We offer our readers true stories of three former DAESH recruits. The present-day situation proves that efforts to prevent terrorist recruiting cannot be considered solely as a national security task; the challenge must be taken by civil society as well. Unfortunately, most of the existing instructions on terrorist activity prevention are a set of dry directions, without a hint of real tragedies, or room for emotions and reflections. The goal of this cycle is to reveal the true nature of the “state” created by DAESH, by describing it from the witnesses’ point of view. It is an attempt to literary recount the life stories of those who, for different reasons, turned into cannon fodder of the bloody “caliphate”.* DAESH (Arab acronym for ad-Dawlah al-Islamiyah fо ‘l-Iraq wa-sh-Sham) is a militant terrorist group; it is also known as IS, ISIS, ISIL, “Islamic State”, “Islamic State of Iraq and Levant”.