Fadeeli & Noori Ibrahim

This old photo of a little girl surrounded by her parents is much more than a simple picture from the past. It is the only trace left of our history.

In April 1975, the war had just started. We were in our house (in Mansourieh) with our children. Nariman (the little girl in this picture) and Sufian (born one year later). Armed men suddenly stormed in and took me and my husband by force.

Nariman (1-year-old) and Sufian (4 months old baby) were left behind at home with Hanifeh (15 years old) - my husband’s younger sister – who was living with us back then. All three of them had stayed locked inside the house for the next four days, terrified by the thought that these men might return. The neighbors finally realized that a tragedy had taken place and reunited them with their grandparents, who were living in Afrin in Syria.

Forty years later, not a day goes by that my daughter Nariman does not think of us. As she was too young to remember her parents, she delved into all the memories that were brought up by our relatives - who had known us – to write our story and hand it down to her children.

She had told them that their grandmother was a caring mother who was a skilled knitter and crocheter and that their grandfather, on the other hand, was a carpenter, who, despite his serious personality was a very loving father. Although that portrait is incomplete, but it was necessary for Nariman to ensure that the memory of her parents does not vanish and that her children will grow up knowing who their grandparents were .

What is also important for her today, is to find out what happened to her parents after the armed men stepped into their home and took her parents away.

My name is Fadeela Ibrahim and my husband Nouri.

Our story does not end here.