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| Cells & Prison Views Bars do not a prison make? Wrong, oh yes they do.
(Ed - Not sure of the authenticity of this one as the cell has a wide spaced steel bar door. Fixed SJ? Does anyone have any further information on this cell? Question answered by ** Shackle ** - See lower message)
From:
** Shackle
**
Hello I notice that you are "not sure" about the padded cell with straitjacket on page I can confirm it is authentic. The padded cell is located in the basement of the KGB Museum (the former KGB HQ) in Vilnius, Lithuania. The barred door is a modern addition which simply serves to keep visitors out of the cell; the original, padded, solid wooden door remains in place. I have attached a photo of the door and a better photo of the SJ, which is made of black canvas, and displayed at the back of the padded cell. The SJ is not fixed; it is held on a coat-hanger from a hat-stand and the arms are attached to the walls purely for display purposes. The padded cell has heavy duty canvas on the walls with some sort of thick padding benind - about 4-6 inches at a guess. I couldn't tell what the padding actually was but would guess something like horsehair; it certainly was not a modern substance like a wrestling mat. The floor of the cell was also slightly padded and, if I recall correctly, made from something like oiled canvas. It is mostly level but set down perhaps 18 inches below the door; the last couple of feet slope up quite steeply to meet the doorway. There is no window as such in the cell, just a small ventilation hole. It would have been very dark, silent and oppressive. (This para contained in a later e-mail - I do remember the floor of the padded cell quite well, and I have several other photos which show rather more of it. I do not remember seeing a drain of any sort, and the photos don't show anything like that - or a toilet either. It is, however, possible that there was a drain hole of some sort underneath the hat stand that supported the straitjacket, but I have no way of confirming or denying that.) A plaque on the wall nearby reads "This is one of the grimmest places in the prison. The walls are padded and soundproofed. The straitjacket on the back wall was used for those who resisted or who were deranged from torture. The padded walls absorbed their cries and shouts for help. "This cell was kitted out in 1973, though there were similar cells before that. Five cells like this are mentioned in prison records, though no mention is made of how they were equipped. They were probably cells for torture. Former prisoners also remember them." I have also included a better shot of the KGB torture cell, which on the same page. The flat plate is about the size of a small dinner plate - not really big enough to get both feet on. At the back of the cell is a "bed" area that slopes into the water area. The vaguely level section is too narrow to sleep on so I am sure the prisoner would keep rolling into the water. I took these photos myself and I give you permission to use them, copyright-free, on The Institute site. ** Shackle **
I have now written a brief paper on my visit to the cells, which I attach. I fell it is only right to include the dedication and context at the start.(Ed-We agree and fully support the sentiment ) The ** Shackle ** paper can be found here Download PDF 797KB
Special cells and equipment
Court-mandated suspension of capital punishment in 1972, Oklahoma’s executions
were carried out with the electric chair. When this moratorium was lifted, some
Oklahoma lawmakers took a new look at the state’s execution capabilities.It turned out that the state’s electric chair was badly in need of repair. It would cost some $60,000 to take it out of the mothballs and restore it to working order. With that in mind, a state senator conferred in 1977 with the chief of anesthesiology at the OU Health Sciences Center. He confirmed that lethal injection would be a viable alternative to repairing the electric chair and would be "extremely humane." Two months later, Oklahoma signed into law the world’s first lethal injection statute. Not to be outdone, Texas enacted an identical law the very next day. Lethal injection quickly became the method of choice in most death penalty jurisdictions. A Safe Place To Stay? Submitted by Jim S My friend Miss K. has the coolest thing imaginable, a real bank safe! Built in the 70’s, this Mosley safe was installed by a bank, which closed for business some years later. When she purchased the building to start her own business, the safe came with the deal. The Massive door with twin tumblers weighs a whopping 3000+lbs, although it swings easily on its precision hinges. Turn the huge front locking wheel and eight two inch round bars on each side slide precisely into receiving holes to securely close the safe. The vault inside measures seven feet wide and twelve feet long. A locking ¾” thick steel door partitions off the rear four feet, making a secure second inner vault. The walls, ceiling and floor of the vault are made of reinforced concrete 14 inches thick. If that is not enough, the entire inside surface is covered with ½” thick steel plating. For anyone foolish enough to become looked inside, there is an emergency air-vent provided to prevent suffocation. To get air, you must unscrew and lower the black knob, (See detail) then slide it forward to admit air, which also turns on an internal blower. The vent hole is less than an inch in diameter, making it impossible to pass tools or keys through. Inside the closed safe, a second locking door effectively prevents anyone inside from attempting to tamper with the internal tumblers. Not to mention that the inside surface of the safe door is completely covered with a thick lexan plate. The lighting switch is outside the safe! If it were an easy matter to remove the safe, I think that she would put it up on Ebay. Unfortunately, due to its massive size and very permanent installation, it will probably have to stay where it is (Ed-unless you know differently????). Maybe I can talk her into using it as an interesting alternative to a bed and breakfast!
A night in the Miss K’s vault would certainly prove to be a memorable occasion!
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