Collects the writings of a diverse group of people who survived imprisonment in the Gulag, recounting their experiences and relationships, and offering insight into the psychological aspects of life in the camps.

Arrest / Dmitry S. Likhachev -- Interrogation / Alexander Dolgun -- The Kolyma tram / Elena Glinka -- A day in Labor Corrective Camp No. 21 / Kazimierz Zarod -- On work / Anatoly Zhigulin -- On faith / Nina Gagen-Torn -- Promotion / Isaak Filshtinsky -- My child / Hava Volovich -- The house of meetings / Gustav Herling -- Informers / Lev Kopelev -- Jailers / Lev Razgon -- The cooler / Anatoly Marchenko -- Liberation / K. Petrus.