Syria's secret library
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 27 February 2026
⏱️ 12 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
A group of young men in the besieged town of Darayya came together to build a secret library during the Syrian civil war, which started in 2011 and ended in 2024. Braving snipers and bombardment, they rescued thousands of books from bombed-out buildings to rehouse. The library was a symbol of hope for a community fractured by war. Surya Elango speaks to Malik Alrifaii, a young volunteer who helped run the library.
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(Photo: Books. Credit: Maskot via Getty images)
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Transcript
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| 1:14.8 | I'm taking you back to the building of a secret library, deep underneath the rubble of a town |
| 1:21.1 | under siege in Syria. It's a story of hope, resilience and the almighty power of the pen. |
| 1:30.2 | It's the 27th of August 2016, and where in Derea, a town on the western fringe of Damascus. |
| 1:38.5 | An evacuation agreement has been brokered between the Syrian government and rebel forces, ending one of the longest standoffs in the Syrian civil war. |
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