>> there was a moment there where it was lying, wait a

second. this is a little different. it's one. europe's oldest cities with a history scarred by war. it was invaded not once but twice by attila the hun. even today its ministry of defense building stands in ruins from nato bombings in 1999. this is belgrade. capital city of serbia. less than two miles from the city center, serbia's largest and most infamous prison.

known locally as cz. >> my parents are from belgrade so there was a bit more emotion going to a prison in serbia than say other prisons around the world. cz has an ominous reputation for serbs. it is where inmates went in and you would never see them again. >> cz opened its doors in 1950 and has housed countless prisoners including the late serbian president slobodan milosevic. many were there when he was there in 2001 while awaiting trial for corruption and war crimes. today it houses some of the nation's most dangerous criminals. including the assassin of a former serbian prime minister. >> they have committed all kinds of criminal offenses. every criminal offense in the

books. these include organized crimes, war crime and other serious offenses such as homicide. >> like american prisons, cz faces the problems of overcrowding. but serbia incarcerates a much smaller portion of its citizens. one out of nearly every 700 versus one out of every 130 in the united states. >> at the moment, a total of 1,200 inmates are being held here which is 2 1/2 times more than the prison's actual capacity. >> while some parts of cz have been modernized, much of the prison shows signs of age of one especially haunting section is completely abandoned behind locked doors. the execution chamber. >> we went down probably three, four stories underground to an area best described kind of like a scene out of aliens. >> they literally have puddles of the water on the ground and

they have boards that are slightly elevated. and you kind of do a balancing act to cross these boards down this old corridor. and then you just come upon an open room with a wall. >> translator: we are currently in a room where executions used to be carried out. prisoners on death row stood by the wall. the firing squad stood here. >> translator: it had a squad of ten executioners. some of whom had loaded weapons while others did not. the execution squad fired at the inmate. traces of wooden plank that's were used to prevent bullets from ricocheting are still visible on the wall. the prisoner on death row spent his last days and hours in these rooms here. >> i've been inside a lot of prisons and certainly i've been to death row and other areas

that have kind of a heavy, heavy feel to them. but i've never been in an environment like this where you just were overpowered with a sense of death, you know. we knew we were working in a place where lots of people had died. >> today the death penalty is outlawed in serbia. and the final execution in this chamber occurred in 1989. back aboveground, our crew discovered sights that compared to american prisons were at once familiar and foreign. >> the first thing that jumped out at me and the crew was the fact that all the inmates seemed to be wearing personal clothes. no prison issue items whatsoever. that was a little jarring. the staff kind of going along the lines of the militaristic style, they were all in very distinct uniforms.

the staff members would encounter each other. they would stop, salute and shake hands. each and every time. there was this military formality about how they greeted each other throughout the day. >> one of the things that stood out to me in this facility was all the inmates that smoke. it's everywhere. everybody is smoking. most prisons in the u.s. having very tight designated smoking areas, or eliminating tobacco altogether. seeing eight guys, you know, next to each other all smoking at the same time, and filming in this environment, that was a little tough sometimes. >> the guards in an american prison are very active. you go out there and you see guys lifting weights, playing all sorts of gail. the yard at cz was a contrast. it almost looked like a tenement

building area. it was a concrete square area. all they can do is play soccer. that is their recreation. that's their yard. >> when it come to contraband, we could have been in any u.s. prison. >> translator: the biggest problem we're dealing with are drugs and inmates bringing in cell phones. >> we are about to witness a routine search in detention cells. one officer is directly involved in searching the cell and the items found in the cells while the other team is a so-called intervention team and provides back-up. >> officers quickly discover what appears to be a pair of shanks, a cause nor alarm in american prisons but apparent had i not a big concern here. while such incidents are rare, it does not mean it could not

happen. many use it to cut things such as food. >> a lot of these guys have food that are brought in to them by their visitors. they use it to cut up their vegetables and the meats they have. it wasn't a big deal. >> but when it comes to security, the rules are unbendable. >> the warden of cz had a background in military. he was actually a high ranking member of a special forces. he carried himself like a military man. and i was very surprised when i asked the warden what the inmate on staff, the assault stats were. >> translator: in the six years that i have been the warden here, we have not had any such cases. it might seem improbable to you but we did not have any such cases. i put a lot of stress on the prison staff treating the inmates decently and continue

