Rene Girard: “Culture always develops as a tomb. The tomb is nothing but the first human monument to be raised over the surrogate victim, the first and most elemental and fundamental matrix of meaning. There is no culture without a tomb and no tomb without culture; in the end the tomb is the first and only cultural symbol.” (Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World, 1987). Richard Koenigsberg: But who resides (resided) in these tombs--created and erected by human beings? Next time you visit Arlington National Cemetary, you will know the answer. The tomb does not (did not) contain the body of an alien or foreign corpse (a "scapegoat"). Tombs are erected in the name of a beloved object: the soldier/warrior who fought and died for our society. Tombs of soldiers fallen in World War I at Saint Roch cemetery. The First World War was fought--in order to erect these tombs.