Truth may be the greatest victim of a war, but culture is undoubtedly the second victim. As you read this, Islamic State mobsters are busy squandering Iraq's cultural heritage, while the Syrian civil war has completely destroyed 6 world cultural sites. However, all this is avoidable. There are many brave men in the world who risk their lives to protect our most precious treasures. Some of these warriors are "guardians of monuments" type of professionals. But for the most part, they're just a bunch of ordinary people who watch cultural destruction spread around them and say, "At least not today." Here's their story.
10. Syrian archaeologists who resolutely rebelled against the Islamic State
On one side were armed forces of murderous fundamentalists whose firepower far exceeded that of many other military units. On the other side was a small group of polite, gray-haired scholars. However, this group of Syrian archaeologists has now successfully blocked the destruction of ISIS militants on many occasions, and has rescued many priceless treasures from them.
It all started in 2012. At that time, Assad was besieging the city of Marat. Barrel bombs and rebel shells took turns bombarding the entire area. The city museum in Maarat looks precarious. Al-Azm, a professor working in the United States, was determined to prevent the tragedy. In the face of the Bombardment of the Avengers, he responded to the archaeology community — a mixed-up group of volunteers and scholars who he called "Syria's defenders of monuments." The group then set out from Turkey and went deep into the heart of the war. They hid ancient mosaics behind concrete and crammed the room with sandbag shelters that could withstand grenade shrapnel to protect the precious artifacts.
The danger factor for this work is beyond imagination, and the situation has become even worse after the arrival of the Islamic State. This terrorist organization is like a supervillain dedicated to destroying culture, and destroying places of interest and looting monuments is one of their "top priorities". Since the summer of 2014, the group of witty superheroes led by Azim risked executions to take images of treasures in Islamic land before they have been looted. This way, art dealers can recognize them on the black market. In Pakistan and Afghanistan, 1,500 priceless treasures were spared by similar means. If Azim and his team can emulate this, they are likely to single-handedly preserve Syria's cultural heritage.
9. The ordinary people of Donetsk who have preserved their cultural vitality
Since the summer of 2014, donetsk in eastern Ukraine has been at the heart of the world's worst fighting. Pro-Pro-Pugin rebels and Ukrainian government forces have been deadlocked in this bloody confrontation. So far, thousands of people have been killed and thousands of residents have fled. But with such a small group of determined residents, they not only chose to stay – but also managed to keep the spark of local culture alive.
At the Donetsk Regional History Museum, a group of staff members continue to clock in every day to ensure that the collection is protected from war. Their job is by no means easy. The museum was repeatedly shelled and civilians were killed in the streets. Despite the dangers, the team managed to preserve 150,000 pieces. They even set up small exhibitions in their local schools.
At the same time, the performers of the Donetsk Opera Company performed two performances and a children's ballet performance. The move is intended to perpetuate the city's cultural life. In an interview with the Toronto Globe and Mail, the head of the troupe said: "People release stress through drama. We are helping them on a psychological level. ”
8. The last archaeologist on somali lands
Somalia has been mired in ongoing civil war since 1991. The war left the country without law. The total number of people who died in this unjust war and devastating famine is no less than 1 million. Unsurprisingly, survival has become a major concern for the vast majority of people in this country. But Dr. Sada Mire is not among them. Over the years, she has traveled to one of the most turbulent regions in the world with the simple ideal of protecting and cataloging the area's precious artifacts.
You can hardly imagine. Sadamir was nearly killed by a bomb when he was 14 years old. At the time, she was watering her home garden in Mogadishu. The war turned the country in which they lived into a purgatory on earth, and her mother had to sneak away with her young daughter. Thieves are rampant and rapists are rampant on the road to escape. After obtaining asylum leave in Sweden, Little Mir decided to make it his lifelong mission to return to Somalia and uncover the history of Somalia.
Located in the north, Somaliland is a relatively stable country that claims independence from the outside world. Although Dr. Mill first chose to camp in Somaliland, she crossed the border several times and ran to the south. During this time, she found more than a dozen undiscovered monuments. The BBC has called them candidates for UNESCO's World Heritage List. With her expertise and great courage, Dr. Mir single-handedly preserved the precious culture of ancient Somalia for future generations.
7. "Doctor Who" fans who saved british TV dramas with their lives
We're no surprised by the fanatical fans saying "they're willing to die for their beloved TV show." But only one person actually said it. He was Phillip Morris. For nearly 5 years, he has trekked to some of the most dangerous areas in the world, fighting for his life to find the lost BBC Doctor Who episode.
