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While the first victim of war may be uncertain, culture is always its second casualty. As you read this, ISIS militants are actively destroying Iraq's rich history, and the ongoing Syrian Civil War has already wiped out six World Heritage sites.
But it doesn't have to be this way. Across the globe, courageous individuals have risked their lives to protect our most precious cultural assets. Some are professionals, like the Monuments Men, while others are ordinary citizens who refused to stand by as cultural destruction unfolded around them. Here are their inspiring stories.
10. Syrian Archaeologists Resisting ISIS's Destruction
On one side, there is a ruthless group of extremists wielding more firepower than many armies. On the other, a small band of determined scholars, some of them elderly and unarmed. Yet, Syria's archaeologists have managed to thwart ISIS on several occasions, successfully saving invaluable historical treasures in the process.
Back in 2012, amidst the turmoil in Syria, Assad's forces were relentlessly besieging the city of Maarat. Barrel bombs and rebel artillery devastated entire neighborhoods, and it seemed the city's museum would soon be reduced to rubble. Professor Al-Azm, working in the US, couldn't stand by and watch this unfold. He gathered a group of scholars and volunteers, dubbing them 'Syria’s Monuments Men,' and embarked on a perilous journey into the heart of the war. Their mission: to preserve the museum’s ancient mosaics by hiding them behind concrete and surrounding the room with sandbags designed to absorb shrapnel.
The work was incredibly risky, and it escalated when ISIS arrived. The militant group, notorious for their cultural destruction, targeted ancient sites for demolition and plunder. Since the summer of 2014, Al-Azm’s team of scholars have been risking their lives, documenting treasures in areas controlled by ISIS, so these artifacts could be identified on the black market. A similar strategy in Pakistan and Afghanistan had saved over 1,500 priceless items. If Al-Azm’s group can succeed, they might single-handedly safeguard Syria’s cultural heritage.
9. The Unsung Heroes Preserving Culture in Donetsk
Donetsk, a city in Eastern Ukraine, has been at the heart of fierce fighting since the summer of 2014. Thousands have lost their lives, and hundreds of thousands have fled as pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces battle in a bloody deadlock. Yet, amidst the chaos, a small group of dedicated locals have remained and continue to preserve the region's cultural legacy.
At the Donetsk Regional History Museum, a dedicated team of workers has continued their efforts to protect the collection despite the dangers of war. The museum has been shelled multiple times, and civilians have been killed in the streets. Nevertheless, these brave individuals have safeguarded over 150,000 artifacts and even managed to organize exhibitions in local schools, ensuring that culture endures even in the darkest of times.
Amid the chaos, the unpaid staff at the Donetsk Opera have managed to put on two performances and a children's ballet, striving to keep the cultural spirit of the city alive. In a conversation with the Toronto Globe and Mail, the opera's director remarked, 'Theater helps people cope with stress. We're offering them psychological support.'
8. The Last Archaeologist of Somalia
Somalia has been embroiled in a brutal civil war since 1991, which has rendered the country lawless. The devastating violence and famines have claimed the lives of up to a million people. Naturally, those who find themselves in Somalia are focused mainly on survival. But Dr. Sada Mire is different. For years, she has ventured into one of the most dangerous places on Earth, driven by a single mission: to preserve and document the nation's archaeological heritage.
This was an unlikely fate, even more so than you might imagine. At the age of 14, Sada Mire narrowly escaped death when a bomb exploded as she was tending to her family's garden in Mogadishu. As the country descended into chaos, her mother had to secretly smuggle her daughter through lands controlled by bandits and rapists. After receiving asylum in Sweden, young Mire vowed to return to Somalia and dedicate her life to uncovering its history.
Though her primary base is in Somaliland, a relatively stable self-declared region in northern Somalia, Dr. Mire has made numerous dangerous journeys into the southern parts of the country. During these expeditions, she has discovered over a dozen new archaeological sites, which the BBC has described as potential UNESCO World Heritage candidates. Armed only with her expertise and immense bravery, Dr. Mire has been a one-woman force preserving Somali culture for generations to come.
