The Liberation of Paris Great Emotion, Neither Diminished by the Last 70 Years

Home , Legion of Honour, Liberation of Paris

Morley piper Morley piper, who landed on d-day in the first wave of the 29th infantry divi- sion, spoke at a dinner in the Museum the night before leaving for france for the 70th anniversary commemorations. Morley, who was interviewed in the dan aykroyd documentary about the Museum, was riveting as he described that fate- ful day that changed the course of World War ii. how soldiers managed to survive the withering ma- chine gun fire and get off the beach was astonishing, and Morley told his own story in detail and with the liberatioN of pariS great emotion, neither diminished by the last 70 years. almost unfathomable to everyone, except the other World War ii combat veterans at the dinner, was how Morley and others survived emotionally SeVeNty yearS aGo • aUGUSt 25, 1944 and physically for the next eleven months as they fought across france and into Germany. Morley Volume 1 • Number 3 September, 2014 made it very clear when he said, “Every night I slept in a shell hole or burned out building, and I shook and cried at what I had to do that day. And, I had to wake up the next day and do it again”. After more than four long years of occupation, Paris, the City of Light, the symbol of France, was liberated by the Allied Armies. Special exhibitioN all of paris was ecstatic; parisiens embraced their libera- doriS KearNS GoodWiN Th tors and danced in the streets. the German occupation had pulitizer prize winning historian doris Kearns Goodwin spoke at a Museum dinner at the end of May The 75 aNNiVerSary of been terrible, from the draconian rules enforced by the Germans to the shortages of food and consumer goods. about the importance of original manuscript sources in understanding the reality of history. doris, french men were in German prisoner of war camps or who is a trustee of the Museum of World War ii, and who has been very involved with the con- working as enforced laborers in Germany. those who cept and approach of the Museum, spoke in detail about the importance of the Museum’s mission the Start of World War ii stayed in paris survived somewhat at the whim of the in “Saving the reality of World War ii” and about the opportunity for visitors to read the original Germany’s attack on poland brought the france, Germany’s arch enemy and ar- the greatest cataclysm in the history occupiers. the lightening sweep of the american army words of those who led or were caught up in the war’s events and times. doris said the Museum’s inevitability that england and france chitect of the hated Versailles treaty. of the world is seen in the admiralty’s (under George patton) across france electrified the wait- focus on displaying original documents so that visitors and researchers can see the actual words that had not wanted to face – the reality of order (September 3, 1939) in only ing parisiens. people wrote at the time, and the propaganda and other information sources they read at the time, a rearmed and united Germany. politi- in these three critical documents, six words: is unique. While historians can distill those words and filter them through their own views, doris cal leaders had tried to ignore hitler’s never exhibited in the museum be- the day after the official German surrender on au- praised the Museum and its founder for presenting the World War ii experience in its essential reality. fore, britain’s realization that war was gust 25th, the american, british and canadian armies words and actions as another war was “Commence hostilities at once marched into paris; the french army was brought for- unthinkable. War was not unthink- imminent is seen in the draft of the with Germany.” ward to give them the leading role entering the city. the able to hitler and other Nazi leaders; King’s Speech (august 25, 1939) and parisiens knew who was liberating them and expressed it was the chance to vindicate Ger- in the cipher message to british forces The exhibitions opens on September 3rd and their appreciation with handmade american and british man honor and seek revenge against (September 1, 1939). the outbreak of runs until November 29, 2014 flags, dresses and everything conceivable showing the colors of france and the allies.

the German Military Governor of paris, dietrich von choltitz, ignored hitler’s order to destroy paris. below is the draft of the KiNG’S Speech one of the detonation devices set blow up a bridge across the Seine. the King’s Speech. even before the academy award winning mov- ie, The King’s Speech, nearly everyone knew what those three words referred to. Seventy-five years ago, on September 3, 1939, King The liberation of Paris actually went on for several days allowing George Vi told the british nation that what they all dreaded had hap- plenty of time for women to make dresses for themselves and outfits pened; barely 20 years after the official end of the Great War (there for their children (often using flags), children to put patriotic bows was no need to number it) england was at war again with Germany. on their stuffed animals, and manufacturers and craftspeople to the nation that had lost an entire generation of young men had be- turn out Victory paraphernalia used joyously at the time and saved lieved prime Minister Neville chamberlain’s proclamation of “peace as precious memories. in our time” when he returned from Munich only a year earlier.

