The rapid advance of the ‘Islamic State’ (IS) across Syria and Iraq from 2013 onwards had devastating consequences for the myriad peoples of the region and their key heritage sites. However, despite the large volume of literature on heritage in conflict, there remains few empirical studies documenting how people who have experienced persecution and displacement due to conflict value and engage with their heritage: how they perceive and interpret its destruction; the complex relationship between heritage destruction and displacement; and the extent to which its reconstruction can play a role in their return, in fostering social cohesion, and in building a more peaceful future. This paper seeks to address this lacuna by documenting the results of 16 in-depth semi-structured interviews with Syrian and Iraqi Christians, many of whom were eyewitnesses to heritage destruction and were forcibly displaced by the IS. It documents their remarkable resilience in the face of the IS persecution, their return to key Christian towns and villages, and the community-led reconstruction of their heritage sites. The paper concludes that further research is needed to catalogue the complex ways that displaced people experience heritage destruction and the role that heritage reconstruction can play in fostering their return.