].

* While initially built as a regular prison to replace Alcatraz, the Marion Illinois Federal Penitentiary became this when it went into lockdown following the murder of 2 guards in 1983. Prisoners were held in their cells for up to 23 hours a day in small cells with a simple concrete bed, a sink, a black and white television, and a small radio. They were only allowed out for an hour of exercise and a shower (twice a week, being led to the shower in a mobile cage). No contact with other inmates was allowed. The lockdown was lifted in 2006.

* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hole_of_Calcutta Black Hole Of Calcutta]]: a room measuring 14 feet by 18 feet into which ''dozens'' of prisoners were forced on the night of June 20th, 1756.[[note]]The common narrative (which appears to stem from one highly-publicized survivor account) is that as many as ''146'' prisoners were crammed into this tiny space; historians believe (based on other survivor accounts and military records) that the real number was likely closer to 60, but that was still far too many for a cell that size.[[/note]] Suffice to say, very few were left alive the next morning.

* The (possibly apocryphal) [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hole_of_Calcutta Black Hole Of Calcutta]]: a room measuring 14 feet by 18 feet which as many as ''146'' prisoners were forced into on the night of June 20th, 1756. Suffice to say, very few were left alive the next morning.

** Arpaio allegedly took great pains to ensure that all Maricopa County detention facilities are this. True or not, federal courts have ruled on at least two occasions that the conditions of MCSO jails violate inmates' civil rights. Of special note is the Madison Street Jail, which is advertised as the toughest jail in the United States.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons'' cartoon, Venger had the [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Prison of Agony]], which was built over the crater of an active volcano. One of the big reasons it was escape-proof is because the winch to operate the drawbridge that was the only way in or out was so heavy, only the giant who guarded it could turn it. The giant actually [[MinionWithAnFInEvil wasn't a bad guy]]; Venger was blackmailing him by threatening to destroy his homeworld. (Apparently, he was [[TrappedInAnotherWorld in the same situation as the heroes]]. Naturally, when Venger sent the heroes to this awful place, the giant proved a valuable ally when they launched a mass-jailbreak and destroyed the whole facility.

** Camp O’Donnell in the Philippines which was nicknamed the “Camp of Death” by the American and Filipino POW’s who arrived after having to endure the Battan Death March. The camp was built for a capacity of 10,000 men but the IJA crammed the 60,000 men who survived the march in to the camp and without surprise the conditions were appalling as many men suffered from starvation, lack of food, lack of water or contaminated water malnutrition, dysentery, malaria and beriberi. The barracks were dirty, overcrowded and didn’t have proper roofing which exposed the prisoners to all elements, bathrooms recently built latrines along side the camp and the waste of prisoners were filled up to the top which attracted rats, flies and other bugs and vermin because of the extremely unsanitary problems and that’s not even getting into the nightmare that was the prison hospitals of both Americans and Filipinos in which both were rife with all kinds of filth and diseases from dying prisoners, lack of proper medical care and an uncaring attitude from Japanese officials. The hospitals were declared “Ground Zero” because they were for men with zero hope. Close to 30,000 men died in the camp.
** The infamous Battan Death March was the beginning of the suffering for the exhausted and starving POW’s. The joint group of American and Filipino soldiers surrendered to the Japanese as took the city of of Battan on April 9th, 1942. General Douglas McArthur told the men not to surrender under any circumstances but Major General Edward King defied the order to avoid a slaughter as his men didn’t have the strength or the numbers to keep fighting and not to mention many of the men were dealing with malnutrition do to half-rations from lack of food and tropical diseases and illnesses from being station deep in the Filipino Jungles due to a lack of medical supplies. More than 76,000 American and Filipino soldiers laid down their arms throughout the city. The Japanese wasn’t expecting to take on a large number of POW’s (they thought they would have to transport 30,000) and they didn’t have food, water or resources to feed all of them nor the vehicles to transport that many men, so the decision from the Japanese Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma was to march the prisoners to Camp O’Donnell. General King wanting to spare the men the long trek, offered to General Homma to drive the men in American trucks to the camp but Homma curtly refused. Needless to say the march was hell on earth for the battle worn American and Filipino soldiers as the Japanese soldiers stripped them of their dignity and hope with viscous and out of nowhere beatings, they were deprived of food and water in the grueling 100+ degree tropical heat with the sun beaming down on their backs. Many were beaten, shot, bayoneted or beheaded for not being able to march at a steady pace, straggling away from the group, trying to escape and for begging their merciless captors for food, water or bathroom breaks as bathroom breaks were few and far between and many of the men had to defect and urinate on themselves, which caused infections to the wounds on their legs from the brutal marching. They also were subjected to torture by being forced to stand in the direct sunlight, which many of the soldiers called the “sunbathe” which drained whatever energy and strength the men had and some prisoners had their ring fingers chopped off by the Japanese who took their rings and other personal possessions. Several of the prisoners were so thirst-crazed that they drank water out of wallow pits and ditches that was contaminated with animal waste. The murky and waste filled water caused dysentery for most of the men and without surprise many of them succumbed to their illnesses. There’s also the 45 mile train ride the soldiers took in which they crammed into old outdated box cars with no ventilation, sitting space or food and water and just like the march? There was nowhere to use the bathroom and many of the prisoners had to go on themselves. Several men died from the uncomfortable conditions, wounds and illnesses and after they completed the discomfortable ride? They had to go an extra 8 to 10 miles to get to the dreaded prison camp in which conditions of course which was even worse.....

