This book presents testimonies of former detainees in Saydnaya Prison during the Syrian revolution, a narrative from the sister of one of them about a family visit to the prison, and the testimony of the wife of a forcibly disappeared person who received vague news about her husband being in Saydnaya, described as a nearly black box.

The first testimony is from an old Islamist prisoner transferred to Saydnaya in May 2011, just two months into the revolution. The authorities began dealing harshly with detainees accused of ties to the revolution, involving severe beatings with wooden and metal sticks.

Within months, old inmates were moved out after a 2008 rebellion, replaced by soldiers and civilians associated with the revolution, leading to extreme overcrowding.

Most military personnel were arrested from their units based on security reports accusing them of planning to defect, often after investigations or directly sent to military intelligence branches, where they faced various forms of torture. After investigations ended, they were transferred to Saydnaya, which at the time was not yet widely known for its gratuitous brutality.