Mamula ( cnr, Мамула), also known colloquially as Lastavica, is an uninhabited

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanent ...

in the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

, within the southwestern Montenegrin

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Herceg Novi Herceg Novi ( cyrl, Херцег Нови, ) is a coastal town in Montenegro located at the Western entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of the Herceg Novi Municipality with around 33,000 in ...

. Mamula is located between

Prevlaka Prevlaka () is a small peninsula in southern Croatia, near the border with Montenegro, at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor on the eastern Adriatic coast. Because of its strategic location in the southern Adriatic, in the aftermath of the SFR Yug ...

and

Luštica Luštica ( Montenegrin: Луштица, ) is a peninsula on the south Adriatic Sea, located at the entrance of the Bay of Kotor ( sh, Boka kotorska or ''Boka'') in southwestern Montenegro. It effectively separates Tivat Bay from the Adriatic. The ...

peninsulas at the entrance to the

Bay of Kotor The Bay of Kotor ( Montenegrin and Serbian: , Italian: ), also known as the Boka, is a winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated around the bay. It is also the southernmost part of the hi ...

. This small islet is of circular shape, and has 200m in diameter. It is away from Herceg Novi.

History

During the period of the

Venetian Republic The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

rule, the island was known as Rondina. The island has a fort, built in 1853 by

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

general Lazarus von Mamula. The fort takes up about 90% of the island's surface area. Along with the fortification on Prevlaka's Cape Oštro as well as Arza fortification on Luštica's Cape Arza, both of which were erected at the same time also on suggestion by general Lazarus von Mamula, fort Mamula was part of the Austro-Hungarian Army's contingency plans of preventing the enemy entrance into the

Concentration camp in World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, from 30 May 1942 onwards, the

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

forces of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

converted the Mamula fort into a concentration camp. The concentration camp was known for torture and cruelty to prisoners. Most of the camp's prisoners came from the neighboring area.

Luxury resort redevelopment

In early January 2016 the government of Montenegro, over the objections of those who were once imprisoned on the island, approved a plan to convert the site of this former concentration camp into a luxury beach resort by Switzerland-based Orascom Development Holding AG under a 49-year lease deal. Former

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali had previously written the Montenegrin Parliament expressing surprise that the "only solution for preserving and using the fort is a mere business arrangement and privatisation agreement.”

In popular culture

The 1959 Yugoslav movie ''

Campo Mamula Campo may refer to: Places ;Cameroon * Campo, Cameroon, in the South Province ;Equatorial Guinea * Río Campo, in the Litoral Province ;France * Campo, Corse-du-Sud, a commune on the island of Corsica ;Italy * Campo P.G., a World War II priso ...

'' starring

Ljuba Tadić Ljubomir "Ljuba" Tadić ( sr-cyr, Љубомир Љуба Тадић; 31 May 1929 – 28 October 2005) was a Yugoslav actor who enjoyed a reputation as one of the greatest names in the history of former Yugoslav cinema. Biography He made his scr ...

, Pavle Vuisić, and

Dragan Laković Dragan (, sr-Cyrl, Драган) is a popular Serbo-Croatian masculine given name derived from the common Slavic element '' drag'' meaning "dear, beloved". The feminine form is Dragana. People named Dragan include: Politicians and office holde ...

, produced by

Avala Film Avala Film ( sr-cyr, Aвала филм) is a Serbian film studio, founded in 1946 as the first studio founded in post-war Yugoslavia. It is currently declared bankrupt. Overview In June 1946, the government of the Socialist Federal Republic of Y ...

and directed by

Velimir Stojanović Velimir ( sr-cyr, Велимир) is a Serbo-Croatian masculine given name and sometimes a surname, a Slavic name derived from elements ''vele'' "great" and ''mir'' "peace, prestige". It may refer to: * Velimir Ilić (born 1951), politician * Vel ...

depicts and dramatizes the World War II events at the island that got converted into concentration camp during this period. In autumn 2013, a Serbian film ''Mamula'' was announced. Later retitled ''

Killer Mermaid A killer is someone or something that kills, such as a murderer or a serial killer. Killer may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Killer (''Home and Away''), a character from ''Home and Away'' * Killer Kane, ...

'' for overseas release, it was shot on location and incorporates the island's history, featuring an ex-German soldier living on the island killing people to feed to a mermaid.IMDb page for "Mamula"
31 August 2014

References

{{reflist Islands of Montenegro Islands of the Adriatic Sea Herceg Novi Uninhabited islands of Montenegro