Giving birth as a hostage in Syria

Lives Less Ordinary

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.6 • 814 Ratings

🗓️ 12 June 2022

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Janina was six months pregnant when she travelled to Syria in 2015 to meet a school friend who’d become an extremist. Janina Findeisen, a journalist, was making a documentary about their friendship. The trip was only meant to last a few days – little did she know that she would end up being taken hostage and forced to give birth in captivity.

Presenter: Emily Webb Producers: Emily Webb and Fiona Woods

Film clip: Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell, The Weinstein Company.

Transcript

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0:00.0	On a winter's night in 1974, a crime took place that would obsess the nation.
0:06.9	It was an extraordinary news story.
0:09.1	The story of an aristocrat, Lord Lucan, who's said to have killed the family Nanny,
0:13.7	mistaking her for his wife, then somehow just disappeared.
0:18.0	One of the great mysteries in English criminal history.
0:20.7	We're still looking for Lucan.
0:22.1	It's honestly one of the most powerful stories of my lifetime.
0:25.9	I'm Alex von Tundselman.
0:27.3	This is The Lucan Obsession.
0:29.2	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:35.1	When I became a mother and my son was born and everything was totally focusing on him.
0:42.3	I forgot that I was held hostage somewhere in the war zone in Syria.
0:48.4	I just was focusing on this little baby.
0:53.0	This is Lives Less Ordinary, an original podcast from the BBC World Service.
0:59.3	Every episode, you're going to meet someone who has a truly extraordinary story,
1:05.0	someone who's been sent hurtling down a path so unimaginable,
1:09.6	and they're willing to share that experience with you.
1:13.1	I'm Emily Webb.
1:16.3	It gave me somehow this power, because then there was the reason in my hand to stay positive
1:25.1	because I want to show my son freedom.
1:33.9	When you give an interview about what we're about to talk about your experience,
1:39.9	how do you feel before you start?
	...

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