This strange search began in the Niger Delta in 2006. Morris was abducted by armed guerrillas. Desperate to avoid the hijackers, he tried to imitate the words and deeds of Tom Baker. As a young man, he played the role of Doctor Who in the Doctor Who episodes of the 1970s. Incredibly, this approach worked. According to Morris, pretending to be the role of the Doctor ultimately saved his life. When he was finally released, he was determined to repay Doctor Who.
Keen to cut expenses, the BBC purged more than 100 episodes of Doctor Who, which was a sensation at the time. So Morris set off for areas in extreme circumstances to find the lost episodes. He was nearly crushed to pieces by shells in Syria; he encountered warlords and militias in Africa; and he even returned to the kidnapped areas to collect episodes. He successfully archived 9 lost episodes in 2013. Then he disappeared again and continued his search. His actions led him to be affectionately known as the "Indiana Jones of television." And this title, he absolutely deserved.
6. Save music from Soviet censorship
After Nikita Khrushchev became soviet leader, one of his first initiatives was to build private apartments for every Soviet family. Until then, Russian families had been living in public buildings. There, the room, toilet, kitchen are all shared. This decree of Khrushchev aims to improve the quality of life of Russians. And it eventually set off a sound revolution.
During stalin's time, people didn't have a little privacy. If you had enjoyed music with different political views at that time, you would have known it immediately. You don't even have time to say the word "oppression" and you're immediately thrown into the nearest concentration camp. The new Khrushchev apartments give you the space to enjoy music as much as you want – as long as you can find the resources to do it. It was during this period that X-ray collecting became popular.
The Soviet Union in the 1950s had only vinyl records. Unfortunately, these records were very rare and were reserved for the enjoyment of the upper classes. Collectors — the younger generation of Russians rummaging through hospital bins looking for discarded X-ray films — realized that an old piece of X-ray film could burn vinyl records. Since this kind of burning is illegal, they simply engraved the songs they wanted to listen to on the vinyl records. And what they want to hear is American rock.
Before the Soviet National Security Council found the light, hundreds of X-ray records flowed into the Russians' homes. People quietly enjoyed these forbidden music and passed it on. One by one, they were inspired by the Taboo American culture. Over time, the men also began to collect music that Russian folk singers had banned. Even in the face of Soviet censorship, they wanted to pass on the tradition. Yuliy Kim, a composer who disagreed with the authorities' political views, later attributed the widespread spread of subversive ideas to these secret records. They paved the way for the eventual overthrow of the Soviet Union, a great power.
5. Rescue art treasures from under Frank's shells
On July 17, 1936, General Francisco Franco staged a coup d'état in Morocco. The area was controlled by Spain at the time. The coup marked the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. Riots, concentration camps, torture, and Roman-style arena executions were not uncommon in warfare. Almost immediately, the warring sides began looting and destroying culture, no different from the Nazis. The leftists burned down the church, and Frank's men blew up the museum. So the committee for artistic treasures rose up in revolt.
This committee is called "the Red Cross of an Art" and is composed mainly of ordinary people. These people are authorized by the Government of the Republic to do everything in their power to salvage all property. The killings were unprecedented, but the council was unhurried, methodically storing Spain's precious heritage in a cathedral they had expropriated.
They have a common vision and do not only rescue treasures that have been recognized by the government of the Republic. They also took Frank's cherished church artwork away from the target building and to safety. When the war reached Madrid, the commission took these artistic treasures with them and went straight into the heart of the war. They first transferred the treasures safely to Valencia, then to Caralonia and finally to Geneva. There the treasures were sheltered by the League of Nations. Thanks to the efforts of these ordinary people, thousands of geniuses by the hands of goya, picasso, and titian have been preserved.
4. Save those "Zhang San Li Si" who have been painted as national treasures
As long as you know a little bit about American history, you'll definitely know something about the portrait of Lansdowne. It is a portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, probably the most representative of the president to date. It almost hid in the fire while the British burned the White House, thanks to first lady dolley madison's quick eyes. But there is a more exciting version of the story about this series of events — the portrait was saved by two inconspicuous "Zhang San Li Si".
Thanks to Paul Jennings, a slave who worked at President Madison's house, we heard this version of the story. Paul, in documenting the British attack on Washington in 1865, claimed that Dolly Madison's credit for saving the portrait was exaggerated. According to Jennings' recollection of the incident, Dolly was too busy salvaging the silverware to care about the paintings. This great mission fell on the shoulders of two ordinary people— John Sioussat and Thomas McGraw.
