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It was equipped with the most advanced
security system in the world at the time.
Monitored every second
by heavily armed guards.
On an island in San Francisco Bay
surrounded by cold,
shark-infested waters.
Yet three inventive felons
managed to practically disappear
from the escape-proof maximum security
federal penitentiary of Alcatraz.
How?
We've broken down their crafty
survival strategy.
It's going to be
just like if you were there.
Originally used as a military prison
in the 19th century,
in 1933,
the American government
decided Alcatraz
would keep the country's
most dangerous criminals behind bars.
Al Capone
and George 'Machine Gun' Kelly
were just a few of
the most infamous gangsters,
thieves amd murderers.
But in its 30 years of operation,
the prison housed more than
15,000 dangerous inmates.
Bank robber Frank Morris
was one of them.
He was a lifelong criminal,
first convicted at age 13,
and escaped several times
from other prisons.
But when he was in his thirties,
he was sentenced to 14 years in Alcatraz.
Escape-proof, right?
Well, not for him.
In 1962,
he masterminded
the most amazing
prison break in history.
If you want to know how he
and two other inmates did it,
keep watching.
You all know how much research we do
to bring you amazing survival stories and strategies
you can use in the most extreme scenarios.
That's why we love Wondrium,
a platform packed with not only documentaries
and travel stories
but video courses, tutorials, and much more.
It's academically reliable and fun.
In every course, you can learn from the best experts in the world.
Wondrium is a museum for your mind, full of amazing facts.
This time I found a mind-blowing story about Alcatraz
in the Series “Native Peoples of North America”,
hosted by the Award Winning professor Daniel M. Cobb
and produced by The Smithsonian Institute.
In it, professor Cobb explains that The Rock
became a hope for Native American activists
who occupied the island in 1969
and created a community on the abandoned prison for a brief period.
During the 19 months they occupied Alcatraz,
the abandoned prison became a symbol of indigenous survival worldwide,
instead of a terror for the worst criminals in the country.
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But to enjoy this museum for your mind,
you have to get out of jail first,
so stick around.
When Frank Morris arrived
on Alcatraz Island,
2.5 km (1.5mi)
from San Francisco's coastline,
he joined forces with Allen West,
another escape artist
he had met in an Atlanta prison.
It was West's second time
at The Rock,
so he knew the place inside and out.
He had noticed
that one of the vents
in Cell Block B wasn't working.
It was a perfect exit.
They started planning their escape.
And then,
they realized
two other inmates
they knew from Atlanta
were also in Alcatraz.
The bank-robbing
Anglin brothers,
John and Clarence, were recruited.
Being assigned to painting detail
on their cell block's roof,
gave West the chance
to map their route out.
When he was painting
outside the walls of the prison,
he found a pipe connected
to the broken ventilation duct
they wanted to use as an exit.
This gave the group a chance
to store some tools and materials
in a makeshift workshop
out of sight of the guards.
With West's access to tools,
they made a homemade drill
out of a broken vacuum cleaner engine,
which helped them
make small holes
in the walls of their cells.
They also created an art technique
that helped them fool the guards
by creating paper-mâché-like sculptures
out of soap and toilet paper.
If you want to know what they used it for,
skip to the next step.
Alcatraz inmates
had one hour per day
to practice a musical instrument,
meaning dozens of amateur musicians
making noise at the same time.
The group took advantage of it
to slowly dig their way out
of their cells,
one scoop at a time.
They used the handmade drill
and sharpened spoons
they stole from the prison's kitchen
to break through
20-cm-thick (8 in) walls
just large enough to squeeze through.
It took them months,
but it led them to an unguarded corridor.
To fool the guards,
they used paper mâché
from toilet paper and soap
to patch the walls and hide the holes.
And the night of the escape,
they left incredible sculptures of heads
almost identical to their own.
During the evening's head count,
no one noticed that three inmates
weren't in their beds.
Yes, we said three.
Unfortunately for Allen West,
one of the originators of the plot,
his careful planning
didn't account for him
not being able to fit through the hole
he made in his cell wall.
You should be excited
to get out of the prison
and jump straight into the water,
but there is a 2 km (1.2 mi) swim
separating you from the shore.
Chances are you'll die of hypothermia,
drown,
or get eaten by sharks.
That's why the Angling brothers
built a raft out of raincoats
stolen from the prison factory.
Once the group was on shore,
and no one had noticed the escape,
their only challenge was
to survive the Ocean.
Official versions say the group died at sea.
But a few years later,
the Anglins' mother
began receiving Christmas cards,
including photos of the brothers.
In 2018,
a man sent a letter to
San Francisco police
claiming to be John Anglin,
now 83.
It said Morris,
the mastermind behind the escape,
died in 2008
and his brother Clarence
passed away in 2011.
Authorities did not believe the letter,
but if it was true,
that means the group managed to escape
and hide for nearly 60 years.
Unfortunately,
there are other,
more recent criminals
who have the ability to avoid justice.
Have you heard of Ted Bundy?
He killed dozens of women
and eluded police for years.
But we've come up with some tips
to help you survive
such a fearsome predator.