The Battle of Alcatraz

À l’heure où le pénitencier de San Quentin, le plus ancien de Californie, tristement célèbre pour sa chambre à gaz et son « couloir de la mort », s’apprête à être transformé en centre de réinsertion d’inspiration scandinave, revenons sur l’histoire d’une autre prison de la baie de San Francisco : Alcatraz. Du 4 au 6 mai 1946, la prison de l’ile connut l’une des tentatives d’évasion les plus meurtrières de son histoire, surnommée par la suite « La Bataille d’Alcatraz ».

Alcatraz

Formerly, Alcatraz was a maximum-security prison located on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.

Originally envisioned as a naval defence fortification, it became a designated residence for military offenders in 1861. In 1907, the island became the Pacific Branch of the United States Military Prison, and the modern prison building was completed four years later. In 1933 the U.S. Army transferred control of the prison to the civilian Department of Justice, and, from 1934 to 1963, Alcatraz served as a federal prison for some of the most dangerous convicts in the American penitentiary system

including Al Capone, George (“Machine Gun”) Kelly, and Robert Stroud, the “Birdman of Alcatraz.” Alcatraz was also called

“The Rock” because of its location on an island in the middle of San Francisco Bay. formerly auparavant, autrefois / to envision envisager, imaginer / offender délinquant / building bâtiment / to complete achever / to serve as faire office de / convict

prisonnier, détenu / machine gun

mitrailleuse / Birdman of Alcatraz

l’homme aux canaris d’Alcatraz.