** The infamous Battan Death March was the beginning of the suffering for the exhausted and starving POW’s. The joint group of American and Filipino soldiers surrendered to the Japanese as they closed in on the city of Battan in April of 1942. General Douglas McArthur told the men not to surrender under any circumstances but Major General Edward King defied the order to avoid a slaughter as his men didn’t have the strength or the numbers to keep fighting. All 75,000-80,000 American and Filipino soldiers laid down their arms throughout the city. The Japanese wasn’t expecting to take on a large number of POW’s (they thought they would have to transport 30,000) and they didn’t have food, water or resources to feed all of them nor the vehicles to transport that many men, so the decision from the Japanese Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma was to march the prisoners to Camp O’Donnell. General King wanting to spare his men officers to General Homma to drive the men in American trucks to the camp but Homma curtly refused. Needless to say the march was hell on earth for the battle worn American and Filipino soldiers as the Japanese soldiers stripped them of their dignity and hope with viscous and out of nowhere beatings, they were deprived of food and water in the grueling 100+ degree tropical heat with the sun beaming down on their backs. Many were beaten, shot, bayoneted or beheaded for not being able to march at a steady pace, straggling away from the group, trying to escape and for begging their merciless captors for food, water or bathroom breaks as bathroom breaks were few and far between and many of the men had to defect and urinate on themselves, which caused infections to the wounds on their legs from the brutal marching. They also were subjected to torture by being forced to stand in the direct sunlight, which many of the soldiers called the “sunbathe” which drained whatever energy and strength the men had and some prisoners had their ring fingers chopped off by the Japanese who took their rings and other personal possessions. Several of the prisoners were so thirst-crazed that they drank water out of wallow pits and ditches that was contaminated with animal waste. The murky and waste filled water caused dysentery for most of the men and without surprise many of them succumbed to their illnesses. There’s also the 45 mile train ride the soldiers took in which they crammed into old outdated box cars with no ventilation, sitting space or food and water and just like the march? There was nowhere to use the bathroom and many of the prisoners had to go on themselves. Several men died from the uncomfortable conditions, wounds and illnesses and after they completed the discomfortable ride? They had to go an extra 8 to 10 miles to get to the dreaded prison camp in which conditions of course which was even worse.....

** The infamous Battan Death March was the beginning of the suffering for the exhausted and starving POW’s. The joint group of American and Filipino soldiers surrendered to the Japanese as they closed in on the city of Battan in April of 1942. General Douglas McArthur told the men not to surrender under any circumstances but Major General Edward King defied the order to avoid a slaughter as his men didn’t have the strength or the numbers to keep fighting. All 75,000-80,000 American and Filipino soldiers laid down their arms throughout the city. The Japanese wasn’t expecting to take on a large number of POW’s (they thought they would have to transport 30,000) and they didn’t have food, water or resources to feed all of them nor the vehicles to transport that many men, so the decision from the Japanese Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma was to march the prisoners to Camp O’Donnell. General King wanting to spare his men officers to General Homma to drive the men in American trucks to the camp but Homma curtly refused. Needless to say the march was hell on earth for the battle worn American and Filipino soldiers as the Japanese soldiers stripped them of their dignity and hope with viscous and out of nowhere beatings, they were deprived of food and water in the grueling 100+ degree tropical heat with the sun beaming down on their backs. Many were beaten, shot, bayoneted or beheaded for not being able to march at a steady pace, straggling away from the group, trying to escape and for begging their merciless captors for food, water or bathroom breaks as bathroom breaks were few and far between and many of the men had to defect and urinate on themselves, which caused infections to the wounds on their legs from the brutal marching. They also were subjected to torture by being forced to stand in the direct sunlight, which many of the soldiers called the “sunbathe” which drained whatever energy and strength the men had and some prisoners had their ring fingers chopped off by the Japanese who took their rings and other personal possessions. Several of the prisoners were so thirst-crazed that they drank water out of wallow pits and ditches that was contaminated with animal waste. The murky and waste filled water caused dysentery for most of the men and without surprise many of them succumbed to their illnesses. There’s also the 45 mile train ride the soldiers took in which they crammed into old outdated box cars with no ventilation, sitting space or food and water and just like the march? There was nowhere to use the bathroom and many of the prisoners had to go on themselves. Several men died from the uncomfortable conditions, wounds and illnesses and after they completed the discomfortable ride? They had to go an extra 8 to 10 miles to get to the dreaded prison camp in which conditions of course which was even worse.....
** The main reason why the Japanese Soldiers were so brutal to their POW’s is because they believed that surrender was dishonorable and contemptible and anybody who became a prisoner of war was not worthy of humanity and that they were subhuman and that they deserved to be treated with utter inhumanity. The other reason is that the Japanese were annoyed and angered with the American and Filipinos for fighting to the very end during the Battle of Battan and that it took way longer to capture the city than they thought.

