The Scariest Prisons in History

[@reneehomen2226]

It never ceases to shock me how humans can come up with more and more cruel ways to torture each other.😢 😢😢

[@candicemirisha912]

It makes me really sad

[@theblackmoth1111]

Indeed. So sad. Yet the most cruel never will or did step a foot in prison . Which is even more sad

[@carinarosales6899]

​@@theblackmoth1111yes true they get away with it

[@Roddy556]

It's pretty muddy waters and a bad situation all around: how horribly do you punish someone for doing horrible things?

[@Scavenger12345]

This is the shit why I believe humanity is fundamentally evil regardless of what wishful thinking some like to believe.

[@daintybeigli]

That Mongolian coffin jail is utterly terrifying

[@banyalaplace]

Especially when you're claustrophobic or have the specific fear of being buried alive, I got chills just but looking at it

[@johnyurick8785]

Yea I thought that the worst as well!!!!!!!! And what could you possibly do to get this punishment??????

[@WagwanHappyPappyHapPap]

Waste or spill water, it was considered holy

[@justincarreras7753]

Came here to say this. All of these prisons sound horrific, but the Mongolian coffins sound like literal hell.

[@tomz5704]

Yea Mongolian coffin jail is the worst, right after that I'd say hms jersey

[@fiffii]

I am from India. During British Raj, we had a prison called Cellular jail on Andaman island. It was called Kala Pani (black waters) because it was impossible to escape due of it's remote location. I don't have exact figure, but thousands died here. Many of India's freedom fighters were shot, hanged, taken their own lives, tortured to death, succumbed to diseases or died in hunger strike.

[@thevozhd9846]

Yes.

[@effexwhore]

Thats awful. Sounds like Alcatraz but a million times worse

[@ultraredd]

You can tour Eastern State Pennitentary in Philadelphia. Really interesting and informative. I highly recommend it.

[@lindacoolbaugh962]

That prison that kept the prisoners in boxes gave me the chills!!

[@tinacarrazzo8888]

Incredible that Australia was skipped from this list. The intention was to create a convict colony, which essentially happened for the first few years after “settlement”. There are many famous prisons that have a terrible past. It’s surprising that none of this was mentioned.

[@ElsaMusicVideos]

They gotta make a part two lol. The entire country was a prison at one point!

[@ariadneschild8460]

@@ElsaMusicVideos only the eastern parts around Sydney were settled in the early penal years.

[@Philozzi]

The State of Georgia in U.S.A.

[@abitofbyte]

Apparently it doesn't fall into the SCARIEST prisons list.

[@seanriopel3132]

I know. It was an entire CONTINENT prison

[@isaiahpadilla7981]

Tuol Sleng should be mentioned in this list. A school turned into an execution site for political prisoners ran by a former teacher. Every prisoner was photographed upon arrival and forced at gun point to write a false, self-incriminating "confession" that would appease the Khmer Rouge. Entering the prison was essentially a death sentence and tens of thousands of innocent people met their ends in unspeakable ways before being buried in mass graves right next to penal camps and failing crops. It is now a genocide museum.

[@brianfuller757]

Roman prisons were not planned for long-term confinement. They only held those waiting trials or punishment.

[@RickyL305]

That makes sense of what jail is today. People often confuse jail for prisons in America. Jail is only utilized for those awaiting trial or sentences to a year or less in confinement . Prisons in America are utilized strictly used to house inmates sentenced to a year or more in custody. Inmates who are placed in a re trial or other court dates are transferred from prison to a local jail untill the court dates are finalized but it's usually very short term then they return back to their prisons .

[@stephenhancock1578]

I've been to jail, but I heard prisons are a lot better for quality of life than jail is.

[@RickyL305]

@@stephenhancock1578 ... I to went to jail over my own stupidity of driving on a suspended driver's license. However I was only in for less than a overnight stay if not out the same night in both situations. Therefore I can't say regarding prisons but you are correct, I have heard the same thing regarding the quality of life.

[@stephenhancock1578]

@@RickyL305 I was being a stupid drunk and they put me in for 11 days, charges got dropped though.

[@crlaf1978]

As it should be

[@Traint_Trungdrundringsron]

I've been trying to remember the name of "Papillon" movie for years, my dad showed it to me decades ago. Great film.

[@colewhite4184]

Great movie, even better book. Give it a read if you haven’t!

[@jazzmusician46]

This is one of the best you’ve done. Thanks. You could easily unpack any of the topics discussed here and present a new documentary.

