What you bring when you run for your life

Displaced Iraqis pose with the one item they couldn't leave behind

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by Sarah Eberspacher

February 18, 2015

.polaris__post-meta--date { display: none; } .polaris__post-meta--date.no-script { display: block; padding-left: 45px } February 18, 2015

Kamil Abdulahad: The retired tanner says that besides his family, the one thing he could not leave behind as ISIS militants advanced on his home were his military service records.

(Matt Cardy/Getty Images)In those hasty last moments, there's no time to thougtfully pack a suitcase and get your house in order. In most cases, these refugees could grab only a few small ite

Anwar Nassir: The drum maker said he had to leave most of the musical instruments he handcrafts behind when ISIS militants advanced on his town; after he ensured his family had safely departed, he was left with just a small motorbike t

(Matt Cardy/Getty Images)After speaking with Iraqi Christians at a refugee camp in Erbil, Iraq, photographer Matt Cardy created portraits of his subjects with the items they hold most dear. M

Name unknown: A rosary was most important to this widowed housewife from Qaraqosh.

(Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Anas Khaleel: The student and tiler said he grabbed his Samsung smartphone before fleeing Qaraqosh.

(Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Annosa Ishaac: The nurse brought her passport.

(Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Khidhir Badry: The tractor driver left with his picture of Jesus and Mary.

(Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Fatin Atheer: The 6-year-old schoolgirl left her home with nothing but the clothes she was wearing. But, she asked her father every day for a replacement junior laptop like the one she was forced to leave behind. In December, her dad m

(Matt Cardy/Getty Images)