7. The Doctor Who Fan Willing to Risk Everything to Save British TV
It’s common for fans to joke that they’d ‘die’ for their favorite TV series, but there’s only one person who truly means it. Meet Phillip Morris. For the past several years, he has ventured into some of the world’s most perilous regions, putting his life on the line to retrieve lost episodes of the BBC’s iconic Doctor Who.
Morris’s unusual mission began in 2006 in the Niger Delta, where he was taken hostage by armed militants. Desperate to appease his captors, he mimicked the behavior and mannerisms of Tom Baker, the actor who portrayed the Doctor during the 1970s. Remarkably, this tactic worked. Morris claims that assuming the Doctor’s persona saved his life. After being freed, he vowed to return the favor.
Due to a cost-saving decision, the BBC famously erased over 100 episodes of Doctor Who. Morris embarked on a mission to recover these episodes, a journey that led him to some of the most dangerous areas on Earth. In Syria, he narrowly escaped a shell blast. In parts of Africa, he faced warlords and militias. He even revisited the site of his kidnapping to see if any episodes had surfaced. In 2013, he returned nine missing episodes to the BBC archives before disappearing again to continue his mission. His daring efforts earned him the nickname 'the Indiana Jones of TV,' a title we’d say is entirely deserved.
6. Preserving Music From Soviet Censorship
One of Nikita Khrushchev’s first actions as Soviet leader was to mandate the construction of private apartments for each family. Before this, Russian families lived in communal housing, where they shared rooms, bathrooms, and kitchens. The Khrushchev decree sought to improve living conditions for Russians and inadvertently sparked a revolution in sound.
Under Stalin, privacy was a rare luxury. Listening to forbidden music was a known act of defiance, and you could be quickly arrested and sent to a gulag. The new Khrushchev apartments, however, offered individuals the opportunity to listen to whatever they wanted—assuming they could acquire it. This is where the X-ray collectors came into the picture.
In the 1950s USSR, vinyl records were the only music format available, but they were scarce and mostly reserved for party elites. The X-ray collectors—young Russians who searched through hospital waste bins for discarded X-rays—figured out they could imprint a vinyl recording onto old X-ray film. Since the practice was already illegal, they freely recorded whatever they wished, mostly American rock music.
Before the KGB could catch on, hundreds of these X-ray records were circulating in Russian apartments. People secretly listened to them, shared them, and drew inspiration from forbidden American culture. As time passed, they also began collecting banned Russian folk music, preserving these traditions in spite of Soviet censorship. Dissident composer Yuliy Kim later credited these clandestine recordings with spreading subversive ideas throughout the Soviet Union, ultimately contributing to the collapse of the empire.
5. Protecting Priceless Art from Franco’s Bombs
On July 17, 1936, General Francisco Franco initiated a coup in Spanish-controlled Morocco. This event marked the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, a brutal conflict that would bring about concentration camps, torture, Roman-style arena executions, and widespread chaos. Almost immediately, both sides embarked on a campaign of plunder and cultural destruction rivaling the atrocities of the Nazis. Leftists burned churches, while Franco’s forces bombed art galleries. In the midst of all this stood the Committee for Artistic Treasures.
Often described as 'a kind of artistic Red Cross,' the committee was primarily composed of civilians granted permission by the Republican government to rescue what they could. As the war intensified and violence escalated on an unimaginable scale, the committee quietly requisitioned a vast church and began filling it with Spain’s invaluable cultural heritage.
In an act of unity, they didn’t only save the artworks approved by Republicans. They also rescued church artifacts treasured by Franco and removed them from buildings marked for destruction, ensuring their safety. As the bombs neared Madrid, the committee moved the pieces through the war-torn landscape. First, they guided them to Valencia, then to Catalonia, and ultimately to Geneva, where the League of Nations ensured their protection. Thanks to the efforts of these ordinary civilians, countless masterpieces by legendary artists like Goya, Picasso, and Titian were preserved.
4. The Everyday Heroes Who Preserved a Nation’s Iconic Portrait
Anyone familiar with American history is likely to recognize the Lansdowne portrait. Painted by Gilbert Stuart, it is one of the most iconic depictions of George Washington ever created. Almost lost forever when the British set fire to the White House, it was saved thanks to the quick thinking of First Lady Dolley Madison. However, there is a different version of the story that offers a more inspiring take: the portrait was rescued by two unsung heroes.