mates strictly observing house rules. if anything happens, it is sporadic. we do not have many problems here. >> i remember my first day when i come here, it is for me like a horror movie. but now it is okay. >> we met one english speaking inmate who agreed that the staff does what it can to make life here tolerable. serving six months for a white collar crime, he asked to remain anonymous. >> we are small country. we are not rich country like america or like england. this condition for our country is okay. it could be better but it is okay. this prison experience. i'm going to be another man. i'm going to be looking about freedom in another way. to appreciate freedom. to appreciate to walk in the park. to drink coke. to see birds sky. freedom is freedom. that's all. >> while cz's urban setting and concrete surroundings make some long for simple pleasures, our crew headed deeper into serbia and found a prison that except

for the razor wire was almost a natural paradise.ba boy underneath my blanket just so i can get on e-trade. check my investment portfolio, research stocks... wait, why are you taking... oh, i see...solitary. just a man and his thoughts. and a smartphone... with an e-trade app. ♪ nobody knows... [ male announcer ] e-trade. investing unleashed. sweet & salty nut bars... they're made from whole roasted nuts and dipped in creamy peanut butter, making your craving for a sweet & salty bar irresistible, by nature valley.

for a sweet & salty bar irresistible, so i got my nephew i neto build a website., i hired someone to make my website... five months ago. we are building a website by ourselves. [ woman announcing ] there's an easier way. create your own small-business site... with intuit websites. just choose a style that suits your business, then customize, publish and get found... in three easy steps. [ bell dings ] sweet. [ announcer ] all from just $7.99 a month. get a 30-day free trial... at intuit.com.

38 miles southeast of belgrade, serbia, is the town of pozarevac. in the middle of this rural farming community is another serbian prison. out of the nation's 28 penal institutions, this correctional facility houses the greatest number of high security inmates. some 1,500 in all. it would also prove to be one of the most unique prisons ever profiled on lockup. >> translator: we have inmates who have committed some of the worst crimes and have received the longest and most severe punishments. these include inmates that are perceived to be a threat to inmates and security personnel alike. >> it was built for 800 inmates.

but now houses more than 1,300. the inmates considered the most dangerous of all are housed in this unit. it is called seventh block. >> translator: there are other housing units here. they call this building a prison within a prison. >> vladimir is serving four years for theft. he will says he is housed here because of conflicts with other inmates. >> translator: well, i had some problems when i was in general population since there are a lot of bad people here. there are a lot of what we call rats. if i had stayed there, i could have ended up with six more months in prison. nowadays, if you break somebody's nose or jaw, they immediately give you more time in prison without any discussion. >> but it's outside of seventh block in the general population area that the uniqueness of

zabala is most obvious. >> you walk out into this courtyard that was beautiful. they had this very large fountain. and i was a little shocked, turned my head and saw peacocks. the further we got on to the prison grounds, everywhere you look there were birds. >> then you look a little closer and you see flowers. beautiful flowers in bloom. and gardening. inmates planting other plants. laundry hanging out. and it is almost soothing when you walk through there. >> chickens, peacocks, all these birds that you would never think would be living here. how are they here? >> translator: we breed those. they aren't wild birds. >> tuesday it have a positive effect on the prison? >> yes, of course. >> how about for the staff? >> translator: on them tunch animals, nature in general are

pleasant to look at. >> peacocks are one thing. later on the tour we were blown away by what we saw next. >> we went to see their yard where the guys exercise. and at first i saw weights. i'm used to seeing that in every prison. then there is this beautiful pool. this olympic size pool that the inmates swim in. >> have you been in any other pools in prison? >> yes. >> do they all have pools? >> no. >> you would never see this in an american prison. it is too easy for an inmate to drown another inmate or hurt a staff member. you're not going to see it. i was stunned by that. >> the unusual sights here that apparently have only just begun. >> we were on our way up front and i noticed the long line of inmates. they all had their bags. i asked the guy what's going to here? they explained that some of

these guys have the privilege and the right to go home for the weekend. >> the doors open, out they go. they went right out into a parking lot. either family members, friends were picking them up in cars, they were getting into cabs and taking off with their weekend passes. >> the men are all trusted to come back on their own. according to the prison, it is only rarely one doesn't come back. but of all the surprises our crew discovered, it was their second encounter with seventh block inmate vladimir that proved the most surprising of all. he was on his way to a conjugal visit with his wife. >> it's a private visit between me and her and nobody else. we can spend three hours together. >> just a few of the american prisons profiled on lockup allowed these visits.

