Sponsored message
Logged in as
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
 — 
See All Episodes
Subscribe

Hey, LA listener!

Download our app for the optimal streaming experience

Apple Store logo Google play logo
  • Listen Now Playing Listen
  • Listen Now Playing Listen
Take Two

Picture This - Artifacts of a Kidnapping

By Take Two Staff
Published Jan 27, 2015
The burqa that Leila Kaleva wore during her nearly five months of captivity in Yemen by Al Qaeda.
The burqa that Leila Kaleva wore during her nearly five months of captivity in Yemen by Al Qaeda.
(
Glenna Gordon
)
Wolfgang Ebner wrote out his last will and testament in his notebook while he was being held hostage by an Al Qaeda affiliated group. His wife was close to death several times after falling sick and Ebner feared for his life too.
Wolfgang Ebner wrote out his last will and testament in his notebook while he was being held hostage by an Al Qaeda affiliated group. His wife was close to death several times after falling sick and Ebner feared for his life too.
Harald Ickler was wearing this tshirt when he was taken hostage by al Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist group in the Saharah desert in 2003. The shirt was originally grey, but turned brown and was soon covered with sweat and stains as he wore it every day during his 54 day captivity. He never washed it, and even more than a decade later, the shirt still retained a distinct odor.
Harald Ickler was wearing this tshirt when he was taken hostage by al Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist group in the Saharah desert in 2003. The shirt was originally grey, but turned brown and was soon covered with sweat and stains as he wore it every day during his 54 day captivity. He never washed it, and even more than a decade later, the shirt still retained a distinct odor.
(
Glenna Gordon
)
Before ISIS gave Nicholas Henin a toothbrush, the cut the bottom of it off so it couldn't be chiseled into a weapon. Henin, a French journalist, was held captive in Syria for ten months by Islamic extremists who later executed James Foley and other hostages and broadcast the videos to the world on youtube.
Before ISIS gave Nicholas Henin a toothbrush, the cut the bottom of it off so it couldn't be chiseled into a weapon. Henin, a French journalist, was held captive in Syria for ten months by Islamic extremists who later executed James Foley and other hostages and broadcast the videos to the world on youtube.
(
Glenna Gordon
)
Though he didn't have strength to write every day, Harald Galler, who was held hostage by a group that would later become affiliated with Al Qaeda, did manage a few drawings of the places that he and other hostages were held in southern Algeria. They often saw beautiful sunsets over the rocky ridges.
Though he didn't have strength to write every day, Harald Galler, who was held hostage by a group that would later become affiliated with Al Qaeda, did manage a few drawings of the places that he and other hostages were held in southern Algeria. They often saw beautiful sunsets over the rocky ridges.
For the 54 days that Harald Ickler was held captive in the Sahara Desert by an Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist group, he ate every meal out of this bowl with this spoon. Most days, he and other hostages were given a thin soup of flour and water. In the morning it had sugar, in the middle of the day, salt, and in the afternoon, "Classic" as Ickler calls it, with neither salt nor sugar. One time the mujahideen who were holding his group killed a camel and they received a bit of meat. "That was like Christmas for us," said Ickler.
For the 54 days that Harald Ickler was held captive in the Sahara Desert by an Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist group, he ate every meal out of this bowl with this spoon. Most days, he and other hostages were given a thin soup of flour and water. In the morning it had sugar, in the middle of the day, salt, and in the afternoon, "Classic" as Ickler calls it, with neither salt nor sugar. One time the mujahideen who were holding his group killed a camel and they received a bit of meat. "That was like Christmas for us," said Ickler.
(
Glenna Gordon
)

Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.

Get LA News Updates Daily

We brief you on what you need to know about L.A. today.
Listen 8:18
Picture This - Artifacts of a Kidnapping

Every so often Take Two presents our Picture This segment, a conversation with photographers about their work.

Glenna Gordon is a journalist and photographer whose subject matter is one of the most unusual in our series. She captures images from people who were kidnapped and held hostage. 

But not images of their actual captivity, but of the objects they had while being held.

Her series is titled - Artifacts of a Kidnapping - the Things they Carried Home.