While doing some surfing on the damage to Iraq's heritage recently I came across the diary of Saad Eskander, the director of the Iraq National Library and Archive, via the British Library website.Eskandar's diary is a moving chronicle of how he and his staff are trying to revive and reestablish the library and archive, looted and burned after Saddam's overthrow, admidst horrendous circumstances. Some of his staff, and members of their families, have been killed or injured in the period in which he has been writing the diary from last November and there are constantly attacks around and occasionally even on the National Library and Archive. The diary is a mixture of refined culture and barbaric events. Two days ago there still were no entries for June in his diary which was rather worrying, but today it is there up to last Friday. His wife has just given birth to their second child, a daughter Hanas.
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