Texts temporary exhibition

Panel 1: Introduction Freedom under pressure

In 2025, the Netherlands will celebrate 80 years of freedom. On May 5, 1945, the Netherlands was liberated from German occupation. During this occupation period, the Oranjehotel functioned as a political prison. People who resisted the Nazi regime were detained, interrogated, and sentenced here. Living conditions were poor and intimidation, torture, and other forms of violence were never far away. After the war, the Scheveningen cell barracks became an internment camp for collaborators, who, awaiting their trial, lived in the same appalling conditions.  

The Oranjehotel and many other former places of terror are proof that dictatorial regimes, lawlessness, and political imprisonment are of all times and places. This exhibition gives an overview of some of these prisons throughout time. Through words and images, the following panels tell about the daily existence of the prisoners, their mutual relations, and how they try to keep in touch with the outside world and vice-versa; how family members, supporters, and interest groups try to support the prisoners as much as possible, and how they are, or are not, remembered and commemorated.

Panel 2: Political prisons through time

Since liberation, the Netherlands has worked hard to establish and maintain the rule of law. Government power is regulated through laws and regulations, and citizens are protected by individual rights, freedoms and independent justice. Aside from constitutional democracy, totalitarian and dictatorial states can be found worldwide. There, individual rights and freedoms are not a given and political imprisonment is used by the ruling powers as a tool of oppression.

Prisoners of conscience are people imprisoned for their political, religious or other beliefs, ethnicity, sexual orientation, colour or language. They have not used or promoted violence.

Political prisoners are a broader category. It includes those who used or propagated violence to restore the rule of law. In this exhibition, we use the term political prisoners to refer to both groups.  

Political prisoners are often locked up without significant trial. They do not know if and when they will be released and in the worst case: whether they will leave prison alive. Using several examples, indicated on the map below, this exhibition shows how prisoners try to relate to this.  

Oranjehotel, the Netherlands
Kilmainham Gaol, Ireland
Cadeia do Aljube, Portugal
Robben Island, South Africa
Fort van Breendonk, Belgium
SS headquarters - Via Tasso, Italy
Hohenschönhausen, Germany
Perm 36 - Russia
Guantánamo Bay, Cuba/USA
Badr prison, Egypt
Jinzhou prison, China
Penal colony IK-3/Poolwolff, Russia
Evin prison, Iran
State Police Headquarters (DEOP/SP), Brazil

Panel 3: Global historical perspectives I -

Usually, political prisons are not built or used exclusively for political prisoners. Rather, there is some dichotomy between ordinary and political prisoners. The backgrounds and experiences of political prisoners, forced to live together while incarcerated, can vary widely.

Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin, Ireland (1796-1924)

This prison is also known as the Bastille of Ireland. In addition to ordinary prisoners, leaders of the 19th-century peasant and nationalist uprisings were held here. Traditionally, the living conditions of female prisoners have been worse than those of men. Children under 12 stay with their mothers in the dark old West wing, while men are in the newer, bright East wing. Between 1916 and 1924, the British army used the prison exclusively for detaining Irish men and women fighting for Irish independence, including those who led the infamous Easter Rising (1916). The male political prisoners see themselves as leaders in the independence struggle and the women more as their auxiliaries. While they show appreciation for the women's efforts, from the point of view of traditional male-female relations, they do not consider it appropriate for a woman to be in prison; a woman is supposed to take care of the family at home.

Cadeia do Aljube, Lisbon, Portugal (1928 -1965)

The centuries-old Aljube building functions as a special secret service prison during the Ditadura Nacional and Estado Novo, the authoritarian regime of Portuguese prime minister António de Oliveira Salazar. Political opponents of the dictatorship are held here awaiting interrogation at secret service headquarters. To break them mentally/physically, they are subjected to various torture practices. For instance, prisoners are locked in very small isolation cells, called gavetas or drawers, in which they can only stand upright. Prisoners are strictly separated from each other but were able to communicate by, for example, knocking on the walls.