the King’s speech had to not only tell the english people that they were at war again with Germany, it had to also instill confidence in the nation. first it had to be delivered on the radio live (there was no pre-recording at the time) by a confident King who suffered leGioN of hoNoUr from terrible stammering. regardless of what personal understanding the 70th anniversary of d-day was commemorated in the Museum by the french consul General in boston, on behalf of the french government, awarding the legion of honour (ordre national de la légion d’honneur) to ten veterans of the Norman- The King’s Speech continued on next page Detail: The first of three pages of the draft of the King’s speech. Choltitz saved Paris dy invasion. the veterans, accompanied by family members, were interviewed by national and local media and were thanked from this and other by elected officials who presented additional recognitions for what they did and what they went through, seven decadesago. detonators like it.

A leader of deliberate conduct, Winston Churchill would attach a bright red sticker to schedule a visit: www.museumofworldwarii.org • museum direct: 508-651-1944 emblazoned with the words: “Action This Day” to his memos to prioritize and CONTACT administration: 508-653-1944 • e-mail: [email protected] make clear to his subordinates that he expected specific action that day. are now taking place – it is the served his revenge hot: after on Jan. 30, 1939, with phrases, the european theater, ‘For you Special exhibition ephemera that ends up reviving conquering paris, 22 years later, fragments, allusions to German the war is over,’ had a different the past, jolting us into more he had the car removed from a genius and to a new age being meaning for Germans surren- vivid understanding. and much French museum and brought to ushered in, though the speech dering to the Russians – for 95 The King’s Speech continued from page 1 the King to forget everyone else and just the neW YoRK tiMeS RevieW of what we see in this exhibition where Germany was once forced itself was later spun out in an percent of them, life was over.” say the speech to him, as a friend. his de- Saturday, June 7, 2014 • (Recreated with permission) does just that. objects of every- to surrender, turning it into a site oratorical trance; it became most but German defeat in the east people might have had, they needed, the livery was calm, dignified and measured. nation needed, an unwavering leader in the day life during World War ii – for French submission. it was famous for hitler’s announce- helped make defeat possible the posters, the signs, the leaflets, the shipped to berlin in triumph. ment that any coming world war in the West. here, too, are the months before churchill became prime Min- the King opened his speech with the first the newspapers, the letters – land would lead to “the annihilation original plans for the normandy ister; King George vi had to be that person. paragraph of this draft: “In this grave hour, on contemporary senses like as for France after the fall, its of the Jewish race in europe.” invasion, with red and blue pen- perhaps the gravest in our history, I send to sparks still smoldering. character becomes clear with cil marks showing the hoped-for his personal story is well told in the mov- every household of my people this message, the display of two paris guides as if in response, the adjacent positions after the first day ie and numerous books. the tragic an- written with the same depth of feeling for they were selected by Kenneth written in German, along with display contains a typewritten of fighting. nouncement to the nation was a personal each one of you as if I were able to cross W. Rendell, a rare book and man- a set of 1942 posters in French manuscript for a 1946 speech by triumph for the King who showed the your threshold and speak to you myself.” same mettle he expected of his people. uscript dealer, from his private and German, outlining reprisals churchill. the english channel and given prominent display collection of some 7,000 artifacts against any suspected saboteur: is described as a “strip of salt is one of nine bound copies of this three page carbon typescript has no- around which he has constructed all male relatives will be shot, water” that in the battle of brit- the instrument of Surrender by tation in pencil, “Intermediate draft of the Museum of World War ii all female relatives pressed into ain may be said to have “saved Japan on Sept. 2, 1945, created the King’s speech on the outbreak of war. just outside boston. the Grolier work, all children sent to a super- the freedom of the world” by for Gen. Douglas Macarthur’s I did the first draft, a good bit of which show’s displays, which chronicle vised school. giving allies time to prepare personal distribution. remains -- but spoiled by translation into the war from various posts and and hitler “the time to make long sentences. Spoken stuff should be periods, consistently unite the there are examples of senti- his fatal mistake.” if the exhibition were focused short winded. H[arold] V[ale] R[hodes].” familiar with the unexpected. mental propaganda, including more particularly on its theme – (Rhodes played an important role in setting posters of norman Rockwell’s one aspect of that mistake can word, image and propaganda – up the Ministry of information in 1939.) So while we are acquainted by paean to the Four Freedoms, but be glimpsed in a case devoted it would have more coherence, now with the “Degenerate art” also of virulent propaganda. in to the Soviet Union, which but had it done that, it would this intermediate draft was written on august exhibition that hitler staged (its one Japanese poster, “american includes a book of German have also given a more restrict- 