This Day In History: The penal colony on Devil's Island was permanently closed on this day in 1953. Devil’s Island was originally used as a leper colony, but it was later transformed into a prison for political prisoners. Located in the Salvation Islands of French Guiana, the island was infamous for its harsh treatment of the prisoners. The death rate was 75%.
"More than 40% of the prisoners died in the first year on the island. Only 5,000 prisoners survived to see their release date and the closing of the prison. After serving time on Devil’s Island, prisoners were forced to spend the equal time of their sentence living in French Guiana, where it was nearly impossible to find a job." Source
"Around 80,000 of France’s worst criminals who took the grueling 15-day boat trip from Marseilles in below-deck cages passed through Devil’s Island, the vast majority of whom never returned home. Huge numbers died of disease, starvation and absolute brutality and those who completed their sentences were banished from France, forced to stay on the island. Later in the operational timeline prisoners were allowed back to the motherland but it’s estimated that less than 2,000 returned alive.
Spoken of in reverential tones by the French underworld, Devil’s Island was dubbed the ‘green hell’ and in a 1938 book by inmate René Belbenoît who managed to escape to the USA, he called Devil’s Island the ‘dry guillotine’ because prisoners endured a living death.
The French stopped sending prisoners to the islands in 1938 and the ‘toughest penal colony of all time’ closed permanently in 1953." Source
Since the late 20th century, the islands have become tourist destinations with areas of the former prisons open for tours.
Henri Charrière's memoir, Papillon (1969), ostensibly described the extreme brutality of the penal colony. He claimed to be an escaped convict. The book was adapted as an American movie of the same name; released in 1973, it starred Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. A remake of Papillon was released in 2017, starring Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek.
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