But, is that really possible?

We’ve witnessed terrorist organizations, despots and dictators attempt the very same action against groups and entire nations for millennia. Annihilation for control, to “rewrite history” and change the victor: Is that possible? History says yes, and no.

The destruction of archaeological sites and locations singular to a nations’ culture and identity are not a localized problem. These acts of terror on culture and humanity are a global crisis.

Every family has tales and trinkets that are passed from generation to generation. Imagine if a stranger came into your home, took your family heirlooms, favorite stories, your last name and said, “These things never existed.” You would be confused and angered that a stranger just declared your family name and possessions as void of meaning or existence. What if your personal history was at stake?

This is what happens on a historical scale in countries all over the world. The wars that are globally waged are not just for political ideologies, there is cultural annihilation occurring.

In early 2001, the world watched as the Taliban destroyed the Bamiyan Buddha statues. In Afghanistan, two sixth-century Buddha statues were carved into the face of a cliff, both over 100 feet tall. The area served as a holy site for Buddhists on the Silk Road — the ancient trading route between Europe and China.

In an effort to flex their might, the Taliban labeled the statues as un-Islamic and used explosives to bring the historical site to rubble. International outcry didn’t stop the extremists. The Buddhas were destroyed.

Little over a decade later, ISIS captured the city of Palmyra, Syria, from government forces in May 2015 and progressively damaged its Roman-era ruins. In addition to destroying artifacts, the extremist group looted and resold them to fund its activities. ISIS then beheaded Palmyra’s renowned antiquities scholar, Khaled al-Asaad, because he refused to reveal where artifacts had been stored.

Palmyra was known for centuries as a place of importance, well before its prominence as a pivotal place for the Silk Road — connecting East to West as the crossroads of the ancient world. The art and architecture of Palmyra were examples of Greek and Roman blended techniques, merged with local traditions and Persian influence. It was a beautiful example of the modern harmonizing with the past. Syria’s heritage is humanity’s heritage.

In a report to the Congressional Requestors Protection of Iraqi and Syrian Antiquities in August 2016, the U.S. Government Accountability Office states, “According to State officials, the demand for cultural artifacts has resulted in the destruction of archaeological sites and the loss of the context surrounding them; this context contains information essential to understanding the development of cultures.” (GAO-16-673)

Development of cultures: a person and nation’s core. Destroy the artifact, destroy the nation. Multiple countries and people have endured the destruction of their heritage at the hands of an ideology of extremism and terror for millennia.

After World War II, the nations of the world assessed the armed conquest of neighbors, the Holocaust, genocide and mass execution inflicted by the Nazi regime. They followed the recommendations of an international committee chaired by America’s former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt in accepting the principles set in the historical marker known as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes cultural rights and freedoms.

In Article 27 of the declaration, it states, “Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.”

The Hague Convention of 1954 followed, which outlaws the purposeful destruction and looting of cultural property, integral to a people’s identity.

I echo Indiana Jones’ import in safeguarding artifacts in museums (when done in a way that is both in alignment with the nations’ proceedings and not removed from a site destructively). The Smithsonian Institute, known widely for its ring of museums along the nation’s mall, works in conjunction with the U.S. Department of State’s Conflict Observatory. Following international standards in collecting and storing digital evidence for potential legal proceedings, the Smithsonian has a branch that documents cultural war crimes as defined by the 1954 Hague Convention.

Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine and its people is a clear violation of fundamental rights recognized in these universal declarations. He has wrongly made culture a justification of war with Ukraine, heightened by particularly cruel attacks on civilian targets. The destruction is a deliberate attempt to obliterate Ukrainian history and culture. Putin’s justification is that Ukraine lacks culture and history independent of Russia, yet he can’t simply bomb away the country’s singular heritage. Through drawing on periods of the czarist Russian Empire to justify his actions, Putin denies tangible cultural realities.

This pattern repeats itself throughout history: national annihilation justified by denying crucial cultural realities. Preserving the world’s points in time, through protecting identities commemorated through artistic expression in stone, sand and paper, is crucial, as these tributes serve as waypoints for humanity. We need to protect the cultural identities of the human race, as we are all united through the poignant self-reflection that art and architecture imbues.

Born and raised under the shadow of Mount Timpanogos, Camille Heckmann is relieved to be back in Utah County. Grad school dropout, former Army wife, mother to four kids and 21 moves during my adult life have provided enough texture to observe and write about the human condition. Divorce and personal tragedy keep the disco ball lit up.