Robben Island, Cape Town, South Africa, (1658 - 1996)

For almost 400 years, South Africa's Robben Island was used to hold ordinary and political prisoners. In 1959, the island was also set up as a heavily guarded prison for opponents of the South African apartheid regime, including Nelson Mandela. These political prisoners are treated worse than ordinary prisoners by the prison authorities. For instance, they are only allowed visitors once every six months. Contact among themselves is very limited. Only during forced labour in limestone mining can prisoners sometimes talk to each other. Due to high-educated prisoners passing on their knowledge, the limestone mine is often refered to amongst former prisoners as Mandela University.

Panel 4: Global historical perspectives II 

Fort of Breendonk, Willebroek, Belgium (1940-1944)

After the invasion of Belgium, the German occupiers converted this fort into a prison, mainly serving as a reception camp for Jews, communists, resistance fighters, and other political prisoners. Prisoners are subjected to a violent regime of malnutrition, forced labour, humiliation and torture. The prison is quite small in size (up to 600-700 prisoners at a time), making it impossible for prisoners to escape the attention of the cruel German or Flemish guards. As in the Oranjehotel, after the liberation of Belgium, (alleged) collaborators were temporarily detained here under similarly harsh conditions.

SS headquarters, Via Tasso, Rome, Italy (January 1944- June 1944)

In early 1944, the cultural section of the German embassy was turned into an SS headquarters and political prison. The building is hermetically sealed, the cells dark and overcrowded. Over 2,000 prisoners were held here, including at least 400 women. As the SS authorities regularly put German spies in the cells, prisoners only dare to talk to acquaintances. To communicate among themselves between the cells, the prisoners sing Italian songs whose words they have changed. In doing so, they take advantage of the fact that the German SS guards do not understand Italian.

Hohenschönhausen, Berlin, Germany (May 1945-1989)

In May 1945, Russian troops set up Special Camp No.3 here as a transit camp for Nazi war criminals and people suspected of espionage or terrorism. In autumn ‘46, the camp came into the hands of the Russian State Security Service (KGB) and then in 1951 it was taken over by the East German State Security and Intelligence Service (‘Stasi’). The Stasi held political opponents of the communist regime here until 1989. The windowless bunker-like prison complex is located in a strictly enclosed military zone, which must remain hidden from the outside world. Under constant supervision of the Stasi, prisoners are put to work organising and maintaining the prison. It is forbidden for prisoners to speak to each other. Nevertheless, they manage to communicate with each other through, for example, coded underlining in library books.

Panel 5: Daily activities

Besides the fixed routines of eating, sleeping, airing and washing, prisoners try to pass the time with such diverse pastimes as playing homemade games, embroidering, writing and drawing. This panel shows pictures from Ireland's Kilmainham Gaol prison. In 1921, prisoners had managed to smuggle in a camera to record their daily existence. Few photographs but many drawings and embroideries by prisoners have survived that pay testimony to daily life in the Oranjehotel.

Panel 6: Inscriptions

Writing inscriptions in the walls and doors of their cells is one way for prisoners to keep a grip on their isolated reality and express themselves. The texts range from improvised calendars to keep track of time, religious slogans, patriotic sayings, texts referring to their ideals to messages for their loved ones. Prisoners write with anything available: a nail, nail from the sole of their shoe, a pencil stub or even with their fingernails. This panel shows examples of such inscriptions from Kilmainham Gaol, the Oranjehotel and Fort van Breendonk.

Panel 7: Global perspectives III 

Besides prisons, governments also deployed penal and labour camps to instil fear among the population and put pressure on (potential) political opponents. These camps are often located in inhospitable areas. Prisoners here not only face extreme weather conditions, but are also subjected to a brutal regime of re-education, forced labour, torture, scarce food supplies, poor medical care and isolation. Another means of pressure that continues to be used are so-called enforced disappearances, in which dissidents are detained by or with the consent of the government without official recognition of the detention. Sometimes this situation is temporary, sometimes people disappear for good. The existence and modus operandi of such repression systems are preferably kept silent by the countries concerned.

