That's exactly how it works. Even back in Ancient Rome they had a practice that when someone did something really bad he was killed and everything linked to him was destroyed, so it was like he never existed. In folklore/fantasy/horror movies there's often some villain "whose name must not be pronounced", wouldn't be surprised they were inspired by that.
Also the Spaniards destroyed all kinds of historical material in South America. And all authoritarian regimes try to destroy the past since they all want to create "a new man". Last example being Islamists in Tombouctou.
Just imagine all the history/culture that has been destroyed over all those centuries
So much lost history.