usually overnight stays between well behaved inmates and their spouses. what made this visit so unusual, however, was that alexandra is not only vladimir's wife but his partner in crime. she is currently incarcerated at a serbian women's prison and was transported here for the visit. >> it's a nice privilege for somebody locked up. >> it's not a privilege. it is their right. the right of every prisoner who has a spouse. >> well, i feel good about it but i also have cold feet. it is hard to explain. i sometime wonder if she even wants to see me again. i don't know. it is hard to put into words but i'm happy about it. >> finally, vladimir and alexandra are reunited. though this was like no prison we've ever seen, the warden claims the unusual atmosphere here is effective. >> translator: it was a conscious decision. the area you see didn't exist before. we renovated it. as for the park, we built all that to make the serving of sentences easier.

i must say that we haven't had any major problems so far. there is only sporadic violence but no large scale problems no, large scale violence. coming up next on "lockup: world tour," it is billed to house not only killers, but the leaders of the organized crime rings. located nearly 75 miles to the southwest of warsaw lies looking good! you lost some weight. you noticed! these clothes are too big, so i'm donating them. how'd you do it? eating right, whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios...

five whole grains, 110 calories. multigrain cheerios... fresher less processed foods introducing freshpet vital recipes so fresh the only preservative we use is the fridge freshpet fresh food for fido over time, my lashes thinned. after 40, i didn't have enough lashes. i'd heard of latisse® but had questions. my doctor said... latisse® is the only fda approved prescription treatment

for inadequate or not enough lashes. now with latisse® my lashes are longer, darker, with more than double the fullness in 16 weeks. if you are using or have used, prescription products for eye pressure problems, use latisse® under close doctor care. latisse® use may cause increased brown pigmentation of the colored part of the eye which is likely permanent. eyelid skin darkening may occur which may be reversible. if you experience eye problems or have eye surgery, consult your doctor. common side effects include itchy eyes and eye redness. i trust latisse® and i use it too. my lashes changed as i got older. now i use latisse®. more than double the fullness in 16 weeks. are your lashes thinning as you get older? why wait? ask your doctor about latisse® from allergan, a company with 60 years of eye care expertise.

located nearly 75 miles to the southwest of warsaw lies poland's largest city, lodz. this is the nation's newest facility. built in 2003, it holds 619 inmates with some of the most dangerous in poland. >> you walk through those gates. you're surrounded by everything, the latest, greatest, high-tech security. pretty amazing actually. most high-tech facility i've ever been in. they were very proud of it. very proud of the technology. >> even our crew was subjected

to the prison's stringent security measures. scott is our audio technician. like all visitors, he must first pass through a state-of-the-art x-ray scanning machine used to prevent smuggling. >> translator: this tea vice is used on persons visiting dangerous inmates and inmates that were before incarceration exposed to drugs. it is very accurate but also very safe. it detects organic and nonorganic objects hidden on a person and inside the person, money, cell phones, drugs, in the air, the body, in natural cavities. we had an incident where a woman was trying to smuggle something in her tampon which she had inserted inside. >> in a prison that house what's are considered some of poland's most dangerous criminals,

technology is only one part of the security equation. >> translator: two inmates, members of organized crime, were communicating illegally with inmates in other areas themselves refused to leave the areas. our negotiations did not succeed. that's why we made the decision to bring in an intervention unit. >> we knew before we arrived on the actual scene that it was a drill. simply a drill. but at the moment that we walked up, it was so life-like and real that we thought, wait a second. did they happen to stumble on a real situation on their way to the drill? >> they were in character. they were doing exactly as they were trained to do. and the officers that were playing the part of the inmates were not making it easy on any