* British prisons before Sir UsefulNotes/RobertPeel. You used to have to pay for everything and could often bribe the Gaolers to make life harder for other prisoners. Part of this was due to the fact that these payments (both official and bribes) where the only money the Gaolers made.\\\
London was infamous for Newgate until the end of the 19th century (though it was used to hold only the very worst prisoners for the 50 years). Numerous references to it used the phrase (or something very near to) "Hell on Earth" to describe it, Rioters on numerous occasions made it a point to burn the place down first off, and even official reports criticized it for harsh prisoner treatment and malnourishment. It was eventually demolished and replaced with the Central Criminal Court -- a.k.a. the Old Bailey -- in 1902.

** The infamous Battan Death March was the beginning of the suffering for the exhausted and starving POW’s. The joint group of American and Filipino soldiers surrendered to the Japanese as they closed in on the city of Battan to avoid a slaughter due to the lack of manpower, ammunition, food and medical supplies. The Japanese wasn’t expecting to take on a large number of POW’s and they didn’t have food, water or resources to feed all of them nor the vehicles to transport that many men, so the decision from the Japanese Army was to march the prisoners to Camp O’Donnell. Needless to say the march was hell on earth for the battle worn American and Filipino soldiers as the Japanese soldiers stripped them of their dignity and hope with viscous and out of nowhere beatings, they were deprived of food and water in the grueling 100+ degree tropical heat with the sun beaming down on their backs. Many were beaten, shot, bayoneted or beheaded for not being able to march at a steady pace, straggling away from the group, trying to escape and for begging their merciless captors for food, water or bathroom breaks as bathroom breaks were few and far between and many of the men had to defect and urinate on themselves, which caused infections to the wounds on their legs from the brutal marching. They also were subjected to torture by being forced to stand in the direct sunlight, which many of the soldiers called the “sunbathe” which drained whatever energy and strength the men had and some prisoners had their ring fingers chopped off by the Japanese who took their rings and other personal possessions. Several of the prisoners were so thirst-crazed that they drank water out of wallow pits and ditches that was contaminated with animal waste. The murky and waste filled water caused dysentery for most of the men and without surprise many of them succumbed to their illnesses. There’s also the 45 mile train ride the soldiers took in which they crammed into old outdated box cars with no ventilation, sitting space or food and water and just like the march? There was nowhere to use the bathroom and many of the prisoners had to go on themselves. Several men died from the uncomfortable conditions, wounds and illnesses and after they completed the discomfortable ride? They had to go an extra 8 to 10 miles to get to the dreaded prison camp in which conditions of course which was even worse.....
** The main reason why the Japanese Soldiers were so brutal to their POW’s is because they believed that surrender was dishonorable and contemptible and anybody who became a prisoner of war was not worthy of humanity and that they were subhuman and that they deserved to be treated with utter inhumanity. The other reason is that the Japanese were annoyed and angered with the American and Filipinos for fighting to the very end during the Battle of Battan and that it took way longer to capture the city than they thought.

** The infamous Battan Death March was the beginning of the suffering for the exhausted and starving POW’s. The joint group of American and Filipino soldiers surrendered to the Japanese as they closed in on the city of Battan to avoid a slaughter due to the lack of manpower, ammunition, food and medical supplies. The Japanese wasn’t expecting to take on a large number of POW’s and they didn’t have food, water or resources to feed all of them nor the vehicles to transport that many men, so the decision from the Japanese Army was to march the prisoners to Camp O’Donnell. Needless to say the march was hell on earth for the battle worn American and Filipino soldiers as the Japanese soldiers stripped them of their dignity and hope with viscous and out of nowhere beatings, they were deprived of food and water in the grueling 100+ degree tropical heat with the sun beaming down on their backs. Many were beaten, shot, bayoneted or beheaded for not being able to march at a steady pace, straggling away from the group, trying to escape and for begging their merciless captors for food, water or bathroom breaks as bathroom breaks were few and far between and many of them men had to defect and urinate on themselves, which caused infections to the wounds on their legs from the brutal marching. They also were subjected to torture by being forced to stand in the direct sunlight, which many of the soldiers called the “sunbathe” which drained whatever energy and strength the men had and some prisoners had their ring fingers chopped off by the Japanese who took their rings and other personal possessions. Several of the prisoners were so thirst-crazed that they drank water out of wallow pits and ditches that was contaminated with animal waste. The murky and waste filled water caused dysentery for most of the men and without surprise many of them succumbed to their illnesses. There’s also the 45 mile train ride the soldiers took in which they crammed into old outdated box cars with no ventilation, sitting space or food and water and just like the march? There was nowhere to use the bathroom and many of the prisoners had to go on themselves. Several men died from the uncomfortable conditions, wounds and illnesses and after they completed the discomfortable ride? They had to go an extra 8 to 10 miles to get to the dreaded prison camp in which conditions of course which was even worse.....
** The main reason why the Japanese Soldiers were so brutal to their POW’s is because they believed that surrender was dishonorable and contemptible and anybody who became a prisoner of war was not worthy of humanity and that they were subhuman and that they deserved to be treated with utter inhumanity. The other reason is that the Japanese were annoyed and angered with the American and Filipinos for fighting to the very end during the Battle of Battan and that it took way longer to capture the city than they thought.

