Witness History Syria's secret library
Feb 27, 2026
Malik El-Rafai (young volunteer and former Darayya resident) helped run a secret underground library during the siege. He recounts rescuing and cataloguing thousands of books. Listens learn how the library offered normalcy, became a learning hub and hosted political debates. Malik also tells of the evacuation, looting and efforts to reclaim lost books.
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Secret Basement Library Restored Normal Life
- Malik describes building a secret underground library in Darayya during the siege to restore a sense of normalcy and humanity.
- They rescued books from rubble, furnished a basement with salvaged sofas and shelves, and treated it as a shared safe space.
Books Collected From Rubble Became A Collective Project
- The library grew organically from individuals collecting books amid destruction starting in 2012 and became a collective project by readers.
- Friends cleaned found books, pooled them, and later sourced shelves and furniture from abandoned warehouses and buildings.
Volunteers Hauled 15,000 Books By Hand
- A team of 20 to 40 young men scoured the streets using bicycles and wheelbarrows to retrieve books and bring them to the basement.
- They catalogued 15,000 titles and wrote owners' names or locations inside each book to enable future return.