Tarrafal Concentration Camp, also known as the “Camp of Slow Death,” was one of Portugal’s most infamous colonial prisons. Located in the village of Chão Bom on the island of Santiago in Cape Verde, Africa, it was established in 1936 during the Estado Novo dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar. Initially used to imprison Portuguese political rebels, Tarrafal later became a site of repression for African freedom fighters from Angola, Guinea-Bissau, and Cape Verde who resisted Portuguese colonial rule.
Tarrafal was strategically placed in an isolated, disease-prone region with extreme temperatures, limited access to clean drinking water, and a high prevalence of mosquitoes, ensuring harsh and deadly conditions for its inmates. The prison’s stated goal was to neutralize political and social opponents of the Portuguese regime, both physically and psychologically.
From its inception, the prison administration modeled its operations after the brutal tactics of Nazi concentration camps. Prisoners were subjected to forced labor, malnutrition, medical neglect, and constant psychological torture. They were forced to work intense labour under the West African sun until they were released or died.
One of the most notorious methods of punishment was the “Frigideira” (The Frying Pan)—a concrete punishment cell with extreme temperatures reaching 50-60°C, where inmates suffered from dehydration, heat exhaustion, and mosquito-borne illnesses.
The First Phase: Portuguese Antifascists (1936–1954)
When Tarrafal opened in 1936, its first detainees were Portuguese antifascists, including communists, trade unionists, and sailors who had participated in anti-Salazar uprisings. Among the 340 Portuguese political prisoners who passed through the camp, 34 perished due to the inhumane conditions.
Key figures imprisoned in this period included Bento Gonçalves, leader of the Portuguese Communist Party, and Mário Castelhano, head of the General Confederation of Labor. The international outcry over these atrocities contributed to the camp’s temporary closure in 1954.
The Second Phase: Repression of African Freedom Fighters (1961–1974)
In 1961, as African liberation movements escalated in Portuguese colonies, the portuguese government reopened Tarrafal to detain freedom fighters from the national independence struggles in Angola, Guinea-Bissau, and Cape Verde. More than 200 African nationalists were sent to the camp, including members of the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), and the Popular Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe (MLSTP).
Although Tarrafal had always been infamous for its cruelty, the reopening of the camp marked the beginning of an even more extreme level of repression. African prisoners endured harsher treatment than their Portuguese predecessors, as they were viewed not only as political threats but also as colonial subjects who needed to be crushed into submission.
Beatings were more frequent and more violent. Forced labor became more punishing, with detainees forced to work under the scorching sun for hours, often with minimal food or water. Guards took pleasure in humiliating African prisoners, subjecting them to prolonged periods of naked isolation, deliberately spoiled food, and psychological games designed to break their will.
One of the most infamous forms of punishment was the “Holandinha” (Little Holland)—a tiny, airtight cell where prisoners were left in unbearable heat, suffocating humidity, and total darkness for days at a time. With no room to lie down and only a small hole for air, detainees suffered from dehydration, heat exhaustion, and near-asphyxiation. Those who survived often emerged delirious and permanently weakened.
Sickness and disease spread quickly in the camp, but medical care was virtually nonexistent. Malaria, dysentery, tuberculosis, and severe malnutrition weakened prisoners to the point of death. Rather than execute prisoners outright—a move that might have attracted international condemnation—the Portuguese authorities preferred to let them die slowly and invisibly.
Although the recorded number of deaths at Tarrafal during this period was lower than in the earlier phase—only three prisoners are recorded to have died, one Angolan and two Guineans—the impact of the camp was far greater than these numbers suggest. Many who survived carried lifelong physical and psychological scars. Others left the prison so weakened by disease and malnutrition that they did not live long after their release.
The Fall of Tarrafal
Following the Carnation Revolution in Portugal in April 1974, which led to the collapse of the Estado Novo dictatorship, Tarrafal was officially closed a week later. This marked the end of Portugal’s brutal use of concentration camps to silence dissent.
In 2009, the camp was transformed into the Museum of Resistance, serving as a powerful reminder of the struggles against Portuguese colonialism. In 2016, the Cape Verdean government declared the site a National Heritage Site, and efforts are ongoing to have it recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Sources:
https://www.huckmag.com/article/exploring-the-antifascist-history-of-cape-verdes-tarrafal-concentration-camp
https://www.wmf.org/monuments/tarrafal-concentration-camp
https://whc.unesco.org/document/193702