of these guys. they were going full board to try to get these guys to mess up. >> it's also no coincidence that the inmates portrayed in this drill were supposed to be organized crime offenders. since the fall of communism in 1989, poland has seen a sharp uptake in organized crime and its members are filling polish prisons. officials say this man is the leader of an organized crime syndicate. he is serving four years for multiple offenses including the commission of murder. >> translator: the three people, just three people commit the crime together, they are called an organized crime, a criminal group, and they get sentenced as a criminal group. >> how many people died in your case? how many people were murdered in your case? >> one. >> how was this person murdered? >> the person was suffocated,

strangulation. >> do you consider yourself a dangerous person? >> i don't consider myself to be a dangerous person. i'm a normal person. if someone gets on my nerves, people's stupidity gets on my nerves the most, i cannot stand people's stupidity. i get upset. if something is funny, i laugh. like any normal person. i have will feelings like any person. >> he just had a certain charisma about hum. and a lot of inmates have been cut off from society for a long period of time. they're in a personal communications skills aren't that great. his were amazing. but he didn't want to get too detailed about his crime or his background in organized crime.

so he kind of spoke in metaphorical responses. often quoting well known philosophers, great literary authors, which for me was a little unusual in dealing with an inmate. >> maybe i will say this. one time in the 16th century there was a polish philosopher and he said this. the law in poland is like a spider's web. a big fly will get through but a small one will get stuck. i came to a conclusion that you have to find strength within yourself. >> and he would soon show us that strength was one thing he didn't lack. >> we were able to come back about a half-hour, 45 minutes later. and they opened up the security door and he is in there in sunglasses, a full like workout suit. he has his water bottles all together. the guy is ripped. i mean, he is big. a big guy. and he makes it out, well, this is just a cell workout.

this is nothing. this is all i can do right here. >> i was a little shocked by his workout outfit. again, i'm used to seeing guys in the little prison issued shorts. and he was decked out in this professional looking fitness gear. so i kind of made a joke with him. and i said you're going to get a lot of letters from female american television viewers. lockup viewers. which just delighted him. >> but he was clear about the one american woman who interested him the most. >> she's one of the stars of his favorite tv show. >> translator: wilma flintstone is my ideal woman. >> is fred the ideal man? >> translator: no, no, fred is cool but a little infantile. >> coming up, a 13th century castle in the czech republic houses an infamous lifer. >> i was sentenced to life in

prison for committing five murders. [ bird squawks ] ♪ [ bird screeching ] ♪ [ elevator bell dings ] [ sighs ] how mad is she? she kicked me out. but i took the best stuff. i'll get the wrench. ♪ [ male announcer ] kohler's tresham collection. life. with a twist. ♪ if something is simply the color of gold, is it really worth more? we don't think so. chase sapphire preferred is a card of a different color. that's because you always get two times the points on travel, from taxis to trains, airfare to hotels, and all kinds of dining...

from fast food to fine dining. and that's not all you get. there are expert advisors who answer immediately, whenever you call. and absolutely no foreign transaction fees. does your card do all that? apply today and earn 50,000 ultimate rewards bonus points when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months. that's $625 toward your next trip when you redeem through ultimate rewards. so, why settle for gold when you can have so much more? chase sapphire preferred. a card of a different color. call the number on your screen or visit our website to apply.

100 mile east of prague are the more avian islands. considered the green heart of

the nation interesting highland consist of small villages like this. population 420. an almost equal number of men live right next door in this medieval castle. the prison. >> filming here was extremely difficult in the sense that everywhere you turn, there is a beautiful shop and you want to stop and you want to, oh, there's another one. let's stop, set up, get another shot. we didn't have that kind of time. we had other elements in the story to capture and different people we wanted to talk to. but you could spend all day, two days, three days, just shooting these beautiful, incredible architecture type shots. >> the nation's oldest prison, it was billed in the mid 13th century to protect the land

holdings of a local bishop. it was first used as a prison in the 14th century. today, it is a maximum security institution that houses the czech republic's most notorious criminals. it has been called the czech alcatraz. >> translator: that's just because of the type of convicts that we have here in this prison. that means convicts in maximum security and those serving life sentences. as of today, we counted 163 convicts are here for murder. 87 are for assault and robbery. 20 for rape. 37 for theft. they are house in the cells holding between eight and 18 convicts. the one sentenced for life are housed individually. >> in the u.s. there are currently more than 140,000 inmates serving life sentences. in the czech republic, where the death penalty was banned in 1990, there are only 35 lifers.