[@dvdv8197]

A man with a stutter died in prison... He never got to finish his sentence. 😭😭😭😭

[@mommonald224]

I grew up near Holmesburg. There is a huge forest park across from the prison front (Pennypack). I used to ride my bike into that park wondering if the prisoners could see me and wish they were going for a bike ride too.

[@datheamore6395]

And people wonder why aliens don't come down here to say "Hello"...

[@Alliebaba7782]

Scariest insane asylums could be terrifying

[@AM-ff2ce]

I particularly enjoyed the picture of beehives, when describing the Mongolia cells... 🤔

[@gtageri100]

What’s the song at 2:55? I already stretched my earlobes against an hour worth of classical music and can’t remember who made it

[@annemariecronen9096]

I feel like Andersonville could've been on this list. I know it was a wartime prison, but since you had the prison ship from the Revolutionary War, it could be included

[@michaelconran5252]

I was going to say same thing.

[@ladynikkie]

Yeah I feel the same thing too it was definitely one of the worst prison camps in it's time

[@miriambucholtz9315]

My great-grandfather was there and he survived it.

[@aaronwoodard1749]

I figured it would be.

[@ShelbyFarrow]

Agreed.

[@dvdv8197]

I work as a librarian in a prison The job has its prose and cons. 🤷‍♀️🙈

[@joannabaparileszczynska]

Not a single prison but something found in old ones: oubliette , scariest shit ever.

[@btetschner]

It would be hard to survive some of those, especially Devil's Island. A+ video, just fantastic and so interesting.

[@Dankleosteus]

I was at the wall of tears on Galapagos in november. That stone wall is crawling with lava lizards these days. :)

[@benisaten]

We visited Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin Ireland while I was there. Man that was quite the fascinating tour. What an awesome city. WH, another great one. Cheers from 🇨🇦.

[@paulcowlishaw]

WH?

[@christie3668]

Love this channel!

[@Amen.ahmed1]

I wonder why you don't mention Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib

[@nolesy34]

Not sure if the equivalent of a tropical gulag is a prison, more a slave camp As for abu grahbi. The mia khalifa is very grubby as they have to carry their own poop to trucks

[@TheMormonPower]

You'd be shocked to know, we have worse prisons here today. Any state or federal " Super-Max" can be just as bad as nearly any of these. Isolation for years on end...handcuffed showers...the list goes on and on. The US holds more people on incarceration than the rest of the world combined. 😨

[@dennisridolfijr8353]

Starvation, disease, not enough room to extend your arms out, legal beatings/torture for people that have done the simplest /non-existant crime vs. Scum having to do 23 lockdowns? WTF is wrong with you? How many years did you do and how far away from children must you remain..... Nope, I'm done. Don't care. Almost deleted this. May the fleas of 1000 camels infest your armpits

[@kellyshomemadekitchen]

Yes, the U.S. does and that’s saying something especially considering even China has way less imprisoned citizens than we do. 😔

[@davidgerow]

I would of likely gone crazy locked in one of these prisons.

[@johnyurick8785]

You and 90% of others

[@NewMessage]

You'll never take me alive, Weird History!

[@WindKing0]

..I mean, history never takes *anyone* alive, but..😉

[@Ph.40Lowks]

I’m about to read papillion I’m so excited thanks for mentioning it!!

[@kovary77]

I love that Philadelphia has TWO representations on this list! Go Philly!

[@Holvik3]

I live in Carlisle, we are a small northern city right on the border to Scotland and nobody seems to even know where it is if they aren't from the area so it was a pleasant shock to see a team of writers for this had delved into our history a bit! Albeit not the best circumstances, but oh well 😂

[@differentfins]

I am torn between the inhumanity of these prisons and the question 'why should we have empathy for criminals?'

[@terrusmarkz236]

That was al Capones cell you showed during the eastern state penitentiary pics. And only some cells had a small outside area, very few actually. Most cells had a hole in the ceiling and that's all of the outside they saw. It was called the eye of God.

[@NASCARFAN93100]

Love Weird History!

[@kakarroto007]

I don't get why the Navy Hymn was playing in the background, during the description of a medieval prison that held St. Paul and St. Peter...

[@JohannHitz]

You forgot to mention a youth prison camp where they force kids to dig 6 foot holes in the middle of a desert. I heard the staff is inhumane, they hardly get water, and some kids would rather risk dying out in the desert on the run than to stay at the camp and dig holes(no matter how good the songs they sing are).

