DARMSTADT — The ruined city of Palmyra has become a symbol of cultural barbarism. In May 2015, terror militias of the „Islamic State“ occupied the ancient sites, plundered them, and devastated the World Heritage. Landmarks such as the Temple of Bel and the Arch of Hadrian have been razed; the complex is apparently riddled with booby traps. Temporarily driven out, the jihadists returned in December 2016, only to be expelled again in March. The battle for Palmyra has high symbolic value, the 70-year-old filmmaker Hans Puttnies knows — and complains: the fact that next to the ruined city now stand the ruins of Tadmor, strategically important through pipelines and an airport, is hardly noticed.
