Goli Otok is a large rock in the middle of the sea, arid, deserted, sunburnt in summer and beaten by the frozen Bora in winter. A rocky spur in the middle of the Morlacca Channel, between the island of Rab and the Dalmatian coast. It was here that Josip Broz Tito had more than 30,000 political prisoners deported from 1949 to 1956, of whom around 4,000 died as a result of the inhuman treatment they suffered. November 19th, 2023.
A photograph of Goffredo Jukic (on the left), Fredjiana's father, with one of his comrades during his military service, before being deported to GoliOtok. December 13th 2023.
Eva Grlić Croatian writer and journalist, mother of Croatian film director Rajko Grlić, was imprisoned in Goli Otok for three years. She managed to leave one of her fellow prisoners a small book to take home. A small book to let her family know she was still alive. November 21th, 2023.
A fisherman off the coast of the small island of San Nicola. Tremiti, June 2024.
Goran Antunac, a famous chess player and current vice-president of the “Ante Zemljar” association, has made it known that his organization is working to find the necessary financial means to make Goli Otok an island of remembrance: "If Europe had not decided to commemorate the victims of totalitarian regimes, I believe that the plaque in memory of the victims would not have been placed in the island's marina...If we do not get understanding from the Croatian government, we will turn to the European Union...". November 21th, 2023.
The biographical file drawn up by the Prefecture of Catania of prisoner Bonanno Emanuele and some papers of the Appeal Commission for those assigned to confinement. Central State Archive in Rome, Ministry of the Interior 1814-1986, General Directorate of Public Security 1861-1981, General Affairs and Confinement Division, Police Confinement Office, personal files 1926-1943, envelope 128. Rome, May 2024.
Built between 1527 and 1529 by order of Francis I king of France, Chateau d’If was initially destined to protect the coast from possible invasions. However, its isolated and easily defensible location soon turned it into a prison for those who were considered a threat to the state or held inconvenient political views. Over the years, the fortress held a whole variety of prisoners, from religious to revolutionaries, becoming a symbol of oppression and injustice.It became famous thanks to the novel: “The Count of Monte Cristo”, by Alexandre Dumas. June 2024.
Called Madonna del Mare, it is the oldest work in St. Mary's Church, probably dating back to the 11th century, carved and painted entirely by hand. Purchased by the Benedictines in the east, it arrived in St Nicholas and became miraculous and the destination of pilgrims. The statue represents the Virgin with the child resting on her left arm. Tremiti, June 2024.
The cell of Marin, a prisoner of Rumanian origin. Cristu Marin underwent several psychiatric treatments and during his time in prison he converted to Catholicism, finding many of the answers he sought in reading the Bible and in prayer. On the island, he looks after the "hotel", a small accommodation behind the only bar, which hosts mainly prison staff and their families. June 2022.
A moment from the play "Ulysses or the colours of the mind" staged on the small island of Gorgona by prisoner-actors as part of the theatre workshop project conceived and directed by Gianfranco Pedullà. June 2022.
Valerio, one of the prisoners, during the play "Ulysses or the colours of the mind". Before going to prison, Valerio worked in a riding stable in Ascoli Piceno giving riding lessons. On the island he looks after the animals. June 2022.
The sky closes over the sea before the arrival of a typhoon that will sweep the islands for a few hours. "...How much peace the soul finds within. The time of other laws flows slowly. Of another dimension. And I descend into an ocean of silence. Always calm...' (Battiato, Un oceano di silenzio). Tremiti, June 2024.