this man is one of the most infamous. >> translator: i was sentenced to life in prison for committing five murders. >> he was a notorious criminal. his case was very notorious. to me, he was actually a very pleasant person to deal with. very polite. very calm. mild mannered. he was actually just a very affable guy. >> he led a small gang that robbed and killed at least four men and one woman over a three-year span. >> translator: it actually started when i got into a certain gang of friends with whom i had common interests, as far as weapons and drinking alcohol and having parties. for things like that, of course, you need money. and of course as a young kid, i didn't feel like working. but on the other hand, i wanted to have money. >> how many people you the personally murder, auto? >> myself personally, i actually

killed three people. but i participated in all five of the murders. >> he buried one of the victims in his own backyard. in the movie, it looks real easy. you just hit the guy. he fall down and he is eliminated, you know? he is knocked out so he is out of the way, you know, but in reality, it is different. the guy started to fight back. then it turned into a knife fight. then it turned into a murder. i know that people say and write things about me. that i'm a cold-blooded murderer but there is no such thing as a cold-blooded murderer because every time when you decide to take someone else's life, it is such a mental strain on you. it is so much stress. it is so hard on your nerves. there is no way to describe it. >> he escaped execution because of the nation's decision to abolish the death penalty.

instead, he will spend nearly every hour of every day confined to a cell. life for some of the general population inmates offers a little more diversity. as our crew soon discovered. >> we were actually filming in another area of the prison. and we heard some music. it took us over, and there was a heavy metal rock band in a little room rehearsing and playing. and i think that was one of the elements that the staff thought was good for the inmates. to spend time blowing off steam. >> though it's an common sight, we visited american prisons with band rooms as well but one aspect provided the most striking difference of all. >> the eastern european prisons, it was predominantly caucasian inmates. whereas in american prisons, there are a variety of ethnicities, a lot of tensions exist between the ethnicities.

>> but only one group here stands out as a minority. they're called roma. a minority that has taken root throughout eastern european nations. they're known as gypsies with the reputation of being con artists and thieves. pavel is roma and has been here for ten and a half years for multiple robberies and theft. >> we don't have any rights here. there are skin heads here. fascists. we are attacked by them all the time and the government of the czech republic doesn't do anything about it. we don't have any rights here as far as we roma are concerned. i'm afraid of getting out because i don't know how things will go with me. >> according to him, he grew up as a gypsy, learning how to rob and be a thief and that's all he ever knew. that's basically, he was in and out of prison a number of times.

>> when we met him, he was only weeks away from his release date. and his prospects did not look good. >> i don't know. i just don't know what's going to happen to me. my parents have died. my grandmother and grandpa, i don't have anyone. i'm an orphan. i'm 42 years old. i don't know where i will go. i don't know because here in the czech republic, there is a lot of racism because i am roma. i am afraid of coming back here and i don't know what i'm going to do. >> next on "lockup: world tour." >> there are probably over 1,000 people that have been tortured and executed at this prison. >> the prison in warsaw, poland. located in the heart of the with the lowest national plan premium... ♪ ...and copays as low as one dollar... ♪ ...saving on medicare prescriptions is easy. ♪ so you're free to focus on the things that really matter. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. or go to walmart.com for details.

when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. the prices are competitive. i can keep my own doctor. and i don't need a referral to see a specialist. call now to get a free information kit.

plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. and the advantages don't end there. choose from a range of medicare supplement plans... that are all competitively priced. we have a plan for almost everyone, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. with all medicare supplement plans, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now.

wow! it's even bigger than i thought. welcome to progressive. do you guys insure airstreams? yep. everything from travel trailers to mega motor homes. and when your rv is covered, so is your pet. perfect. who wants a picture with flo? i do! i do! do you mind? got to make sure this is -- oh. uh... okay. everybody say "awkward." protecting your family fun. now, that's progressive. call or click today. located in the heart of the nation, warsaw is the capital and largest city in poland. it is known as the phoenix city. because of a history of rising from the ashes of war and oppression over the course of