** The main reason why the Japanese Soldiers were so brutal to their POW’s is because they believed that surrender was dishonorable and contemptible and anybody who became a prisoner of war was not worthy of humanity and that they were subhuman. The other reason is that the Japanese were annoyed and angered with the American and Filipinos for fighting to the very end during the Battle of Battan and for the many deaths they caused Japanese Soilders.

** The main reason why the Japanese Soldiers were so brutal to their POW’s is because they believed that

** Camp O’Donnell in the Philippines which was nicknamed the “Camp of Death” by the American and Filipino POW’s who arrived after having to endure the Battan Death March. The camp was built for a capacity of 10,000 men but the IJA crammed the 60,000 men who survived the march in to the camps and without surprise the conditions were appalling as many men survived from starvation, lack of food, lack of water or contaminated water malnutrition, dysentery, malaria and beriberi. The barracks were dirty, overcrowded and didn’t have proper roofing which exposed the prisoners to all elements, bathrooms recently built latrines along side the camp and the waste of prisoners were filled up to the top which attracted rats, flies and other bugs and vermin because of the extremely unsanitary problems and that’s not even getting into the nightmare that was the prison hospitals of both Americans and Filipinos in which both were rife with all kinds of filth and diseases from dying prisoners, lack of proper medical care and an uncaring attitude from Japanese officials. The hospitals were declared “Ground Zero” because they were for men with zero hope. Close to 30,000 men died in the camp.
** The infamous Battan Death March was the beginning of the suffering for the exhausted and starving POW’s. The American and Filipino soldiers suffered relentless and out of nowhere beatings or murders from Japanese Soldiers, were deprived of food and water in the grueling 100+ degree tropical heat with the sun beaming down on their backs. Many were beaten, shot, bayoneted or beheaded for not being able to march at a steady pace, straggling away from the group, trying to escape and for begging their merciless captors for food, water or bathroom breaks as bathroom breaks were few and far between and many of them men had to defect and urinate on themselves, which caused infections to the wounds on their legs from the brutal marching. They also were subjected to torture by being forced to stand in the direct sunlight, which many of the soldiers called the “sunbathe” which drained whatever energy and strength the men had and some prisoners had their ring fingers chopped off by Japanese Soldiers who took their rings and other personal possessions. There’s also the 45 mile train ride the soldiers took in which they crammed into old outdated box cars with no ventilation, sitting space or food and water and just like the march? There was nowhere to use the bathroom and many of the prisoners had to go on themselves. Several men died from the uncomfortable conditions, wounds and illnesses and after they completed the discomfortable ride? They had to go an extra 8 to 10 miles to get to the dreaded prison camp in which conditions of course which was even worse.....

** Camp O’Donnell in the Philippines which was nicknamed the “Camp of Death” by the American and Filipino POW’s who arrived after having to endure the Battan Death March. The camp was built for a capacity of 10,000 men but the IJA crammed the 60,000 men who survived the march in to the camps and without surprise the conditions were appalling as many men survived from starvation, lack of food, lack of water or contaminated water malnutrition, dysentery, malaria and beriberi. The barracks were dirty, overcrowded and didn’t have proper roofing which exposed the prisoners to all elements, bathrooms recently built latrines along side the camp and the waste of prisoners were filled up to the top which attracted rats, flies and other bugs and vermin because of the extreme unsanitary problems and that’s not even getting into the nightmare that was the prison hospitals of both Americans and Filipinos in which both was rife with all kinds of filth and diseases from dying prisoners, lack of proper medical care and an uncaring attitude from Japanese officials. The hospitals were declared “Ground Zero” because they were for men with zero hope. Close to 30,000 men died in the camp.

