GULAG contains four sections:
Details the growth of the Gulag under Josef Stalin, describes the prisoners and their supposed "crimes," and depicts a typical day in the life of a Gulag prisoner
Highlights the human rights movement in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s and details how Perm-36 was converted into a high security camp for political prisoners
Examines the legacy of the Gulag in Russia today and focuses on the efforts of the Gulag Museum at Perm-36 to educate young Russians on the history of the Gulag and the totalitarian state
Shows the links between the efforts of Russia's Gulag Museum and historic sites around the world that endeavor to explore and give meaning to the difficult histories in their own countries