Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
Caucasus - Geghard Monastery, Armenia
Armenia • 15 days, 14 nights
Caucasus Road Trip: Azerbaijan, Georgia & Armenia
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Midas Tümülüsü (Tumulus MM)
The Devil's Column
Weightlifting Hall of Fame
The khao soi at Gedhawa comes with a rich, coconutty broth.
Gedhawa
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The khao soi at Gedhawa comes with a rich, coconutty broth.
Gedhawa
At Nai Mong Hoi Thod, the oyster omelet is worth waiting for.
Nai Mong Hoi Thod
In this deceptively simple dish, top-quality ingredients are paramount.
Kor Panich
Customize your bowl with sliced pork, pork balls, fish cake, and offal.
Rung Rueang
Pasties are an Upper Michigan tradition dating back to mining days.
Lehto’s Pasties
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
For Aguilar-Carrasco, nature is a powerful reminder of the interconnectedness of all life.
How Can National Parks Be Made Accessible to All? AO Wants to Know.
1 day ago
Podcast: Finding ‘The Great Gatsby’ in Louisville
2 days ago
Here’s which treats you can safely lug home without risking a fine.
Dear Atlas: What International Food Can I Legally Bring Into the U.S.?
3 days ago
Cely’s map is not only accurate, but captures the unique characteristics of Congaree’s trees and waterways.
How One Biologist Drew a Hyper-Accurate, Ranger-Approved Map of Congaree National Park
4 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Croatia Lopar Goli Otok

Goli Otok

The only gulag ever to exist in socialist Yugoslavia.

Lopar, Croatia

Added By
Stanislav Stanković
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/xandroid/4122...
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/xandroid/4122...
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/xandroid/4122...
If nonsense is accepted as a fact, then one has to live with the consequences of that fact.   http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinica/8652...
TITO - the cult of personality in four letters   http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinica/8661...
Long live comrade Tito   http://www.flickr.com/photos/aisipos/93500...
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinica/8652...
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/xandroid/4122...
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/xandroid/4122...
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/xandroid/4106...
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/xandroid/4106...
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Goli_oto...
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

In 1948, only three years after the conclusion of the WWII and in the eve of the cold war, Marshal Tito, the supreme leader of Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia took a sharp political turn away from hard line communism, severed his ties to Joseph Stalin and Soviet Union and ushered his country into an era of openness unparalleled in any of the communist countries which remained hidden behind the iron curtain.

Liberal as it was, the communist regime in Yugoslavia was still an authoritarian regime, and Goli Otok was his most notorious prison, arguably its only true gulag. This barren islet, almost completely devoid of vegetation was originally used as a prison by Austro-Hungarian authorities during WWI as a place of internment of Russian prisoners of war.

In that way in which places of state terror seem to stay so through regime changes (the same buildings were often used by the Austro-Hungarians, then the Nazi's, then the communists as prisons) the Communist regime turned it into a maximum-security, top-secret prison. The majority of convicts were Stalinist communists, the people who remained loyal to Soviet Union, many intellectuals or quasi-intellectuals, with a good dose of petty criminals sprinkled among them.

The professed goal of the prison was "moral correction" of the convicts, a process which took the form of hard labor in a quarry, conducted in the harsh climate of the rocky island, with it blistering hot and shadeless in summer, and an icy cold wind in winter. Mental torture conducted by guards as well as physical torture conducted by both guards and other inmates become a hallmark of the prison.

The existence of Goli Otok arguably disqualified Tito from any serious hope of winning the Nobel Peace prize despite his efforts through the Non-alignment movement and numerous diplomatic missions throughout the third world.

With the death of Stalin the relations between the USSR and Yugoslavia improved. Goli Otok prison was transferred from the federal jurisdiction to local government of Croatia. The need for a special prison for political dissidents disappeared, however the facility remained in use as an ordinary jail. It was finally shut down in 1988. Today, the memory of Goli Otok remains deeply embedded in minds of the generations which grew up in communist Yugoslavia.

The prison facilities are at present left to decay. An especially attention-worthy detail for any visitor are the numerous propaganda paroles stenciled on the walls of buildings. To properly understand them some background info and the proper translation by the locals is needed.

Goli Otok was never intended to be a place of extermination. The great majority of prisoners survived. Many of the went on to write memoirs about their experiences on the island, and publish them after Tito's death. This strange genre become increasingly popular in late 1980s and 1990s as Yugoslavia crumbled.

Related Tags

Crime And Punishment

Know Before You Go

Excursions are organized by travel agencies from nearby resort islands of Krk and Rab.

Atlas Obscura Adventures

Balkans Road Trip: Serbia, Croatia & Bosnia and Herzegovina

Traverse the beauty and history of the Balkans through locals' stories.

Book Now

Community Contributors

Added By

stanestane

Published

January 26, 2010

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goli_otok
  • http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/rwinslow/europe/yugoslavia.html
  • http://www.goli-otok.com/
Goli Otok
Goli Otok
Lopar
Croatia
44.843403, 14.829349
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Jablanac Shipwreck

Jablanac, Croatia

miles away

Pag Triangle

Kustići, Croatia

miles away

Abandoned Haludovo Palace Hotel

Malinska, Croatia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Croatia

Croatia

Europe

Places 90
Stories 10

Nearby Places

Jablanac Shipwreck

Jablanac, Croatia

miles away

Pag Triangle

Kustići, Croatia

miles away

Abandoned Haludovo Palace Hotel

Malinska, Croatia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Croatia

Croatia

Europe

Places 90
Stories 10

Related Places

  • Staircase and entry to the haunted Governor’s Bathroom.

    Ararat, Australia

    J Ward Museum

    Now a museum, this was once a prison facility and a hospital for the “criminally insane.”

  • A man being tortured on a wooden horse (also called a Spanish donkey).

    Mdina, Malta

    Mdina Dungeons Museum

    See Malta’s history through the recreation of scenes of torture using life-sized mannequins in a former medieval dungeon.

  • Three female and one child prisoner are shown arriving in Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania).

    Hobart, Australia

    'Footsteps Towards Freedom'

    Three women and a 10-year-old boy are immortalized in this sculpture memorializing the 13,000 women and children convicts sent to Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) between 1803 and 1853.

  • Green Cove Springs, Florida

    Old Clay County Jail

    The second oldest jail in Florida gives insight into the realities of the criminal justice system at the turn of the 20th century.

  • Venice, Italy

    Uncini della Fortuna (Hooks of Fortune)

    Despite their macabre past, these hooks are said to bring good luck to those who touch them.

  • Gallatin squirrel cage jail

    Gallatin, Missouri

    Squirrel Cage Jail

    This octagonal rotary jail built in 1889 now serves as a visitor's center.

  • Phu Quoc, Vietnam

    Phu Quoc Prison History Museum

    This museum stands out for its poignant portrayal of the atrocities of the Vietnam War and serves as a vital educational tool for promoting peace and understanding.

  • Guillotine

    Santuario di Caravaggio, Italy

    Caravaggio Sanctuary Guillotine

    An underground passage is home to a guillotine that predates the French Revolution by more than two centuries.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.