Russia and China: Gulag system

The concept of Gulag refers to a large-scale centralised government system of re-education and forced labour for ordinary and (alleged) opponents in penal and labour camps. In Russia in particular, this system was developed during Stalin's communist regime (1928 -1953) and developed into a mass form of terror. According to a rough estimate, a total of 18 million people were detained in the Gulag camps, 4.5 million of whom never returned. After Stalin's death, the Gulag was gradually phased out. However, some of the camps were converted by the KGB into political prisons or penal colonies for dissidents. After the Communist takeover by Mao Zedong in 1949, the so-called Laogai system, modelled on the Russian Gulag, was introduced in China. Since then, between 40-50 million Chinese have been subjected to it. Officially, the system was abolished in 1994. However, in both China and Russia, dissidents are still regularly detained without due process for (un)certain periods of time in penal and labour camps.

Guantánamo Bay, Cuba/United States, (2002-present)

In the period following the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and the ensuing War on Terror, hundreds of alleged terrorists worldwide were rounded up and tortured in secret prisons by the CIA. Some of these were eventually detained in a military prison at the US military base Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Between 2002 and 2008, the prison held nearly 800 prisoners, most of whom muslim men and boys, who were subjected to torture, humiliation and isolation. Eventually, most were released without fair trial. However, a small group is still detained here indefinitely.

Badr prison, Cairo, Egypt, (2021 - present)

In 2013, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power after a military coup. Since then, he has ruled the country with an iron hand. Freedom of the press and civil rights are increasingly under pressure. Journalists critical of government policies are regularly arrested and detained in the infamous Badr complex, among other places. In summer 2024, for instance, journalists Khaled Mamdouh, Ramadan Gouida, Yasser Abu Al-Ela and political cartoonist Ashraf Omar were arrested. After their arrest, they were interrogated and tortured at an undisclosed location for several days. They were then jailed after a sham trial. To date, it is unclear if and when they will be released. Ashraf Omar was detained following the publication of the cartoon below on the independent news platform Al-Manassa. Here, the government is depicted as a common thief, seeking to sell state property to rich Gulf states.

Panel 8: Letters, art and films of political prisoners

Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

On 13 June 1964, South African anti-apartheid fighter and politician Nelson Mandela arrives as a prisoner on Robben Island, where he will remain until 1982. Here he writes hundreds of letters to authorities, fellow activists, his wife Winnie, and to his five children. The prison authorities have a strict policy of censoring letters. Letters are sent with long delays or not at all, and mail received is often stopped. In addition, words and sentences are regularly cut out of letters, making the content incomprehensible. Mandela manages to smuggle out letters by hiding them in belongings of prisoners being released. At the time Mandela is imprisoned on Robben Island, he is the father of five young children. He is not allowed to see them until they are 16 years old. As a result, his letters serve as the main means for him to educate them.

Liu Xiaobo (1955-2017)

Literature professor and poet Liu Xiaobo unsuccessfully tried to mediate for a non-violent retreat of demonstrating students in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Throughout the rest of his life, Lia Xiaobo worked tirelessly for human rights and democracy in China. The Chinese authorities arrest him for this on several occasions and put him in prison, a penal or labour camp. After the advent of the internet in China, he develops into a cyber-dissident and manages to circumvent the publication ban imposed on him by the government. In 2009, Liu Xiaobo is sentenced to 11 years in prison for his involvement in the drafting of the human rights manifesto, Charta 08. His wife Liu Xia is placed under house arrest. In June 2017, Xiaobo is released for medical treatment for terminal liver cancer. He dies on 13 July 2017. In 2018, his wife is able to leave for Berlin after her house arrest is lifted.

Jafar Panahi, (1960)

Panahi is considered one of the most important independent filmmakers in Iran. His films are critical of the Iranian regime and the difficult living conditions in Iran. After several clashes with Iranian authorities over his films, he was arrested in 2010. Panahi was sentenced to six years in prison, a 20-year film ban, and a ban on leaving the country. Since then, he has made five feature films and a number of short films exploring the limits of this ban, the restriction on his freedom of movement and his own making. After appealing unsuccessfully, he still has to serve his sentence in the infamous Evin prison in 2022. Prisoners here are severely tested in days-long interrogations involving various torture practices. Many prisoners go mad from this cruel treatment, endlessly banging their heads against the wall out of desperation, or try to commit suicide. Panahi went on hunger strike in protest against his ill-treatment and was released on bail after seven months.