centuries. in one busy downtown street is a flash point of warsaw's volatile past. the prison. >> you've been to over 20 american prisons. they're usually located in remote areas far from cities for security reasons. so we're on these busy warsaw streets and we turn and these massive blue doors open up and we enter into this facility. and when we were inside and i was standing on prison grounds, i would look up and see apartment buildings surrounding us, businesses. >> the prison was built in 1904. it used to be called the place of no return. between world war ii and the fall of communism in 1989, it housed a countless number. freedom fighters, many of whom

were tortured and killed in mass executions. the monument on the prison wall honors the victims. >> there are probably over 1,000 people who had been tortured and executed at this prison during the various regimes. there were annul of staff members who made comments to me who said they had seen ghosts there, they had felt ghosts there, that there is a weight of what has transpired at that particular prison. >> today the prison houses inmates because of their crimes instead of their beliefs. it is a maximum security prison with more than 900 inmates, including some of the most notorious in poland. but officials claim they rarely have disruptions. that might be because the prison's special response team is always prepared for the worst. >> we were told ahead of time that they were going to have a

demonstration for us from their special response team so we set up for it and we were prepared. when it actually started, they did it with such intensity and authenticity that i was taken aback. i heard gun fire. they were screaming their commands. it was a very authentic presentation for us. >> the prison has one other effective method of maintaining control. behind these walls are some of the most dangerous and violent prisoners in poland. they are segregated in this high security housing unit. >> translator: this is a pavilion for dangerous inmates. this is a jail inside a jail. >> n stands for the polish word for dangerous. ours was the first television crew ever allowed inside. >> upon entering the facility, what i noted most was the fact that i could not see any

inmates. in american prisons, there is always some kind of window. even in the super maxes. they have these little peep holes the officers will look in before they opened up. that struck me as highly unusual. >> as you opened the door, there were bars. it was a two-tiered system that i hadn't seen before. the security door unlocked and then you have to unlock the bars themselves. >> the solid outer doors are to prevent inmates from communicating with one another. they rarely leave their cells. and even their meals are brought to them. but we found that the cells in n block different from most high security american cells in two especially significant ways. in american prisons, cameras are generally placed only in common areas. here they are actually inside each cell. likewise, there is one area here

that offers the kind of privacy that we had never seen in the states. >> let me show you the bathroom. this is the standard bathroom for n unit. >> in an american prison, all the toilets are out in the open. in this prison, people could actually walk into their bathroom and shut a door and have privacy. >> that's the law. >> one n block inmate, 24-year-old, agreed to speak with us. he is serving a life sentence for murder and says his problems began after borrowing money from a friend to buy drugs. >> translator: i did not have money to pay my debt. he said he would help me to pay my debt but i have to go somewhere with him. i was stupid enough to pay my debt this way. >> the two men attempted to burglarize a home. >> translator: my job was to search the house and not to hurt

anyone. nobody was supposed to beat this man. we were supposed to search the house and it just happened. and a man is dead. the prosecution claims that i participated. that i must have hit the man as well. i was in a different section of the house. i at any time even know this man was being beaten. >> he told me that he had been suffering from depression when he first became incarcerated and he had a young child. and he had already lost two years with that young child and he was uncertain whether or not he would ever have a relationship with his own child. >> i asked myself all the time, why can't i hold my son in my arms? because my visits don't allow that. and my son tells me, daddy, remove the bars. and he tried to get his head through. i can't hold him. i can't cuddle with him in my arms.

>> outside n block are the general population housing units. >> one thing that i noticed that stood out was the number of inmates that were in these cells. they were almost like small tomorrows. sometime they would have four or five or six people in one area. >> they all had a much more homey atmosphere. there were a lot of personal effects. they had home made crochet blankets on the beds. >> like their american counterparts, the correctional officers frequently search cells for contraband like weapons or drugs. though the drug-sniffing dog brought in to help caught our crew by surprise. >> i'm preparing myself to see a german shepherd, rottweilers, the types of dogs that we see in american prison that's we aren't allowed to go near. in come this happy little cocker spaniel right out of a disney