25, 1939, two days after the Molotov-Ribben- guide is here), there is also an demons” have bound Filipino invasion plans for Ukraine, a ed picture of the war. instead, trop pact was signed between Germany and enameled sign created by the soldiers to bamboo stalks for use German invasion map for the it manages to give a powerful the U.S.S.R., making war all but inevitable Reichskulturkammer, the nazi as human shields. area around leningrad and a compact survey, while suggest- by paving the way for the invasion of poland. bureau overseeing cultural life. map of approaches to Moscow. ing how much of that epochal “Swing tanzen verboten,” it there are examples, too, of sub- We read: “the phrase spoken conflict yet remains beyond the final speech, while retaining the sen- reads: “Swing dancing forbid- terranean currents: an american to all surrendering soldiers in easy understanding. timent and structure of this draft, is char- den.” and while the graphic army sign for showers sends acterized by shorter and less grammati- brilliance of nazi propaganda “white” enlisted men in one cally complex sentences than this draft. posters is widely acknowledged direction and “colored in another. it was delivered by the King standing at a (and all too disturbing), the min- a 1939 announcement of a “mass DiRectoR’S note lectern in an anteroom, with the window iature books we see celebrating demonstration for true american- i have long considered ed Rothstein to be the most perceptive and open and his jacket off, and with his un- the Führer, equipped with loops ism” at Madison Square Garden intelligent museum critic anywhere. his article, “new insights conventional australian speech therapist, of string that let them be carried organized by the German ameri- into history May Skew the big picture,” which appeared in The lionel logue, at his side. logue advised by children, deliver an under- can bund promises support for stated wallop. “100,000,000 aryan (White, New York Times on March 19, 2014 lays out in detail what is wrong Gentile) americans.” with history museums today and should be the guiding light for Like Smoldering Sparks, War’s Ephemera museums to find their way back to what their missions were orig- Want to know something about the atmosphere in london as So while the overall history is inally. it is a brilliant contribution to the lessons that history muse- Special exhibition as autographed pictures go, there may be ums need to understand in responsibly representing their subjects. none so damning as the one that David German bombs fell in 1940? familiar, these artifacts give look at the british leaflet “if sharp, incisive glimpses of pas- lloyd George, britain’s prime minister it was with great anticipation that i learned he was going to during the latter part of World War i, the invader comes: What to sions and experiences that can Do – and how to Do it.” “You be missed in the larger currents review my exhibition “the power of Words and images in a the StaRt oF WoRlD WaR ii inscribed on Dec. 1, 1933: World at War”. the documents and artifacts are drawn from “to chancellor hitler, with must not be taken by surprise,” of the war’s history. but we citizens are warned. lessons also see the war itself unfold- the Museum of World War ii and represent my concepts of il- admiration for his brilliant lustrating all aspects of the world at war in the original words gift of courage.” have been learned from the nazi ing, and in many instances are overrunning of belgium and the amazed that we are seeing these of those who were there. i have always carefully worked on the pacing of artifacts and exhibits in order to avoid precisely by now the consequences netherlands. “Stay put,” readers artifacts at all. are told. also: “Do not believe what he describes as a “passive absorption of familiar ma- of such brilliant gifts and terial”. in language, and in magic, the mind anticipates and the admiration they in- rumors and do not spread them.” in a conversation, Mr. Rendell another leaflet has instructions described how in the early skips over what may or may not be there, and i want the spired are so well known, they hardly need viewer to always realize they need to look at each artifact retelling. but coming upon this photo at the on “how not to get gassed”: decades of his collecting, Masks should be carried at all there was often little interest and document carefully and discover for themselves infor- Grolier club, as part of a modest but potent mation that brings them as close to the reality as possible. exhibition, “the power of Words and im- times along with jars of “no. 2 in such material at auctions, anti-gas ointment (price 6d.).” even from government librar- ages in a World at War,” is startling. its he understood with great perception exactly what is behind matinee idol image of a british leader, ac- ies and archives. he would even a photograph that seems readily (and inexpensively) my exhibition designs and my belief that history should companied by that fawning tribute, leaves be conveyed directly from the participants to the museum Above: The Original Secret Cipher Telegram, September 1, 1939 from the War Of- us unable to settle into passive absorption The Power of Words and Images in a World at War The exhibition at the Grolier Club, top inconsequential takes on reso- buy entire collections. nance. a railway car, incongru- visitor without the filters of curators and historians who far fice addressed to the Governors and Commanders-in-Chief in the Middle East and of familiar material. includes posters with images, from left, of Hitler, Churchill and Uncle Sam. The show, from too often make judgments knowing how history unfolded. other areas, and British troops in China and Commonwealth countries. ously parked at the