A Dominican Priest likened rescuing thousands of manuscripts from the so-called Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) to 'saving history' after he salvaged the books from Iraq's largest Christian city, Qaraqosh, three years ago, Saturday.
When IS attacked the city between August 6 and 8 in 2014, thousands of Christians, including Father Najeeb Michael with the manuscripts, fled the settlement.
However, after taking the books to relative safety in the nearby city of Mosul, Father Michaeel was forced to abandon his refuge once more, just days before the arrival of IS fighters, heading to Erbil.
"To save these archives, to save these manuscripts, is as if you were saving history. And a people without history is a dead people," Michael said of the importance of the documents.
A Dominican Priest likened rescuing thousands of manuscripts from the so-called Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) to 'saving history' after he salvaged the books from Iraq's largest Christian city, Qaraqosh, three years ago, Saturday.
When IS attacked the city between August 6 and 8 in 2014, thousands of Christians, including Father Najeeb Michael with the manuscripts, fled the settlement.
However, after taking the books to relative safety in the nearby city of Mosul, Father Michaeel was forced to abandon his refuge once more, just days before the arrival of IS fighters, heading to Erbil.
"To save these archives, to save these manuscripts, is as if you were saving history. And a people without history is a dead people," Michael said of the importance of the documents.
A Dominican Priest likened rescuing thousands of manuscripts from the so-called Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) to 'saving history' after he salvaged the books from Iraq's largest Christian city, Qaraqosh, three years ago, Saturday.
When IS attacked the city between August 6 and 8 in 2014, thousands of Christians, including Father Najeeb Michael with the manuscripts, fled the settlement.
However, after taking the books to relative safety in the nearby city of Mosul, Father Michaeel was forced to abandon his refuge once more, just days before the arrival of IS fighters, heading to Erbil.
"To save these archives, to save these manuscripts, is as if you were saving history. And a people without history is a dead people," Michael said of the importance of the documents.