** Camp O’Donnell in the Philippines which was nicknamed the “Camp of Death” by the American and Filipino POW’s who arrived after having to endure the Battan Death March. The camp was built for a capacity of 10,000 men but the IJA crammed the 60,000 men who survived the march in to the camps and without surprise the conditions were appalling as many men survived from starvation, lack of food, lack of water or contaminated water malnutrition, dysentery, malaria and beriberi. The barracks were dirty and didn’t have proper roofing and that’s not even getting into the nightmare that was the prison hospitals of both Americans and Filipinos in which both was rife with all kinds of filth and dying prisoners. Close to 30,000 men died in the camp.
** The infamous Battan Death March was the beginning of the suffering for the exhausted and starving POW’s. The American and Filipino soldiers suffered relentless and out of nowhere beatings or murders from Japanese Soldiers, were deprived of food and water in the grueling 100+ degree tropical heat with the sun beaming down on their backs. Many were beaten, shot, bayoneted or beheaded for not being able to march at a steady pace, straggling away from the group, trying to escape and for begging their merciless captors for food, water or bathroom breaks as bathroom breaks were few and far between and many of them men had to defect and urinate on themselves, which caused infections to the wounds on their legs from the brutal marching. They also were subjected to torture by being forced to stand in the direct sunlight, which many of the soldiers called the “sunbathe” which drained whatever energy and strength the men had and some prisoners had their ring fingers chopped off by Japanese Soldiers who took their rings and other personal possessions. There’s also the 63 mile train ride the soldiers took in which they crammed into old outdated box cars with no ventilation, sitting space or food and water and just like the march? There was nowhere to use the bathroom and many of the prisoners had to go on themselves. Several men died standing up from the uncomfortable conditions, wounds and illnesses and after they completed the discomfortable ride? They had to go an extra 8 to 10 miles to get to the dreaded prison camp in which conditions of course which was even worse.....

** The infamous Battan Death March was the beginning of the suffering for the exhausted and starving POW’s. The American and Filipino soldiers suffered relentless and out of nowhere beatings or murders from Japanese Soldiers, were deprived of food and water in the grueling 100+ degree tropical heat with the sun beaming down on their backs. Many were shot for not being able to march at a steady pace, straggling away from the group, trying to escape and for begging their merciless captors for food,
water or bathroom breaks as bathroom breaks were few and far between and many of them men had to defect and urinate on themselves, which caused infections to the wounds on their legs from the brutal marching. They also were subjected to torture by being forced to stand in the direct sunlight, which many of the soldiers called the “sunbathe” which drained whatever energy and strength the men had and some prisoners had their ring fingers chopped off by Japanese Soldiers who took their rings and other personal possessions. There’s also the 63 mile train ride the soldiers took in which they crammed into old outdated box cars with no ventilation, sitting space or food and water and just like the march? There was nowhere to use the bathroom and many of the prisoners had to go on themselves. Several men died standing up from the uncomfortable conditions, wounds and illnesses and after they completed the discomfortable ride? They had to go an extra 8 to 10 miles to get to the dreaded prison camp in which conditions of course which was even worse.....

** The infamous Battan Death March was the beginning of the suffering for the exhausted and starving POW’s. The American and Filipino soldiers suffered relentless and out of nowhere beatings or murders from Japanese Soldiers, were deprived of food and water in the grueling 100+ degree tropical heat with the sun beaming down on their backs and they were subjected to torture by being forced to stand in the direct sunlight, which many of the soldiers called the “sunbathe” which drained whatever energy and strength the men had. There’s also the 63 mile train ride the soldiers took in which they crammed into old outdated box cars with no ventilation, bathrooms, sitting space or food and water. Several several men died standing up and after they completed the discomfortable ride? They had to go an extra 8 to 10 miles to get to the dreaded prison camp in which conditions of course were a lot worse.......

** Camp O’Donnell in the Philippines which was nicknamed the “Camp of Death” by the American and Filipino POW’s who arrived after having to endure the Battan Death March. The camp was built for a capacity of 10,000 men but the IJA crammed the 60,000 men who survived the march in to the camps and without surprise the conditions were appalling as many men survived from starvation, malnutrition, dysentery, malaria and beriberi. The barracks were dirty and didn’t have proper roofing and that’s not even getting into the nightmare that was the prison hospitals of both Americans and Filipinos in which both was rife with all kinds of filth and dying prisoners. Close to 30,000 men died in the camp.

** Camp O’Donnell in the Philippines which was nicknamed the “Camp of Death” by the American and Filipino POW’s who arrived after having to endure the Battan Death March. The camp was built for a capacity of 10,000 men but the IJA crammed the 60,000 men who survived the march in to the camps and without surprised the conditions were appalling as many men survived from starvation, dysentery, malaria and beriberi.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_Island Cayenne]], more commonly known as Devil's Island, was a French PenalColony off the coast of French Guiana which, until 1935, "welcomed" French convicts who were either persistent offenders or [[UsefulNotes/FrenchCourts sentenced to hard labour]] (the remaining inmates returning in 1953); the climate, beatings, malnutrition, solitary confinement and the conditions in which was effectied the labour was such this prison was nicknamed the ''guillotine sèche'', or "dry guillotine."
** A death rate of 75 percent backed up the nickname and you had 40 to 80 percent of the prisoners who died in the first year out. The other factors of death came from numerous tropical diseases, dangerous animals in the jungle, insects carrying all types of deadly diseases and the unforgiving climate.
** And then you have the long ship ride the prisoners had to take to get to the island (which took 15 days to get from France to French Guiana) in which they were packed in tight quarters like slaves with very little food and water, there was only a few hammocks to sleep in and the ones who didn’t have one had to sleep on the metal floors and the prisoners were alone allowed on deck once a day for any type of fresh air. Several died before even arriving to French Guiana due to fevers, sickness malnutrition and of course brutal fights amongst each other due to the uncomfortable conditions.