Panel 9: Remembering and remembrance

In some countries, former political prisons have been destroyed to minimise their memory. In other countries, however, these prisons have been transformed into a museum and/or monument to remember the former prisoners and their political resistance and to commemorate the value of freedom and democracy. On an individual level, the process of commemoration and remembrance also varies. For former political prisoners, the period of imprisonment may have been so traumatising that they would prefer to forget it as much as possible. For others, on the contrary, it helps to engage in remembrance.

Remembrance rituals

A commemoration was first held at the Oranjehotel on 5 October 1946 as a reunion of former prisoners and has been held every autumn since. The same year, Cell 601 is preserved to act as a monument to the prison’s wartime history. At the Belgian Fort van Breendonk, the so-called ‘Pilgrimage’ commemoration was held for the first time on 24 September 1944. Today, this ceremony in memory of all political and racial prisoners of World War II takes place triennially.

Remembrance centres

During the Estado Novo dictatorship (1937-1945) and the civil-military dictatorship (1964-1985), the former State Police Headquarters (DEOP/SP) in Sao Paulo, Brazil served as a political prison for opponents of the regime. At the initiative of former political prisoners, it was converted into a memorial centre in 2009. During the conversion, all signatures left on the walls by political prisoners during their stay disappeared. As a lasting reminder of the political resistance, former prisoners reincribed these signatures on the walls.

A memorial centre was also created in Berlin's Hohenschönhausen on the initiative of former prisoners in the 1990s. To this day, many of them are active here including by guiding visitors while sharing their experiences.

Since 2015, the former Portuguese Aljube prison has housed a museum commemorating the resistance to dictatorship and the fight for freedom and democracy in the 20th century in Portugal and the former Portuguese colonies. The individual histories of former political prisoners have been recorded through interviews. Such personal stories are also an important part of the archive at the Oranjehotel and Hohenschönhausen.

Panel 10: What can you do?

Traditionally, family and friends try to support political prisoners wherever possible with letters, food, and clothing parcels. In addition, various advocacy organisations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Freedom House, as well as those directly involved and supporters draw (inter-) national attention to the fate of political prisoners through various acts.

(Foolish) Mothers - Argentina, Chile, China

The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, named after the large square in Buenos Aires in Argentina where they have been demonstrating in silence every Thursday since 1976 until today. They draw attention to the more than 30,000 forced disappearances during the military junta (1976 -1983) and call for the conviction of those responsible at the time. In 1977, 12 of these women were arrested and never returned. The organization has been followed by family committees in other countries, including Chile and China. For instance, the Mothers of Tiananmen Square are asking for recognition and justice from the Chinese government for the victims of the student protests on June 4, 1989.

#FreeNavalny

Aleksei Navalny (1976-2024) was one of the best-known activists fighting for freedom of expression in Russia. After being arrested several times by the Russian authorities, surviving imprisonment, torture and an attempted poisoning, Navalny was arrested again in 2021 and eventually detained in the penal colony IK- 3. Here he endured three years of psychological and physical torture and isolation. During this time, demonstrations and a social media and internet campaign by his staff team worldwide advocated for his release. Navalny died on 16 February 2024. Up to today, memorial rallies are organised regularly and flowers are laid in various places around the world in memory of Navalny and his fight for democracy, as well as other political dissidents detained by the Russian authorities more recently.

Dancing in protest and solidarity

In Iran, the rules of the Nezam regime are becoming increasingly strict. Women, for example, are forced to wear headscarves and wide clothes when outside the home, and dancing in public is forbidden. In recent years, protests against this have increased with smaller personal actions on online platforms such as Instagram and Tiktok.

The authorities are cracking down on this. In 2018, for instance, they arrested 18-year-old famous instagram personality Maedeh Hojabri. From her bedroom, she recorded more than 300 dance videos, dancing to Western pop music or Iranian songs without a veil, gathering over hundreds of thousands of online followers. Maedeh was eventually forced by the authorities to confess and apologise on Iranian state television. Under the hashtag #BeraghsToBeraghsim (let's dance), many of her followers, including numerous Iranian women and men, posted their own dance videos on social media as a show of support. In 2023, partly on the initiative of Amnesty International, a similar global solidarity action took place under the hashtag #Ektabangirls. This is a protest against the arrest of five young Iranian women, the Ektaban girls, who danced in public in a square.