[@v.emiltheii-nd.8094]

Ayy, Romania gets mentioned! Awesome!

[@imsatanscott]

I served a 25 year sentence in my mothers house.

[@kereckelizabeth3625]

Security Prison 21, or S-21 (Cambodia) used by the Khmer rouge, should be on this list.

[@samanthal133]

Eastern state penitentiary now does tours but also Halloween Attractions, my families from Philly & it’s a fun thing to do each year🦅🤙🏽

[@kaylafarley167]

My one friend worked in every year for a long time!

[@margaretlumley1648]

Interesting video!

[@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing]

If anyone could be called a subject matter expert on whether or not an island was escapable, it would be Napoleon.

[@garycarpenter6433]

I didn't know that the Galopolgos had a prison I thought it was just an island chain full of animals

[@skyden24195]

Fyi: a significant portion of the 1944, Humphrey Bogart film, "Passage to Marseille" takes place on "Devil's Island."

[@fidhammer]

I happen to have had to do weekends in Holmesburg (in trailers on the property) and I've been to the Halloween event at Eastern State Penitentiary. Now everyone knows

[@KingofgraceSARA]

I remember my mother had a boyfriend in Holmesburg & we went to visit him when I was about 9 or 10. The chairs had HMBG or HMBRG on the back of the seats. Edit: that was in 1990 or 1991 or so.

[@carinarosales6899]

I would like to visit one day

[@justlavinder]

love the food vids

[@kayladunham2360]

I don’t think you’ve done a video on leper colonies. At least I can’t find one. I think that would be a great topic.

[@colleenpopal]

Got added to the list of favorites 😊, yeah

[@viggycat8592]

I worked in a county lock up and the old section of it was haunted.

[@spoodlenoodle]

I’ve visited Robben island twice as I am South African, it’s truly a haunting place

[@kellyshomemadekitchen]

I bet!

[@TripleCrossProduct]

Prisons aren't supposed to be a Holiday Inn, like they are today. Though I don't believe in the torture and abuse they did, it should be subject to hard labor; 10 hours A-day 6 days a week. This is a deterrent to come back, too many people live their lives going back-and-forth out of prison.

[@ABeautfulMess]

Asylums..my grandma spent to much time in one..I would love to know more history

[@v.emiltheii-nd.8094]

The Pitesti Experiment...now that's some surreal torture from the depths of hell.

[@hominahominahomina1]

Make a part 2!

[@markmoats2456]

Did anyone else see the upside down cross in the first prison on the list they were real prisons

[@clearcreek69]

Yes

[@vociferateforme]

So Charles Dickens said solitary confinement was basically inhumane but we're still doing it

[@creativeideas012]

|0ckd0wns were a gentler version

[@daveschiemerjr8453]

Can you do a video on history of mental hospitals?

[@carinarosales6899]

That would be a great one

[@Hellheart]

I live a few blocks from Holmesburg Prison. Because I pass by it so often, I always forget how horrendous the place actually was.

[@user-zg4pw2nu8i]

HI. Has Weird History done a documentary/overview on man-eater attacks, animals who hunt humans only. There is a dozen of these events over the decades and are rarely ever discussed. It should be interesting, and strange to learn about.

[@The7Reaper]

I toured Eastern State once, just an all around creepy feeling from it

[@jenniferbreaux7385]

I'm surprised that Angola, in Louisiana, parchment in Mississippi and black dolphin in Russia did not make the list.

[@KingofgraceSARA]

I was thinking of Angola, too.

[@jenniferbreaux7385]

@@KingofgraceSARA I know right.

[@mrfiddlebottom]

Hey, weird history! I have some suggestions! 1. the real history of monopoly 2. Timeline: the 60's.....please. 3. the science of body language 3. The mother sauces in French cuisine. (W.H.F.)

[@Diana.DSWMinistries]

It was interesting you mentioned Chateau D'If because I love The Counte Of Monte Cristo.

[@Monatio79]

Elmina Island, Hoa Lo Prison and Tuol Sleng need to be on this list.

[@jlbay1]

I came here to add Hoa Lo … the atrocities during the French colonial period alone make it a worthwhile contender for this list. Better yet, a video on the time in Vietnam

[@marthaperdew]

I agree

[@donHooligan]

it's just a county jail, but.....try Castle Greyskull in P-Cola, FL. they have porcelain toilets....just consider the potential massacre!