Alternatively, especially in the future settings, the prison might not be a barbaric pit where only the strongest survive and where the guards turn a blind eye to the criminal control. Instead, it will be a {{Cyberpunk}} nightmare where [[BigBrotherIsWatching every action is monitored]], any step out of line is equated with an attempt to escape and punished accordingly, and there is one, if not several, MadScientist(s) who regard the prisoners as nothing more than guinea pigs for their [[PlayingWithSyringes immoral experiments]]. Of course, the worst of prisons might well mix and match the elements outlined above, resulting in something like a Nazi concentration camp turned UpToEleven.

** The Union equivalent was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Douglas_(Chicago) Camp Douglas]].

* [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan WWII era Japanese]] [=POW=] camps were infamous for [[DeniedFoodAsPunishment starving,]] [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing,]] [[MadeASlave and enslaving]] Allied prisoners.
** [[PlayingWithSyringes Unit 731]] in Manchuria added an extra level of horror for anyone rounded up by the [[StateSec Kenpeitai]], with prisoners of all ages and ethnicities subjected to medical torture by IJA personnel, including vivisections without anesthetic, being thrown into pressure chambers and getting infected with bubonic plague or anthrax en masse.
* Jasenovac, and other camps run by the [[UsefulNotes/{{Croatia}} Ustashe regime]] managed to shock visiting Nazis who wanted to see how their Balkan allies were dealing with their own undesirables. Because the Croatian fascists were far less equipped with industrial methods to organizing the killings compared to their German counterparts, their own genocide against the Jews and Serbs was a ridiculous torture-fest and slaughterhouse [[UpToEleven even by World War II standards]]. To start with, the majority of prisoners were killed by ''throat-slitting'' with knives or with other simple tools like hammers and saws. Plus, the Nazis at least had the sense to kill their victims before [[ManOnFire shoving them into ovens]].

* Israeli politician and human rights activist [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natan_Sharansky Natan Sharansky]] says that when he was confined by the [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]] , they were deliberately trying to wear down his [[HonorBeforeReason spirit]] with endless amounts of ColdBloodedTorture. Most KGB torturers didn't actually enjoy their work and used methods which showed little of the [[Film/ThePrincessBride six fingered man]] type "craftsmanship" but much of brutality, with beatings being the most common. Nor did they want information. All they wanted was to inflict enough pain to make him shut up and stop being [[LaResistance embarrassing]] to the regime.
* Soviet-era prisons, particularly the gulags, are described as this by many former inmates; most famously by Creator/AleksandrSolzhenitsyn in ''Literature/TheGulagArchipelago''. Of course, descriptions of prisons given by Solzhenitsyn from personal experience (rather than from latrine rumors) are nowhere near.

* UsefulNotes/NorthKorea's ''kwan-li-so'' system of labour camps and political prisons deserves a mention of its own. [[http://freekorea.us/camps/ North Korean]] defectors have reported witnessing forced abortions, infanticide, several instances of rape, public executions, and ''testing of biological weapons on prisoners.'' Inmates face ColdBloodedTorture as a daily fact of life simply ForTheEvulz.
** Keep in mind that most of the people in these prisons are guilty of crimes varying from speaking out against the government, listening to South Korean radio, violating military discipline[[note]]in layman's terms - "We have nothing on you, but you just got a one-way ticket to a KangarooCourt and subsequent death in the gulags"[[/note]]or even being ''related'' to someone who was accused of a crime ("related" here meaning ''everyone'' in your family up to two generations up/down each; if you commit a crime and get sentenced to prison, then your parents, ''their'' parents, your aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins and all your children and maybe grand-children get sentenced too). [[ParanoiaFuel Absolutely anyone,]] regardless of social status or rank, can go to these prison camps in North Korea, and in some cases (especially including the aforementioned relation/military discipline policies), ''[[BewilderingPunishment they have absolutely no idea why]]''.
* Yugoslavia had a notorious "re-education" camp at Goli otok. The name literally means "barren island" and it is very accurate - it's an uninhabited, mostly barren rock, meaning there's little shade during the scorching summers, and it's usually miserably cold and windy in winter, while being almost impossible to escape. The camp was opened after the Tito-Stalin split, to "re-educate" real and perceived Stalinists (merely voicing support for Russia was often enough to be labelled as such) and bring them back into the fold. While the camp was not particularly deadly (413 of over 16,000 prisoners perished, mostly of typhus), inmates were subjected to hard labour, terrible living conditions, and had to beat each other. But the worst bit was the psychological degradation they had to suffer, such as being forced to admit they had committed vile crimes (including bestiality), betrayed the Party and their homeland etc. Conditions were so bad that even a delegation of StateSec leaders was appalled, and ordered the management to improve them. After Stalin's death and the thawing of Yugoslav-Soviet relations, the camp lost its political connotations and was transformed into a high-security prison for ordinary criminals, but maintained its infamous reputation.

