The purpose of this speech is to inform you about Alcatraz probably the most famous prison in the USA that is situated near San Francisco. “You have the right to food, clothing, shelter and medicial attention. Anything else you get is a privilege.” Those were the Alcatraz prison rules and regulations in 1934. These rules were one of the realities of walls of U.S. Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island. The privilege was an allowance to work, to go into the library, to exercise or to talk to one another except during meals. The truth of Alcatraz has often been overlooked, lost in a fog of its myths. Just the stories of prisoners tell how miserable and hard was life on this island. One of them said: “We had a wonderful view, we saw life but we couldn’t join it. On New Years Eve we could hear talk, laughter, see fireworks from San Francisco. But every New Year we were in a deep depression.
The subject of many movies and books, Alcatraz has become the symbol of America’s dark side. There were many movies filmed about it. One of the most famous is “Escape from Alcatraz” with Clint Eastwood and the movie “The Rock”. Of the 1 545 men who were convicted of theft, kidnapping, murder and assult who spent years of their life on Alcatraz only a few were notorious that means well known. One of them was Al “Scarface” Capone. He spent four and half years there, in a hospital isolation cell.
The stay in this prison wasn’t easy so some people tried to escape. Of the 14 attempted prison escapes the best known occurred in 1962, when Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin slipped into the water. They used raincoats as flotation devices and probably went towards San Francisco. Although their bodies were never found, they are assumed to have drowned. Because: The currents surrounding Alcatraz are very strong. They are so powerful that even Olympic swimmers are not able to swim there. The second reason is that the water is cold and humans cannot survive long in such temperatures. And another danger is sharks. Even though they don’t like such cold water they sometimes appear in that area. It’s strange.
The second escape I’m going to tell you about is the most violent escape that occurred in 1946. It was named “Battle of Alcatraz”. In the wake of this conflict, fourteen guards and one inmate were left injured and two correctional officers and three inmates died. A bank robber from Kentucky named Bernard Paul Coy and his accomplices caused everything.