[@carinarosales6899]

I bet they have gold sinks and eat lobster filet mignon for dinner

[@donHooligan]

@@carinarosales6899 that just sounds like Trump failed at the private prison business, too...had to do something with all the leftover steaks!

[@rosab6259]

You forgot to mention the colonial Catholic prisons where they kept “unruly” nuns (in Antigua Guatemala). They were kept in tiny cells where they could probably not turn for the lack of space.. and had a perpetual drip of water over their head. That was supposedly to make them go crazy and die 😅

[@happyshamrock73]

Can you do a video on V-Mail from WW2? Or how old fridges had UV lights?

[@sallykohorst8803]

Great story about those prisons.

[@sandi1263]

Great video….

[@user-ParisFashionista]

Papillon was a great movie!

[@kammara.sharath]

You forgot cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India which houses India's most fearless revolutionaries during the early 20th century.

[@cd5433]

Omg the narrator is back I just noticed

[@n_perry5415]

the boxes in the pitesti prison was pictures of old beehives 😂

[@daniellocke282]

These prisons are so torturous and terrrifying

[@Katertismenae]

If you’re going to talk about the Jersey, you should be sure also to include the ships of the Middle Passage. 😢😢😢😢😢

[@philipvitale6555]

I suppose Alcatraz, since it is missing from this grouping, is a country club by comparison. BTW I've visited Eastern State PA penitentiary on Fairmount Avenue in Phillie. The notorious Al Capone was there for a bit and his cell with all its luxuries is on display. And luxurious they are compared to other cells.

[@Prussian7789]

Let’s see a list of the worst asylums

[@azado237]

I love this channel ❤

[@foofighter1790]

Hes back!

[@ladyhonor822]

Thanks for your podcast. Yeah we have it ALL !!!! Oh boy how horrible. Philadelphia USA 🙏🇺🇸❤️ AMEN

[@Flametree1492]

Angola prison, the tombs nyc, Riker island and many many. People forget that the USA is the biggest prison culture in history.

[@erin19030]

Holmesburg prison was escape proof until Willie “ The Actor” Sutton was incarcerated therein.

[@tremorsfan]

I was hopping you would talk about the "Black Hole of Calcutta". 146 British prisoners being kept in a cell 14 x 18.

[@benjaminostrom9124]

Imagine, you get 1 life and you spend it like this

[@teresaromero8655]

Forgot “ ALCATRAZ “

[@erin19030]

We can thank the lovely Quakers for Eastern State Pen. in Philadelphia and Jim Thorpe.

[@sharonvickery6155]

I am from Dublin Ireland and have been to kilmainham gaol, what happened back then by the hands of the English was an atrocity to say the least,🇨🇮☹🇨🇮

[@rujutashah4423]

Cant believe Kala Pani didnt make the cut.

[@pp312]

Not to be too ghoulish, but I'd like to have heard a lot more detail about these prisons. This hardly scratched the surface.

[@ProffesionalZombie12]

You neglected to mention S-21 in Cambodia. Probably one of the darkest chapters of human history out there.

[@clarkkent6927]

You forgot Andersonville prison one of the worst prison during the Civil War

[@shikuansun1500]

I think that jail in Ireland is a nightmare of the guys executed by shooting in 1916!

[@AlmostEthical]

You talked about vampire bats and then showed a fruit bat. Fruit bats are a lot cuter than vampire bats.

[@carinarosales6899]

Yes true they are less creepy

[@maryaltshuller885]

Interesting! But no mention of prisons in Iran (Evin) or the former USSR?

[@justinspicyrhino3075]

I could of sworn Nelson Mandela was under house arrest for the second half of his sentence. I remember watching a new clip of him and a reporter touring the house he was incarcerated.

[@karissawood6129]

How absolutely inhumane.

[@auntvesuvi3872]

Thanks for this! ⛓ #WeirdHistory #Prisons

[@jasonm9264]

2:51 seems like a glitch in the editing

[@Mustlovebooks15]

I can’t remember which old prison it was that I went to in Europe that had holes dug in the ground in the dungeons and they would just put a person in there and wait for them to die. Sometimes they would give them food and water so they would last longer.

[@MarySchipke-dg7dg]

FMC-Carswell is known as the Hospital of Horrors. I can attest to the truth of that!

[@cykablyat9526]

as a romanian myself ive never heard of the prison in pitesti damn boy thats brutal