* Likewise, Sheriff Joe Arpaio's "Tent City". It gets pretty hot outside in the Arizona summer...
** Arpaio has taken great pains to ensure that all Maricopa County detention facilities are this. Federal courts have ruled on at least two occasions that the conditions of MCSO jails violate inmates' civil rights. Of special note is the Madison Street Jail, which is advertised as the toughest jail in the United States.

* Many if not most French prisons have gradually become these due to a frozen prison budget, lack of funding for new prisons, and a burgeoning prison population. Overcrowding is commonplace, there is a violent and endemic gang culture, and (''hotly'' denied by both wardens and the government) much abuse of prisoners (by guards and fellow prisoners, inclusive of sex slavery). This goes a long way towards explaining the disdain and/or hostility many ordinary people have for the police, especially minorities.

* In medieval times many castles tend to have horrible dungeons underneath them. Some prisons are just pits where the prisoners are dumped to, with no way out, or any source of light.
** According to the romanticized castle studies of the 19th century, oubliettes (or "bottle dungeons") were as close to a literal example of this trope as possible: a tiny hole in the ground, with the only light coming from a barred window in the ceiling, where the prisoners were handed their food (when the guards felt like it). Not only was the space cramped and filthy beyond measure, there was also no place for the human waste to drain off. In reality, archaeological evidence points to the far less horrifying (but far less memorable) fact that they were merely basements used for storage.

* While ''technically'' not a prison, we had the Africans in the triangular trade slave ships. There was a cruel system meant to imprison them to keep them from rioting or commiting suicide. [[SincerityMode Don't look into this unless you have a strong stomach.]] [[spoiler:The journeys were long and up to hundreds of captured African men, women and children were packed into the bottom of the ship, all chained together, in uncomfortable all-fours positions. There was no place for them to relieve themselves, so they had to let their waste out on the floors. They had to eat and sleep in that too. If the ride got too rocky, or if it got really cold, then they'd be vomiting on each other. Unsurprisingly, illness and death was abundant due to this, and dead slaves were simply tossed overboard, though the others were ''sometimes'' allowed on deck to mourn. And if rations were running low, then the ship's crew tied rocks to the weak, ill or old and threw them overboard. And if they refused any of the food they were offered? The crew had their ''throats cut open and force fed them through a tube.'']]

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_Island Cayenne]] was a French PenalColony who, until 1935, "welcomed" French convicts who were either persistant offenders or [[UsefulNotes/FrenchCourts sentenced to hard labour]] (the remaining inmates returning in 1953); the climate, beatings, malnutrition, solitary confinement and the conditions in which was effectied the labour was such this prison was nicknamed the ''guillotine sèche'', or "dry guillotine."

* New Norfolk, in Tasmania, intended for convicts who, while in [[SentencedToDownUnder Australia]], commited ''another'' offense, was so awful that, in 1835, when the Bishop Ullathorne went to assist convicts awaiting execution and that, during his stay, news of reprieve for some men came in, the one to be happy were the ones ''not'' to be commuted.
** The PrisonShip's taking them there were equally awful, with such an appalling death-rate that it became a scandal even in Victorian England. Parliament eventually solved the problem by only paying the owners of the chartered ships half up-front, and only paying the remaining half of the fare for prisoners who arrived alive.

