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26-550: La Santé is one of the three main prisons of the Paris area, along with Fleury-Mérogis (Europe's largest prison) and Fresnes , both located in the southern suburbs. The architect Joseph Auguste Émile Vaudremer built the prison, which was inaugurated on 20 August 1867. The prison is located on the site of a former coal market and replaced the Madelonnettes Convent in the 3rd Arrondissement, which had been used as

52-424: A French police officer in 1954. He later became such a devout Catholic while in prison awaiting execution that he has since been proposed for as a candidate for sainthood. Fesch's father was a wealthy banker of Belgian origin, an artist and atheist who was distant from his son. Jacques was a young aimless dreamer. Brought up a Catholic , he abandoned religion by the age of 17, after his parents divorced. He

78-438: A boat. On 24 February 1954, to fund the purchase of a boat, he went to rob Alexandre Silberstein, a money changer , of gold coins . Silberstein was struck but not unconscious, and raised the alarm. Fesch fled, losing his glasses , and shot wildly at Jean Vergne, a pursuing police officer, killing him. Minutes later he was arrested. Murdering a police officer was a heinous crime and public opinion, inflamed by newspaper reports,

104-474: A leading center of Islamist radicalization in European prisons . Built between 1964 and 1968, the 180 hectare complex of Fleury-Mérogis comprises four entities: The main prison is formed by a polygonal central building from which radiate five blocks, each one consisting of three wings with four levels of cells. Each block has a capacity of 900 prisoners. Fleury-Mérogis is one of the three main prisons of

130-819: A prison since the French Revolution . Previously, on the same site, was a Maison de la santé (House of Health), built on the orders of Anne of Austria and transferred in 1651 to what is now the Sainte-Anne Hospital Center . In 1899, after the closure and demolition of the prison Grande Roquette , convicts were transferred to La Santé either to await transfer to the Prison of St-Laurent-du-Maroni in French Guiana or to await execution. Initially, there were 500 cells in La Santé, which

156-629: A role model opposed to those who emphasize the hope of his final conversion. His writings have often been quoted in Catholic publications. His personal journal and letters to his mother and brother are often about mystical or theological matters. The story of Jacques Fesch remains relatively unknown in France. However, inspired by the true events of this "murderer turned Christian," the students of Ss Cyril and Method High School in Nitra , Slovakia , under

182-412: A spiritual journal . He accepted his punishment serenely and was reconciled to his wife the night before his execution. His last journal entry was "In five hours, I will see Jesus !". An appeal for clemency to President René Coty failed, and he was guillotined October 1, 1957. After his death his wife and daughter honoured his memory as an example of redemption . At first he was excoriated by

208-404: Is still under less population stress than other locations such as Fresnes Prison and Villepinte Prison . Infamous and notable past and present prisoners include: 48°38′16″N 2°22′24″E  /  48.637904°N 2.3733248°E  / 48.637904; 2.3733248 Jacques Fesch Jacques Fesch (April 6, 1930 – October 1, 1957) was a French convicted criminal who murdered

234-543: The Liberation of France , only common criminals were executed in the courtyard of the prison (except for several FLN activists between 1958 and 1960). Those executed included Marcel Petiot in 1946, Marquis Alain de Bernardy de Sigoyer in 1947, Emile Buisson ("Public Enemy No. 1") in 1956, Jacques Fesch in 1957, and Georges Rapin, known as "Mr. Bill", in 1960. The last death sentences by guillotine at La Santé were those of Roger Bontems and Claude Buffet . They were

260-606: The Paris area, the Fresnes Prison (the second largest in France) and the La Santé Prison (located in the centre of Paris) being the other two. There is wire surrounding the top of the building, preventing helicopter and other possible escapes. The bottom of the building is enclosed with trash that the prisoners have thrown. While overcrowded (at 143% capacity as of 2018 , with over 4,300 inmates), Fleury-Mérogis

286-530: The administration. The visiting rooms for these prisoners are at 1 rue Messier as for other prisoners (where there is nearby accommodation for visiting relatives). The movie Quartier V.I.P. is set partly there. These are the only known escapes from this prison. In front of the exit of the prison there was a cafe called À la bonne Santé (In good health). Relatives of the prisoners would meet there with released prisoners. Scenes from several films took place and were filmed there. The cafe closed in 1980. Currently

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312-428: The authors of an escape attempt with hostage-taking that ended with the death of the hostages in 1971. Sentenced to death at Troyes on 29 June 1972, they were executed on the following 28 November. According to them, those sentenced to death who were from the Île-de-France region were locked in Fresnes Prison (which from 1978 would become the only prison permitted to host executions) but neither were executed due to

338-536: The eventual abolition of the death penalty. The last two remaining guillotines in France are now stored in the basement of the National Centre for Guidance in Fresnes prison. In 2000, the chief doctor of the prison, Véronique Vasseur, published a book in which she denounced the very poor imprisonment conditions. The book was a shock to the public and prompted parliamentary evaluation of the situation. In 2014,

