assassins!

Before I forget - I live about a minute from one of France's most famous prisons!

Thanks to the fabulous David I have been able to gather some info on the strange building that I thought was currently a hospital but turns out to be an active prison. It is called La Santé Prison or Prison de la Santé, which is rather deceiving as it means the prison of health. There is a plaque on one of the long, high walls saying that during the Occupation, a bunch of French Resistance soldiers were executed there after they attempted an insurrection. The last executions in French history in fact took place there - it might still even have a guillotine! So I knew it was a prison, but for some reason thought it was now a hospital.

Nope. Turns out it has been the lovely home to some of France's favorite criminals for about 130 years. Apollinaire is one of the most illustrious former guests. Since Apollinaire's time, however, conditions (and types of prisoners) have changed; it once held mostly political prisoners, like writers who protested the state, but now holds people like the banker who is about to go in for billions of euros of fraud. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets sent here. The assassin known as Carlos the Jackal was here for a while, although he's been moved. Another interesting inmate is a guy who vandalized a McDonald's.

Sadly, though, the conditions have gone downhill. Or stayed the same, depending on how you look at it. Recent accusations say it is unsanitary, unsafe, and turns the inmates crazy. It has the highest suicide rate of any French prison, and many inmates are "deranged", even though most of the criminals who come in here are there for things like money laundering, etc - not crimes one generally associates with potential crazies, just really greedy and/or stupid people. A former doctor of the prison came out with a book about the conditions; many French people were completely shocked by it, thinking French prisons had some of the best standards in the world.

Now don't go getting worried, people. This is an extremely secure place, surrounded entirely by stone walls so you can't even see in. There are some dorm-style taller buildings in which one can kind of see lights and windows at night, but other than that it's a total mystery to me. Directly across the street are commercial and residential buildings (not to mention an elementary school) so I assume the people of Paris are okay with having the prison there. I am one block away, and I walk along its outside wall every other day or so. I'll save the stories of hearing strange noises coming from it when I was walking home the other night for another day...or those who ask for it.


Here is a link to the Wikipedia page on the building: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=La_Sant%C3%A9_Prison&oldid=166990905


And one to a NY Times article on the doctor's book: Expose of Brutal Prison Jolts France's Self-Image