brandenburg So here are six detached pad- the collection of Kenneth W. Rendell, a rare book and manuscript dealer, also includes signs, Gate in berlin, is the same car in size sheets, scrawled with they apply the social values of today to a very different Righbt: Hand-written Naval Message marked, “Most Immediate,” on September 3, in fact, with the Second World War slowly world 75 years ago, a time when people didn’t know what th leaflets and other artifacts around which Mr. Rendell has constructed The Museum of World which Germany signed the armi- German notes: hitler’s outline 1939 to “All concerned Home and Abroad from Admirality”: “Commence Hostili- passing out of living memory – 70 -an- was going to happen. i consider his review a great honor. ties at once with Germany.” niversary commemorations of D-Day War II. Photos by Gavin Ashworth. The exhibition closed on August 2, 2014 stice ending World War i. hitler for his speech to the Reichstag are now taking place – it is the served his revenge hot: after on Jan. 30, 1939, with phrases, the european theater, ‘For you Special exhibition ephemera that ends up reviving conquering paris, 22 years later, fragments, allusions to German the war is over,’ had a different the past, jolting us into more he had the car removed from a genius and to a new age being meaning for Germans surren- vivid understanding. and much French museum and brought to ushered in, though the speech dering to the Russians – for 95 The King’s Speech continued from page 1 the King to forget everyone else and just the neW YoRK tiMeS RevieW of what we see in this exhibition where Germany was once forced itself was later spun out in an percent of them, life was over.” say the speech to him, as a friend. his de- Saturday, June 7, 2014 • (Recreated with permission) does just that. objects of every- to surrender, turning it into a site oratorical trance; it became most but German defeat in the east people might have had, they needed, the livery was calm, dignified and measured. nation needed, an unwavering leader in the day life during World War ii – for French submission. it was famous for hitler’s announce- helped make defeat possible the posters, the signs, the leaflets, the shipped to berlin in triumph. ment that any coming world war in the West. here, too, are the months before churchill became prime Min- the King opened his speech with the first the newspapers, the letters – land would lead to “the annihilation original plans for the normandy ister; King George vi had to be that person. paragraph of this draft: “In this grave hour, on contemporary senses like as for France after the fall, its of the Jewish race in europe.” invasion, with red and blue pen- perhaps the gravest in our history, I send to sparks still smoldering. character becomes clear with cil marks showing the hoped-for his personal story is well told in the mov- every household of my people this message, the display of two paris guides as if in response, the adjacent positions after the first day ie and numerous books. the tragic an- written with the same depth of feeling for they were selected by Kenneth written in German, along with display contains a typewritten of fighting. nouncement to the nation was a personal each one of you as if I were able to cross W. Rendell, a rare book and man- a set of 1942 posters in French manuscript for a 1946 speech by triumph for the King who showed the your threshold and speak to you myself.” same mettle he expected of his people. uscript dealer, from his private and German, outlining reprisals churchill. the english channel and given prominent display collection of some 7,000 artifacts against any suspected saboteur: is described as a “strip of salt is one of nine bound copies of this three page carbon typescript has no- around which he has constructed all male relatives will be shot, water” that in the battle of brit- the instrument of Surrender by tation in pencil, “Intermediate draft of the Museum of World War ii all female relatives pressed into ain may be said to have “saved Japan on Sept. 2, 1945, created the King’s speech on the outbreak of war. just outside boston. the Grolier work, all children sent to a super- the freedom of the world” by for Gen. Douglas Macarthur’s I did the first draft, a good bit of which show’s displays, which chronicle vised school. giving allies time to prepare personal distribution. remains -- but spoiled by translation into the war from various posts and and hitler “the time to make long sentences. Spoken stuff should be periods, consistently unite the there are examples of senti- his fatal mistake.” if the exhibition were focused short winded. H[arold] V[ale] R[hodes].” familiar with the unexpected. mental propaganda, including more particularly on its theme – (Rhodes played an important role in setting posters of norman Rockwell’s one aspect of that mistake can word, image and propaganda – up the Ministry of information in 1939.) So while we are acquainted by paean to the Four Freedoms, but be glimpsed in a case devoted it would have more coherence, now with the “Degenerate art” also of virulent propaganda. in to the Soviet Union, which but had it done that, it would this intermediate draft was written on august exhibition that hitler staged (its one Japanese poster, “american includes a book of German have also given a more restrict- 25, 1939, two days after the Molotov-Ribben- guide is here), there is also an demons” have bound Filipino invasion plans for Ukraine, a ed picture of the war. instead, trop pact was signed between Germany and enameled sign created by the soldiers to bamboo stalks for use German invasion map for the it manages to give a powerful the U.S.S.R., making war all but inevitable Reichskulturkammer, the nazi as human shields. area