364-402: The pavement. The first execution – and the first in Paris for ten years – occurred on 6 August 1909. It was for Georges Duchemin, who had been convicted of parricide . On 7 May 1932, Eugene Boyer, a 27-year-old criminal who had been denied a presidential pardon the previous day by President Paul Doumer , was to be executed by guillotine. Doumer was assassinated the day the execution

390-561: The premises are used by the prison administration. Fleury-M%C3%A9rogis Prison Fleury-Mérogis Prison ( Maison d'arrêt de Fleury-Mérogis ) is a prison in France , located in the town of Fleury-Mérogis , in the southern suburbs of Paris . With more than 4,100 prisoners, it is the largest prison in Europe. It is operated by the Ministry of Justice . Fleury-Mérogis is notorious as

416-470: The presidential office – and he was sent to prison in Guiana . He was referred to as André Baillard in the book by Henri Charrière . Nearly forty prisoners ended their lives in this place. It was also at this site that the second-last public execution in France was performed, for burglar and double murderer Max Bloch on 2 June 1939. Fifteen days later on 17 June, Eugen Weidmann , guilty of six murders,

442-470: The prison closed for renovations, which required 5 years to complete The prison features a hub-and-spoke design similar to that which had been implemented previously for the construction of Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. The prison is surrounded by: One of the peculiarities of la Santé is that, until 2000, inmates were divided by geographic origin and ethnicity within

468-475: The prison. During the German Occupation of France , in addition to common law criminals, there were also executions of 18 Resistance fighters and communists . Nine of them were guillotined between August 1941 and July 1942. The other nine were shot on 30 April 1944. They are memorialized by a plaque affixed to the wall of the prison at the corner of Rue Jean-Dolent and Rue de la La Santé. After

494-422: The prison. One group of prisoners (those who are studying in particular) are grouped separately but most of them were arranged in four blocks: Block A: Western Europe Block B: Black Africa Block C: North Africa Block D: rest of the world. These blocks have undergone substantial renovation since 2000. The prison was partially closed from 2014 until 2019 in order to be rehabilitated; the parole section, however,

520-550: The public, but with the work of Soeur Véronique, a Carmelite nun, and Lawyer Augustin-Michel Lemonnier, the family effected publication of his writings, and from the 1970s these served as an inspiration to many. On September 21, 1987 the Archbishop of Paris , Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger , opened a diocesan inquiry into his life; the cause for his beatification was formally opened in 1993. This has proved controversial, with those who feel his early crimes make him unfitting as

546-489: Was expelled from school for laziness and misconduct. At 21, he married his pregnant girlfriend Pierrette in a civil ceremony . He gave up a position at his father's bank, lived the life of a playboy, left his wife and their daughter, and fathered an illegitimate son with another woman. Disillusioned with his life, he dreamed of escaping to sail around the South Pacific Ocean , but his parents refused to pay for

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572-613: Was guillotined in front of Versailles prison and on 24 June the decision was made to ban public executions. In the same decision, the death penalty was made dependent on the Court of Appeal of Seine (either Seine-et-Oise or Aube ), with prisoners executed inside Prison de la Santé. On 15 March 1940, the Vocoret brothers, who killed three policemen in Issy-les-Moulineaux , were the first criminals to be guillotined inside

598-526: Was increased to 1,000 cells in 1900. The cells are 4 metres long, 2.5m wide and 3m high. The prison has a total capacity of as many as 2,000 prisoners, divided into 14 divisions. With executions having previously been performed at the entrance to Grande Roquette, it was decided to do something similar at La Santé. The guillotine was erected at the corner of the Rue de la Santé and the Boulevard Arago, on

624-403: Was kept in operation during this time. Prison de la Santé is now the last intra-muros prison in Paris. The other large prisons (in all categories) dependent on Paris are Poissy , Fleury-Mérogis , Fresnes , and Melun . The imprisonment of convicted "personalities" is one of the features of La Santé Prison. The area where these well-known people are imprisoned is termed the "special area" by

650-400: Was scheduled: in France, the president could reverse his decision until the last moment and obviously Boyer could not benefit from this potential "ultimate mercy", so the execution was cancelled "in extremis" (twenty minutes before the time scheduled). He was finally pardoned by Albert Lebrun on 13 May – which respected the tradition of pardoning those sentenced to death the first time in

676-466: Was strongly in favour of his execution. The Cour d'assises of Paris condemned him to death on 6 April 1957. At first Fesch was indifferent to his plight and mocked his lawyer's Catholic faith whom he nicknamed : "the panther of God". However, after a year in prison, he experienced a profound religious conversion, became very pious, and bitterly regretted his crime. He corresponded regularly with his family, notably his brother and stepmother, and kept

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