* During [[UsefulNotes/NationalReorganizationProcess Argentina's military dictatorship,]] the Navy Mechanics' School did not earn the nickname "the Argentine Auschwitz" for nothing. Not that any other place where [[UnPerson disappeared]] [[{{Dehumanization}} "subversive elements"]] were thrown into any better.
* Upon putting down the revolt of the Hereo and Mamaqua peoples in the German Southwest Africa (modern day Namibia) in 1904, the [[UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany Imperial German troops stationed there]] decided that the best way prevent future rebellions was by hunting down and exterminating any remaining Herero and Namqua people who fled into the Namib desert, as well as denying them access to the watering holes. Later that year, [[OlderThanTheyThink any Hereo or Namqua people that managed to survive, were rounded up and thrown into concentration camps,]] with the one set up in Shark Island being the most infamous as inmates were denied food, beatings were frequent, many died of exhaustion, and because disease was rampant, it allowed medical researchers to go in and perform numerous experiments on how to treat such ailments, and if the subject died, they performed the autopsy to see what happened.
* The (possibly apocryphal) [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hole_of_Calcutta Black Hole Of Calcutta]]: a room measuring 14 feet by 18 feet into which it is claimed were forced as many as ''sixty nine'' people. Suffice to say, very few were left alive the next morning.
* While initially built as a regular prison to replace Alcatraz, the Marion Illinois Federal Penitentiary became this when it went into lockdown following the murder of 2 guards in 1983. Prisoners were held in their cells for up to 23 hours a day in small cells with a simple concrete bed, a sink, a black and white television and small radio. and only allowed out for an hour of exercise and a shower(twice a week, being led to the shower in a mobile cage). No contact with other inmates. The lockdown was lifted in 2006.
* It's successor the Administrative Maximum Security Prison Florence Colorado(also known as ADX Florence) deserves mention. Known as the Alcatraz of the Rockies and described by a former warden as "A clean version of hell" inmates are held in small cells containing a concrete bed with a thin mattress, and concrete desk and stool, a shower(with a timer to prevent flooding) a black and white television that shows educational and religious programming and a small radio. Prisoners are let of their cells for an hour of exercise in small enclosed outdoor spaces. Food is dispensed through little openings in the cell doors and inmates are not allowed to have any communication with other prisoners. There's even an area where inmates never leave their cells. Holding mostly terrorists, both foreign like the shoe bomber and the WTC bombing conspirators. Domestic terrorists like Terry Nichols, Ted "The Unabomber" Kaczynski and Eric Rudolph (the Olympic Bomber) who has become an unofficial spokesman for inmates and described it as being a place to inflict misery. Organized crime figures like the late Philadelphia mob boss Nicki Scarfo (who was also in the Marion Prison) and former Sinaloa Drug Cartel head Chapo Guzman as well prisoners from other prisons who were troublemakers or an escape risk.
* The [[https://allthatsinteresting.com/worst-prisons/3 Bang Kwang Central Prison]] in Bangkok, Thailand, known as the "Bangkok Hilton" and the "Big Tiger", is one of the most notorious prisons on earth. New inmates are required to wear shackles for the first three months that they are incarcerated there, and inmates sent to death row often had their shackles ''welded'' to them (though this practice ended in 2013). Originally built to house 3,000 inmates, it now houses more than 8,000, and conditions in the prison are harsh.
* Antananarivo Prison in Madagascar, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACfKHjUmg_o&ab_channel=FreeDocumentary as shown in this documentary]]. In short, this prison is extremely broke and overcrowded: cell blocks are stuffed full of men who have to sleep on the floor packed next to one another, and can only turn around when directed. It's unsanitary and infested with rats and fleas carrying ThePlague. The only thing the prison gives the inmates to eat is Cassava roots, and anything else must be brought in by visitors or else smuggled in. It's isolation cells are referred to (often through hushed whispers) as "the Hellhole," as they are bare stone boxes without toilets or running water and inmates are forced to sleep on their own waste and that of previous inmates. There's also a women's block which is only slightly better on account of being less crowded, although still overcrowded, and their children are with them too. It's not even easy to be a guard here, since they're forced to use outdated and broken-down equipment and weapons, there's no computers so everything has to be written down and cataloged by hand, and even the head guard makes less than a typical BurgerFool in the United States due to how poor Madagascar is.
* La Gorgona Island in Colombia was turned into a PenalColony in 1959. Molded after the Nazi Concretization Camps where conditions for the prisoners were abysmal with them being forced to sleep on beds without mattresses or pillows and the bathrooms were nothing but a hole in the floor. Rapes and murders from other prisoners and abuse from guards were a common theme in the prison and that’s not even getting into the many inmates that died due to tropical diseases and venomous snakes due to the prison being located DEEP into the island jungle with escape being next to impossible due to the 30 km to the mainland being surrounded by sharks. The prison was closed in 1984 and turned into a tourist attraction by the Colombian Government.

* Communist Yugoslavia had a notorious "re-education" camp at Goli otok. The name literally means "barren island" and it is very accurate - it's an uninhabited, mostly barren rock, meaning there's little shade during the scorching summers, and it's usually miserably cold and windy in winter, while being almost impossible to escape. The camp was opened after the Tito-Stalin split, to "re-educate" real and perceived Stalinists (merely voicing support for Russia was often enough to be labelled as such) and bring them back into the fold. While the camp was not particularly deadly (413 of over 16,000 prisoners perished, mostly of typhus), inmates were subjected to hard labour, terrible living conditions, and had to beat each other. But the worst bit was the psychological degradation they had to suffer, such as being forced to admit they had committed vile crimes (including bestiality), betrayed the Party and their homeland etc. Conditions were so bad that even a delegation of StateSec leaders was appalled, and ordered the management to improve them. After Stalin's death and the thawing of Yugoslav-Soviet relations, the camp lost its political connotations and was transformed into a high-security prison for ordinary criminals, but maintained its infamous reputation.

** A death rate of 75 percent backed up the nickname and then there was all the other factors from numerous tropical diseases, dangerous animals in the jungle, insects carrying all types of deadly diseases and the unforgiving climate.