movie. >> that was the drug dog. not intimidating at all. a lap dog. it was so excited. it just went into that cell and did its job. the handler was so excited. working together as a team. >> the rapport that the officer had with this dog was almost like somebody with a pet. after the search was completed, the officer then started playing with it. putting the ball in the mouth and spinning it around. this dog was just all floppy eared and happy. >> translator: at the beginning when we got the dog, she was finding more. now there are less discoveries because inmates are more careful. >> he has been especially careful. >> get packing. >> after serving one year here for theft, we were there on the day of his release. >> translator: well, i lost 12 months, you can say. 12 months doesn't seem like a lot but it is a lot because this

time has been very stressful. i feel amazing but i don't quite feel the freedom. i think when i'm far away from here, that's when i will be certain that i am free. >> he actually walked outside, stepped outside. he was set into freedom. he walked on to this busy street in warsaw and then just disappeared in the crowd. if you had just seen him walking out the door, nobody would even think he was an inmate just released from prison. >> coming up next -- >> i have a daughter here because i have no one on the outside to take care of her. >> a women's prison with an unusual approach to rehabilitation. we are building a website by ourselves.

[ woman announcing ] there's an easier way. create your own small-business site... with intuit websites. choose a style, customize, publish and get found... from just $7.99 a month. get a 30-day free trial... at intuit.com. somebody didn't book with travelocity,

with 24/7 customer support to help move them to the pool daddy promised! look at me, i'm swimming! somebody, get her a pony! [ female announcer ] the travelocity guarantee. from the price to the room to the trip you'll never roam alone.

once known nor artisan glass workers, this is now hole to the largest women's prison. named after the townhouses 600

women. only 8% of them are convicted of violent crimes. that puts 34-year-old eraina in an even smaller minority. >> i was sentenced for two murders. >> she is in the 12th year of a 21-year sentence for her role in the killings. >> i was just at the wrong place at the wrong time when -- it's very difficult, you know. >> who shot these two people? >> well, in the verdict it is written that i the. so that's the end of the story. but because i'm going to get out someday, i have to come to terms with it. so that i'll be able to connect to some kind of a future. >> she is still years away from

her release but is preparing for it now. she works for the prison maintenance department doing everything from mowing lawns to painting furniture. but her passion lies elsewhere. >> you can't really write some of the things that we experience in these prisons. you can't script them. because here you have a person that has been convicted of a double murder but what she does as part of her time and part of her therapy is she puts on puppet shows for children. children's theater. >> these puppet shows are for the children here in the area, in the kindergartens. we go to the schools so we can make someone happy with them. >> comparing this freedom prison to american prisons, there was a different vibe there, i would have to say. i would attribute that to the warden.

she was pretty focused on reintegrating these women back into society and she had different means of doing that. >> in fact, the prison director recited a long list of rehabilitative programs. more than we have ever encountered in any prison ever profiled on lockup. >> we have a family school right inside the prison. they learn the basics of home making, how to cook, there is gardening, exercise, music programs. >> but arguably the motor innovative program of all is the establishment of a mother-child living unit. this special unit allows inmates with clean behavior records to live full-time with their babies between 1 and 3 years old. it holds up to 15 mothers and 20 children and is the only one of its kind in the czech republic. >> i have a daughter here because i have no one on the

outside to take care of her. i think the best thing for vanessa is to be with her mommy. >> this woman is serving two years for armed robbery and related drug offenses. she was pregnant at the time of her conviction. but was allowed to delay incarceration until her daughter vanessa was a year old. six weeks later, she was allowed to join her. >> i just couldn't make it without my girl. it is my first baby. i'm just so attached to her and i think it is better to raise the child here. >> women have their own rooms. a large room all decorated for a child. wearing nonprison issued clothes. it is a communal atmosphere. i think it was nella's time to cook for everybody. some of the other kids were drifting and we're all participating. so for a brief moment, it did feel like you're outside of a prison. you're just in this lovely

little environment with happy moms and babies. >> but there is also a down side. >> i have a beautiful healthy daughter and i can't give her what i would give her outside, you know. outings, walks, and so. on it is sad in here. well, one day i'll probably have to tell her so she won't find out about it from someone else. i don't want her to have to suffer for it. >> overall, i think, shooting in eastern europe, the one common theme was rehabilitation. they seemed, the staff, the people that we talked to, seemed to really, really focus on rehabilitation of the inmates. and i think in some cases, when we visit the prisons in the united states, some of that might be lost in just the sheer numbers that are being housed and the amount of resources that they have to put in other