One of the highlights of our upcoming 72nd reunion in Boston will be a visit to the International Museum of World War 2. Among our other activities the International Museum stands out because of wide variety of historical artifacts detailing the story of World War 2 on both the home and war front.
The International museum of World War 2 uniquely integrates the human story with the political and military issues and events that were transpiring in all countries and cultures leading up to and during the world at war. The objects, artifacts, letters, and documents in the exhibitions offer insight into the information, influences and events on both the home fronts and war fronts. They are what people saw , what they read, and what they used; from the tiniest of spy gadgets to an original landing craft, from guns concealed in a cigarette to an all-original Sherman tank, from the lightness of propaganda leaflets to the huge gold swastika used on Hitler’s speaker’s stand in Nurnberg. From the beauty of many of the Allies’ posters, to the horror of the Holocaust, it is all represented in the museum, with a minimum of signage and no political correctness.
“The museum is the repository for the actual Holy Grail documents of World War II” – Tom Hanks
The museum is about ordinary people who made up the social movements and the combatants in the war. But is also about the leaders, with the most important letters, documents, and artifacts of those who led their countries politically and militarily. The anxiety people felt can never be conveyed, but the influences, lives, and decision-making that changed the world are shown in a more comprehensive way than in any other museum. About the Museum of World War 2, “Politics, War and Personality,” Kenneth E. Rendell (Whitman publishing 2013)
Visit the museum website for more information and a more detailed preview