Museum of World War II

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Museum of World War II
Founder(s) Kenneth W. Rendell
Established 1999
Location Natick, MA
Website www.museumofworldwarII.org

The Museum of World War II is a not for profit museum devoted to World War II located in Natick, Massachusetts, a few miles west of Boston. Formed over a period of more than 50 years by its founder, Kenneth W. Rendell, one of the world's premier dealers in autographs, letters and manuscripts,[1] who has earned international renown as an authenticator of historic artifacts,[2] the Museum's collections document in detail the events of the war, from the signing of the Versailles Treaty, which ended World War I, to the Nuremberg and Tokyo war crimes trials, which brought the Second World War to its close. The Museum's goal is to preserve the reality of the history of World War II and to provide an educational experience of the lessons to be learned.

On display are over 7,000 artifacts as well 103 mannequins outfitted in complete uniforms and military equipment. Every piece is authentic, from documents with the handwriting of Roosevelt to the actual uniforms worn by concentration camp prisoners.[3] The collections include highly important wartime letters, documents, and manuscripts of all the major political and military leaders, as well as the papers of officers and soldiers of all ranks, concentration camp inmates, and civilians. Adolf Hitler, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Sir Winston Churchill, Dwight D. Eisenhower, George S. Patton, Bernard Montgomery, Joseph Stalin, Erwin Rommel, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Mengele, Adolf Eichmann, Raoul Wallenberg, and Anne Frank's family are all represented in original letters.

It has been described by London's Imperial War Museum as " containing the most comprehensive display of original World War II artifacts on exhibit anywhere in the world.[4]" Rendell has commented, "If a visitor is overwhelmed with the enormity and the complexity of the war, I have achieved my goal."

Highlights

Documents and manuscripts of particular importance include: Original copy of the announcement of the Treaty of Versailles with Hitler's handwritten earliest anti-semitic rage, Hitler's draft of the Munich Agreement with his notations as well as Neville Chamberlain's; the first message alerting the Navy of the attack on Pearl Harbor; Complete German plans for the invasion of England; General Patton's letter to the Sultan of Morocco announcing the American landings and threats of destruction; Montgomery's address to the troops before El Alamein; Patton's annotated map for the invasion of Sicily; the complete plans for the D-Day invasion in Normandy; and Douglas MacArthur's draft of the Japanese surrender terms.

Among the significant artifacts are Hitler's SA (Sturm Abteilung or Storm Trooper) shirt; his first sketch for the Nazi flag; his reading glasses; Patton's battle helmet; Montgomery's beret; and copies of Mein Kampf belonging to Hitler, President Roosevelt, and General Patton. There are also six different Enigma code machines, including the ten-rotor T-52, of which only five are extant; an American Sherman tank from the North African campaign, a German Goliath tank from Normandy, and one of the very few surviving original landing craft (LCVP) from the Pacific.

The Collections, which are arranged chronologically and geographically, include artifacts, manuscript and printed material in the following areas:

Archives

The Museum's archival collections include over 500,000 photographs and documents and about 750 photograph albums that document and give insight into military and civilian life and activities during World War II.

Propaganda leaflets dropped by planes over Europe and the Pacific (these number over 10,000).

Black propaganda material includes forged currency, postage stamps, newspapers, official army discharge documents, and identity papers, as well as fake ration stamps.

A French museum's collection of newspapers, handbills, posters, documents, leaflets, and other printed pieces documenting the occupation and the French Resistance.

Printed material documenting the Russian Invasion includes German plans to strip Russia of its natural resources, a complete set of the invasion maps and booklets, and bombing and artillery target maps.

An extensive collection of diaries of Prisoners of War from both Japanese and German camps and the collection of escape devices and forgeries from Colditz collected by the Commandant.

The archive of Douglas MacArthur's Chief of Staff for Public Relations document his life and actions, from the time of the Japanese air raid on Manila the day after Pearl Harbor to the evacuation from Corregidor, and the return to the Philippines and the Japanese surrender.

The D-Day archives contain the most comprehensive collection of invasion plans.

Exhibitions

Manuscripts and artifacts from the collection have been exhibited at the Imperial War Museum, London; National Archives; West Point; Museum of Our National Heritage; Grolier Club, New York; University of Southern California; the Newseum, Washington, D.C.; the Supreme Court of the United States; the National D-Day Museum, New Orleans; all the Presidential Libraries; the CIA Museum; and the Berlin Historical Museum. Manuscripts and artifacts from the Museum have also been illustrated in numerous books and articles, and the museum has been used in documentaries.

"The Power of Words and Images in a World at War," a 2014 exhibition in New York City was reviewed by the New York Times - "It is the ephemera that ends up reviving the past, jolting us into more vivid understanding. And much of what we see in this exhibition does just that. Objects of everyday life during World War II - the posters, the signs, the leaflets, the newspapers, the letters - land on contemporary senses like sparks still smoldering... These artifacts give sharp, incisive glimpses of passions and experiences that can be missed in the larger currents of the war's history. But we also see the war itself unfolding, and in many instances are amazed that we are seeing these artifacts at all.... It manages to give a powerful compact survey, while suggesting how much of that epochal conflict yet remains beyond easy understanding." [5]

Museum expansion

The museum is set to expand in 2016. With 60,000 square feet of space, the new, two-story facility will boast three times its current exhibition space, extensive archives, a library, and the state-of the-art Shipley Education Center. With these plans in place, founder Kenneth W. Rendell announced several developments in mid-2015. Among them was a new partnership with Natick-based technology company MathWorks, which signed on as the museum's first corporate sponsor. In addition, Marshall Carter, formerly the K-8 principal at Milton Academy, joined the museum as its first director of education. Samantha Heywood was hired as museum director and director of exhibitions. Ms. Heywood came over from London's Imperial War Museum, where she served as director of public programmes. And in November, veteran fundraiser Sheila F. Dennis was named the museum's new director of development.

Related writings

  • With Weapons and Wits: Propaganda and Psychological Warfare in World War II'.' Overlord Press, 1992.
  • "The Real World War II: Fear On the Home Front, Terror on the Front Lines." American Enterprise Institute, 2002.
  • World War II Saving the Reality: A Collectors Vault. Whitman Publishing, 2009.
  • Politics, War, and Personality: Fifty Iconic World War II Documents that Changed the World. Whitman Publishing, 2013.

References

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External links

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