First expel or murder your enemies, then trash their cultural artefacts.
As humankind’s capacity to inflict death and destruction has increased with advances in the technological and military fields, we have witnessed whole groups of people subject to actual or attempted extermination. However, legends, sagas and religious scripture suggest that this alarming inclination in the human species has an ancient pedigree.
The persecution of the despised ‘other’ rarely ends with murder alone. Perpetrators have a tendency thereafter to remove all physical evidence that the ‘absent’ people ever existed. Moveable artefacts such as books, paintings, sculptures and religious items are stolen, destroyed or sold to collectors far away. Houses are occupied by those …
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