The International Museum of World War II facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
The International Museum of World War II

Founder(s)	Kenneth W. Rendell
Established	1999
Location	Natick, Massachusetts
Website	https://museumofworldwarii.org/
Dissolved	2019

The International Museum of World War II was a special museum in Natick, Massachusetts, near Boston. It was all about World War II, a huge global conflict. The museum was started by Kenneth W. Rendell, who spent over 50 years collecting amazing items from the war. He was very good at checking if old letters and objects were real.

The museum's goal was to show the true story of World War II. It wanted to teach people important lessons from history. In 2016, its name changed to "The International Museum of World War II" because it had a unique collection of items from all over the world.

Sadly, the museum closed suddenly on September 1, 2019. Many of its collections were sold to a billionaire named Ronald Lauder.

What Was the International Museum of World War II?

This museum was home to over 7,000 real items from World War II. It also had 103 mannequins dressed in full uniforms and military gear. Every single item was authentic. This included handwritten notes from leaders like Franklin D. Roosevelt and actual uniforms worn by people in concentration camps.

The collections featured very important letters and documents from major political and military leaders. There were also papers from soldiers, prisoners, and regular people. You could find original letters from famous figures like Adolf Hitler, Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Dwight D. Eisenhower, George S. Patton, Bernard Montgomery, Joseph Stalin, Erwin Rommel, Raoul Wallenberg, and even Anne Frank's family.

Many people praised the museum for how much it showed about the war. Kenneth Rendell, the founder, once said that if visitors felt amazed by how big and complicated the war was, he had reached his goal.

Amazing Collections and Artifacts

The museum had many incredible items that helped tell the story of World War II.

Important Documents and Manuscripts

Some very important documents included an original copy of the Treaty of Versailles announcement. This document had Adolf Hitler's earliest handwritten notes showing his hatred towards Jewish people. There was also Hitler's first draft of the Munich Agreement, with notes from him and Neville Chamberlain.

Other key documents included the first message warning the U.S. Navy about the attack on Pearl Harbor. There were also full German plans for invading England. General Patton's 1942 letter to the Sultan of Morocco announced American landings in North Africa. It also warned about what would happen if French forces resisted.

You could also see General Montgomery's speech to British troops before the El Alamein battle. Patton's map for the invasion of Sicily was there too, with his own notes. The museum had complete plans for the Allies' D-Day landings in Normandy, France. Finally, General Douglas MacArthur's draft of the Japanese surrender terms was on display.

Cool Artifacts and Machines

Among the many significant items were Hitler's SA (a Nazi group) shirt and his first drawing for the Nazi flag. His reading glasses were also there. You could see Patton's battle helmet and Montgomery's special beret. The museum also had copies of Mein Kampf that belonged to Hitler, President Roosevelt, and General Patton.

The museum featured six different Enigma code machines. These machines were used to send secret messages. One was the rare ten-rotor T-52, with only five known to still exist. There was also an American Sherman tank from the North African Campaign. A German Goliath tank used at Normandy was on display. Plus, one of the very few surviving landing crafts (LCVP) from the Pacific, in almost original condition, could be seen.

What You Could See: Museum Topics

The museum's collections were organized by time and place. They included objects, handwritten papers, and printed materials covering many areas:

• Germany between the World Wars
• Adolf Hitler and the rise of Nazism
• The German Military
• The Munich Agreement and the Fall of France
• Winston Churchill
• The Battle of Britain
• The Resistance Movement
• Occupied Europe
• The Holocaust
• Pearl Harbor and the American Home Front
• The U.S. War Effort
• The Italian Front
• The Russian Front
• D-Day: The Invasion of Normandy
• Japan's actions in the Far East
• The Pacific Front
• Iwo Jima
• Prisoners of War
• Everybody's War
• Germany's Collapse and Surrender
• The Atomic Bomb
• The Nuremberg War Trials
• The Surrender of Japan
• The Tokyo War Trials
• Cold War Espionage

Hidden Treasures: The Archives

The museum also had huge collections of historical records, known as archives. These included:

• Over 500,000 photos and documents.
• About 750 photo albums showing military and civilian life during World War II.
• More than 10,000 propaganda leaflets dropped by planes over Europe and the Pacific.
• Fake items like forged money, stamps, newspapers, and identity papers. These were used for "black propaganda."
• A French museum's collection of newspapers, posters, and documents about the French resistance.
• Printed materials about Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union. This included invasion maps and bombing target maps.
• Many diaries from prisoners of war in Japanese and German camps.
• A collection of escape tools and fake documents from the commandant at Colditz Castle.
• Records from Douglas MacArthur's public relations chief. These covered his life from the Japanese air raid on Manila to the Japanese surrender.
• D-Day archives with a full collection of invasion plans.
• Personal items owned by Hitler, Roosevelt, Churchill, Eisenhower, and many others.

Exhibitions and Special Shows

Items from the museum's collection have been shown in many famous places. These include the Imperial War Museum in London and the National Archives. They have also been displayed at West Point, the Newseum in Washington, D.C., and the Supreme Court of the United States. Other locations include the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans and all the Presidential Libraries.

In 2014, an exhibition called "The Power of Words and Images in a World at War" was held in New York City. The New York Times reviewed it, saying that everyday items from World War II, like posters and letters, really bring the past to life. These items offered clear looks into the strong feelings and experiences of the time.

On April 12, 2016, a special exhibition called "The Power of Anti-Semitism: The March to the Holocaust, 1919-1939" opened. Kenneth Rendell created it using items from the museum. The Wall Street Journal called it "powerful." The director of the New York Historical Society said it gave a "new understanding" of how hatred towards Jewish people grew in Europe.

The museum also had its own special exhibitions. These included "Most Secret: Rudolph Hess' Own Archive" and "The Reality of the Resistance." Other shows were "Enigma Code Machines and the Imitation Game" and "Hitler Attacks, Churchill Rises From the Ashes of Appeasement." The last one, "The 75th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor: Why We Remember," ran from October 2016 to January 2017.