It is hard to imagine that the beauty of an island could hide such a dark and terrifying past.
And as you get closer, not even the blue of the beautiful Adriatic Sea can calm you down and stop the rush of your thoughts about everything that once, not so long ago, happened there.
The island of St. Gregory in Croatia, located in the Kvarner Bay, was never inhabited but had a terrible purpose in the middle of the 20th century. It was converted into a women's prison as part of the notorious Goli Otok prison on the neighboring island where male prisoners were staying.
When I first heard many years ago about all the cruel acts that took place on this island in order to humiliate and torture people because of different political views, I felt bad.
I listened to the stories and confessions of people who survived imprisonment and talked openly about it when they were given the chance. The island hides secrets that have been kept for a long time. It was never entirely clear what actually happened there. Even the prisoners who were taken there often did not know the reason for it. What was known was that it was about punishing all those who opposed the then political ruling regime.
There are still ruins and remnants of a prison on the island. Some of the walls were built by prisoners, bringing stone by stone from distant places.
In addition to physical and mental torture, the prisoners also performed many forced labor that had no other purpose than to make their time there as difficult as possible. Many survived but unfortunately many never returned and left their lives on this island from which it was impossible to escape.
As you pass between the walls and enter the former prison cells, you are overcome by strange feelings. A lot of time has passed, but this island, despite its beauty, smells of sadness and hard times.
Although a memorial center was never built, there is a board on which it is written that the walls are preserved as a sign of memory for the victims of this prison, but also for all the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes.
But since life goes on and one must always tend to focus on the better side of everything, on this island you cannot help but notice the amazing nature that leaves a strong impression in a beautiful way as well as the prison walls in a hard way.
The island of St. Gregory has a lot of greenery and natural shade from conifers that smell aromatic and very pleasant in combination with the smell of the beautiful Adriatic Sea.
And there are the inhabitants of the island who will make your visit really special, namely the fallow deer that move freely around the island and are completely tame and friendly.
You can feed them and hang out with them.
As you watch the deer carelessly wandering around the island and fearlessly hanging out with people, it's hard for you to imagine that fear once overwhelmed this island. Unfortunately, history doesn't always write beautiful stories, but that's why nature writes the most beautiful ones.
Thank you very much for reading.
The images and writing are original and mine.
Greetings!
Jelena