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NOTES ON SAFEGUARDING AND CONSERVING CULTURAL MATERIAL IN THE FIELD.                .2

whose countries they occupy, and it will affect the relations between those peoples and the governments of the United Nations.  It will show respect for the beliefs, the culture, and the customs of all men; it will bear witness that the cultural heritage of any particular group or society is also the cultural heritage of all mankind; it will help to lay a firm basis for activity in the arts, the sciences and learning after the war; and it will conserve things that are often of considerable economic value to the countries concerned.

It may be asked why such works as those described above should receive special treatment compared with other kinds of property.  The answer is that they are for the most part unique and irreplaceable.  For other property an exact equivalent can often be found, or a money compensation made; cultural monuments, once gone, are gone forever.