The Artifacts and Documents Here Are Authentic
Prototype #1
“Galleries”
Welcome to the
Museum of World War II Boston.
The artifacts and documents here are authentic.
Every piece played a role in World War II.
Please treat everything with respect and care.
Here’s a map of the museum to orient you.
Part 1: Welcome & Orientation 9:00 a.m.
Part 2: Exploration Time (with questions)9:15
Part 3: Close Examination: 1 artifact & 1 document 10:45
Part 4: Debrief, gather in front room11:10 (bell 3x)
Departure11:30
The “Must-See” List
As you explore today, be sure to look for these particular documents and artifacts. This list is roughly in order as you proceed clockwise around the Museum.
The Treaty of Versailles
Devalued Deutschemarks
German toys
Hitler’s watercolors
Enigma machines
U-boat charts of New England and a warning sign from the Connecticut shore
A German grenade and an American grenade
German field surgeon’s kit
Draft of the Munich Agreement
British air raid crank-handled siren
British “war table” & photo of a similar table in use
Children in the Resistance case
An example of a Resistance sabotage method or device
The wearable “body detector” to detect Resistance radios
A man’s suit with gold Star of David
One particular Holocaust victim’s object that startles/moves you
Roosevelt’s Pearl Harbor speech teletype
An American piece of anti-German propaganda that strikes you
An American piece of anti-Japanese propaganda that strikes you
Portrait of Stalin
The Italian propaganda poster that stereotypically portrays an African-American soldier
German D-Day leaflets aimed at American soldiers
Propaganda leaflets from the South Pacific
Joe Rosenthal’s famous Iwo Jima photo
Case containing kamikaze artifacts Japanese home front items
POW materials
Objects damaged or melted by the atomic bombs
Nuremberg trial materials
As you visit the exhibits today, answer
the questions on the following pages.
Germany
Find the copy of the Treaty of Versailles, which is open to Article 231. In the space below, summarize Article 231, in your own words.
Near the Treaty is a big pile of German money. How does all this German money relate to the causes of World War II?
In the “Rise of Nazism” exhibit, there are many images of Adolf Hitler.
- Pick one that fits in with what you expected to see today. Describe it, and why it “fits” your existing idea of Hitler:
- Now, pick an image of Hitler that surprises you, or makes you seem him differently than you expected. Describe how Hitler is portrayed in this image, and why this surprises you.
Find two different artifacts that illustrate how Germany “trained” children to be loyal to the Nazi Party. Sketch one here.
Find an object or document illustratinganti-Semitism in Germany. Describe it. How does Anti-Semitism relate to Hitler’s plans in WWII?
Based on what you’re seeing here, how is propaganda used in Nazi Germany to encourage Germans? Please describe an image you see, and what emotions these images try to trigger- fears, hopes, etc.
Battle of Britain, Occupied France, the Holocaust
Select one object in the England room that illustrates what life was like under German Attack. Describe or sketch it, with three key details.
Imagine you are a citizen of France in the early 1940s. Germany has completely taken over your country. Based on the Museum’s exhibit, how do you think life is different for a typical person in France?
Imagine you are French, living under German occupation. Would you choose to be a resistor and place yourself, your family/friends in extreme danger OR would you become a collaborator and work with the Germans in a way that at least allowed you maintain your safety?
After the war, how do you think France should have treated citizens who joined the resistance? How about those citizens who collaborated with Germany?
Which object in the Holocaust display was most powerful to you? Explain why, please.
America Enters the War
Based on what you see here, list two ways that World War II changed when America entered.
Look at the artifacts in the long glass cases near the front of the Sherman Tank, and the propaganda posters all around this exhibit. How did America portray itself during the war? How did America portray its main enemies (the Japanese and the Germans)?
Find three propaganda posters that communicate a message like “be quiet”. Why do you think the American government was telling its citizens to be quiet?
Here’s a question: During World War II, did people of color who were American citizens feel their civil rights expand, or become more limited? Identify two or three artifacts and documents that provide evidence for your answer.
D-Day and Liberation
What do you think the wedding dress is made out of, and where did that material come from?
What did Anne Frank say about D-Day? Rommel? Eisenhower?
Look at the “leaflets dropped by German artillery on Allied landing forces”. If you were an American soldier who found one of these, what would your reaction be? Write your answer in the voice of that soldier.
The Pacific War & POW’s
Compared to the European galleries, why do you think there are comparatively fewer artifacts from the Pacific theatre?
Look at the gifts given to the kamikaze pilots (pilots that would intentionally crash their planes to destroy places). These are located under the “Japanese Home Front” posters in the big case on the left. How would these gifts be an honor to the pilots and families, since most pilots died?
Find 3 objects/posters/clothes in this room that strike you most, and list them below. Be sure to look at the two cases at the end containing Hitler’s everyday items, handmade items by US prisoners of war, and handmade items by German prisoners of war in the US.
How do the items created by the US and German prisoners of war compare/contrast? Do you have any theories to explain this contrast?
Atomic Bomb, End of the War, Nuremburg Trials
In the “atomic bomb” corner, what is the poster saying about the “super bomb”?What do the news headlines and posters convey about the United States’ place in the world with the war coming to an end?
Read the Japanese Surrender documents in the back corner. How do these differ from the Treaty of Versailles in World War I?
Explain what the Nuremberg Trials were. What was Alfred Rosenberg’s (top right of the case) justification for his actions? Do you find it a credible reason?
One Document & One Artifact:
Close Primary Source Analysis
For this part of your visit, really look “up close” at one document and one artifact. Spend at least 8-10 minutes focused on a single object, and another 8-10 minutes with a single document. Pick items that really interest you, so that you enjoy the time spent with them.
Here are two analysis tools to guide you in this process. 