Susa and McGraw, one a housekeeper and the other a gardener, are ordinary little people. The British could rush in at any time, and they should not worry about their own safety. But they calmly cut the painting from the frame, loaded it into a carriage, and took it to safety. If Jennings is to be believed, it would mean that it was not some great leader who saved this priceless symbol of American culture, but two ordinary people who were willing to pay with their lives to save the symbol of their love of land.
3. Booksellers who protect the literary heritage of Sudan
In 1989, Colonel Omar Al-Bashir overthrew the democratically elected Government of Sudan through a bloody coup. Thousands of people lost their lives as a result. Immediately afterwards, a widespread crackdown on civil liberties began. Political parties and newspapers were banned. Those in power colluded to eliminate the circulation of books, shut down libraries, and cut off Khartoum's long-standing literary veins. At least, without these second-hand booksellers, everything would have gone down like this.
Most booksellers' bookstores closed after the coup, but a small number of them went underground. Their presence sparkled the paperback book business on the black market, with the works of writers such as Tayeb Salih, Abbasel-aqqad and Nizar Qabbani surviving. Such transactions were at their peak similar to those of Alcohol during Prohibition in the United States. Mamoun eltlib, a poet and journalist, recalls that finding books in Khartoum in the early 1990s was all about relationships. Once you've managed to get the address, you can head to a dark backstreet in the city. There will be people there who will interrogate you. If you're lucky, the other person will open the floor and hand you a few good books that are hard to find.
Although some booksellers waded through the muddy waters purely for profit, the task was generally quite dangerous, and many lost their lives. But it's worth it. Now, years later, Alt Lieber believes that this underground trade has contributed to the preservation of Sudan's literary heritage under an oppressive new dictatorship.
2. Villagers protecting Syria's neglected treasures
In some ways, the villagers of Tell Brak were lucky. Although they lived on the wrong side, living in Syria on the other side of the Turkish border and not escaping the Syrian civil war, fortunately the war has not yet burned into their towns. But in other ways, they are quite unfortunate. Repeated sanctions and regime collapses have hit the town. The villagers are extremely poor and in short supply. But despite such harsh conditions, they managed to preserve one of Syria's greatest treasures: the tell mozan mound.
Ter Mozan is an ancient city that has not yet been fully excavated. It seems to be the birthplace of a unique urban culture. The culture was formed near the mesopotamia culture. If this ancient city survives the ravages of war, it has the potential to become one of the most historic monuments in the world. And Ter Braque's villagers are working to make sure the protection plan goes without success.
Faced with poverty, bad weather, and the ubiquitous threat of war, hordes of local volunteers worked day and night to defend Ter Mozan. They also paid out of their own pockets to maintain the monument – a move that was even more impressive at a time when food and medicine were scarce and expensive. Despite the spreading fighting, which has led to mass exoduses of the population, a small number remain, determined to defend their cultural heritage. Thanks to their efforts, It looks like Telmozan will be spared many other Syrian monuments.
1. Afghan workers who have dissipated the cultural damage of the Taliban
Until the Islamic State stole the Taliban's "name," the latter was the world's leading cultural disruptor. In 2001, they blew up two ancient Buddha statues, a move that shocked the world. The war fueled their desire for destruction, and they destroyed many sub-regions. However, there is no shortage of opponents in the Afghan region. There is a loose contingent of ordinary Afghan construction workers who have traveled across Afghanistan over the past 10 years to repair the damage caused by the Taliban.
It all stemmed from the contract signed by Khan Ali, who needed to reinforce the remnants of bamiyan's Buddha statues as required by the contract. Thanks to UNESCO funding, the former bricklayer learned new techniques within a year and became a restoration expert. After completing his work at Bamiyan, Ali set back on the road with his new knowledge. His mission is to repair all the devastated remnants of Afghanistan.
Since then, Ali has been involved in the reconstruction, restoration and rescue of many of Afghanistan's most invaluable treasures. He has worked with a handful of other newly trained experts throughout the "Screaming City" (shahr-e gholghola citadel) and many other small places in Afghanistan. In this way, he repaired the damage caused by the 15-year war and rescued treasures that the Taliban mob considered worthless. Ali and other experts may not have been able to do a great job in restoring the Bamiyan Buddha, but it is because of their efforts that future generations can now appreciate Afghanistan's precious cultural heritage.
Source/Top Ten Nets WeChat public number / top10list (welcome to pay attention to more wonderful articles) Disclaimer: Please contact WeChatchimneycyc