The penal colony of Cayenne (French: Bagne de Cayenne), commonly known as Devil’s Island (Πle du Diable), was a famous prison of the 19th and 20th century. It operated at several locations in French Guiana. Opened in 1852, it was notorious for being used for internal exile of French political prisoners during that period, the most famous of whom was Captain Alfred Dreyfus. It is also known for its harsh treatment of criminals, who were deported there from all parts of the French empire. The system was closed down in 1953.
The prison system stretched over several locations, on the mainland and in the off-shore Πles du Salut group. Πle Royale was the reception centre for the general population of the penal colony; they were housed in moderate freedom due to the difficulty of escape from the island. Πle Saint-Joseph was the Reclusion, where inmates were sent to be punished by solitary confinement in silence and darkness for escapes or offences committed in the penal colony. Πle du Diable was for political prisoners. In the 19th century, the most famous such prisoner was Captain Alfred Dreyfus. In addition to the prisons on each of the three islands in the Salut island group, the French constructed three related prison facilities on the South American mainland, just across the straits at Kourou; 30 miles east in Cayenne, which later became the capital of French Guiana; and a hundred miles west at St. Laurent.
Prisoners convicted of felonies in the 17th and 18th centuries were sentenced to serve as oarsmen in the French Mediterranean galley fleet. Given the harsh conditions, this was virtually a death sentence. Following the decommissioning of the Mediterranean galley fleet in 1666, the majority of prisoners were paired together in chains aboard galley hulks (bagnes) moored in French harbours until bagnes rotted and sank. The prisoners were moved to live on the adjacent pontoons. Prisoners relied on charity or their families for food, bedding and clothing. They were required to work 12 hours a day in the docks, earning 10-15 centimes, which they could spend on food and wine. Other prisoners were housed in prisons onshore, where conditions were apparently so bad that many prisoners would “beg” to be transferred to the hulks.
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Keywords: Devil's Island, Dreyfus affair, Dreyfus, Dreyfuss, Alfred Dreyfus, Alfred Dreyfuss, Dreyfus sent to Devil's Island, Theodor Herzl, Theodore Herzl, Herzl, Herzle, Herzel, Anti Israeli, Israel's enemies, Enemies of the Jews, Jewish enemies, Anti semetic, antisemitic, Jew hater, anti semitism, antisemitism, Anti semitic, Anti Jewish, Anti Jew, Anti Judaic, Against the Jews, Hatred of the Jews, France, French scandal, Esterhazy, Estherhazy, Zola, Emile Zola
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