This alternate story comes from Paul Jennings, a former slave who worked for President Madison. In 1865, he wrote about the British assault on the nation’s capital and disputed the commonly told version of events. According to Jennings, Dolley Madison’s role in saving the portrait had been exaggerated. He claimed that she was too focused on securing the silver to worry about a painting. Instead, the responsibility fell to two ordinary men: John Sioussat and Thomas McGraw.
Sioussat and McGraw, a steward and a gardener, were ordinary men who found themselves in grave danger with the British forces on the horizon. Yet, despite their fear, they kept their wits long enough to remove the iconic painting from its frame and transport it to safety. According to Jennings, this means that an invaluable piece of American heritage was saved not by a famous leader, but by two regular men who risked their lives for a symbol of the country they loved.
3. Afghan Workers Restoring What the Taliban Destroyed
The journey began when Khan Ali, a former bricklayer, was hired to stabilize the remains of the Buddha statues in Bamiyan. With funding from UNESCO, Ali spent a year learning restoration techniques and developed into an expert in the field. Once his work in Bamiyan was completed, Ali took his newfound skills across Afghanistan, dedicating himself to restoring the country's damaged heritage.
Ali's mission was clear: to repair the damage inflicted on Afghanistan's rich cultural heritage by the Taliban's ruthless destruction, ensuring the preservation of the nation's invaluable history for future generations.
Since that time, Ali has played a pivotal role in the restoration, rebuilding, and preservation of countless Afghan treasures. Alongside a small group of newly trained experts, he has worked on the Shahr-e Gholghola citadel and many other smaller sites across the nation. His efforts have reversed the damage caused by over 15 years of conflict, saving relics that the Taliban considered insignificant. While Ali and his team may not be able to restore the Bamiyan Buddhas themselves, their work ensures that Afghanistan's cultural heritage will endure for generations to come.
2. Villagers Defending Syria's Hidden Gem
The villagers of Tell Brak have faced mixed fortunes. Although they reside on the wrong side of the Turkish border, which has spared them from the direct violence of the Syrian Civil War, they have not been immune to its effects. Despite the challenges posed by sanctions and the crumbling regime, the villagers remain desperately impoverished and lack access to essential resources. Nonetheless, they have managed to protect one of Syria's most valuable treasures: the mound of Tell Mozan.
Tell Mozan, an ancient city still waiting to be fully uncovered, is believed to have been home to a distinct urban culture that developed alongside Mesopotamian civilization. If the war doesn’t destroy it, the site holds the potential to become one of the most historically significant locations on Earth. The villagers of Tell Brak are committed to ensuring its survival.
In the midst of poverty, extreme weather, and the ever-looming threat of war, local volunteers are providing round-the-clock security for Tell Mozan. They are also funding the site’s maintenance out of their own pockets—an even more remarkable act when you consider the scarcity and high cost of food and medicine. While many are fleeing the approaching conflict, a few steadfast individuals have remained behind, dedicated to protecting their cultural heritage. Thanks to their tireless efforts, Tell Mozan is likely to escape the fate of many of Syria’s ancient landmarks.
1. The Booksellers Who Preserved Sudan’s Literary Heritage
In 1989, Colonel Omar Al-Bashir seized power in Sudan in a violent coup, killing tens of thousands. What followed was a harsh suppression of civil liberties, including the banning of political parties and newspapers. This also marked an attempt to eradicate books and libraries, threatening to erase Khartoum’s rich literary history. However, this plan would be thwarted by a few secondhand booksellers.
While many booksellers shut their doors after the coup, a small group went underground, establishing a thriving black market for books. This underground network kept the works of writers such as Tayeb Salih, Abbas El-Aqqad, and Nizar Qabbani alive. At its peak, the trade resembled Prohibition-era America. As poet and journalist Mamoun Eltlib recounted, finding books in early 1990s Khartoum required insider knowledge. After locating an address, you would travel to a dim alley, where a man would interrogate you. If you were fortunate, he’d lift a floorboard and hand you a few precious pages.
While some of these booksellers were motivated purely by profit, the work they undertook was perilous, with many putting their lives on the line. However, the risks were worthwhile. Today, Eltlib acknowledges that this underground book trade played a vital role in preserving Sudan’s literary heritage in the face of an oppressive regime.