around leningrad and a compact survey, while suggest- by paving the way for the invasion of poland. bureau overseeing cultural life. map of approaches to Moscow. ing how much of that epochal “Swing tanzen verboten,” it there are examples, too, of sub- We read: “the phrase spoken conflict yet remains beyond the final speech, while retaining the sen- reads: “Swing dancing forbid- terranean currents: an american to all surrendering soldiers in easy understanding. timent and structure of this draft, is char- den.” and while the graphic army sign for showers sends acterized by shorter and less grammati- brilliance of nazi propaganda “white” enlisted men in one cally complex sentences than this draft. posters is widely acknowledged direction and “colored in another. it was delivered by the King standing at a (and all too disturbing), the min- a 1939 announcement of a “mass DiRectoR’S note lectern in an anteroom, with the window iature books we see celebrating demonstration for true american- i have long considered ed Rothstein to be the most perceptive and open and his jacket off, and with his un- the Führer, equipped with loops ism” at Madison Square Garden intelligent museum critic anywhere. his article, “new insights conventional australian speech therapist, of string that let them be carried organized by the German ameri- into history May Skew the big picture,” which appeared in The lionel logue, at his side. logue advised by children, deliver an under- can bund promises support for stated wallop. “100,000,000 aryan (White, New York Times on March 19, 2014 lays out in detail what is wrong Gentile) americans.” with history museums today and should be the guiding light for Like Smoldering Sparks, War’s Ephemera museums to find their way back to what their missions were orig- Want to know something about the atmosphere in london as So while the overall history is inally. it is a brilliant contribution to the lessons that history muse- Special exhibition as autographed pictures go, there may be ums need to understand in responsibly representing their subjects. none so damning as the one that David German bombs fell in 1940? familiar, these artifacts give look at the british leaflet “if sharp, incisive glimpses of pas- lloyd George, britain’s prime minister it was with great anticipation that i learned he was going to during the latter part of World War i, the invader comes: What to sions and experiences that can Do – and how to Do it.” “You be missed in the larger currents review my exhibition “the power of Words and images in a the StaRt oF WoRlD WaR ii inscribed on Dec. 1, 1933: World at War”. the documents and artifacts are drawn from “to chancellor hitler, with must not be taken by surprise,” of the war’s history. but we citizens are warned. lessons also see the war itself unfold- the Museum of World War ii and represent my concepts of il- admiration for his brilliant lustrating all aspects of the world at war in the original words gift of courage.” have been learned from the nazi ing, and in many instances are overrunning of belgium and the amazed that we are seeing these of those who were there. i have always carefully worked on the pacing of artifacts and exhibits in order to avoid precisely by now the consequences netherlands. “Stay put,” readers artifacts at all. are told. also: “Do not believe what he describes as a “passive absorption of familiar ma- of such brilliant gifts and terial”. in language, and in magic, the mind anticipates and the admiration they in- rumors and do not spread them.” in a conversation, Mr. Rendell another leaflet has instructions described how in the early skips over what may or may not be there, and i want the spired are so well known, they hardly need viewer to always realize they need to look at each artifact retelling. but coming upon this photo at the on “how not to get gassed”: decades of his collecting, Masks should be carried at all there was often little interest and document carefully and discover for themselves infor- Grolier club, as part of a modest but potent mation that brings them as close to the reality as possible. exhibition, “the power of Words and im- times along with jars of “no. 2 in such material at auctions, anti-gas ointment (price 6d.).” even from government librar- ages in a World at War,” is startling. its he understood with great perception exactly what is behind matinee idol image of a british leader, ac- ies and archives. he would even a photograph that seems readily (and inexpensively) my exhibition designs and my belief that history should companied by that fawning tribute, leaves be conveyed directly from the participants to the museum Above: The Original Secret Cipher Telegram, September 1, 1939 from the War Of- us unable to settle into passive absorption The Power of Words and Images in a World at War The exhibition at the Grolier Club, top inconsequential takes on reso- buy entire collections. nance. a railway car, incongru- visitor without the filters of curators and historians who far fice addressed to the Governors and Commanders-in-Chief in the Middle East and of familiar material. includes posters with images, from left, of Hitler, Churchill and Uncle Sam. The show, from too often make judgments knowing how history unfolded. other areas, and British troops in China and Commonwealth countries. ously parked at the brandenburg So here are six detached pad- the collection of Kenneth W. Rendell, a rare book and manuscript dealer, also includes signs, Gate in berlin, is the same car in size sheets, scrawled with they apply the social values of today to a very different Righbt: Hand-written Naval Message marked, “Most Immediate,” on September 3, in fact, with the Second World War slowly world 75 years ago, a time when people didn’t know what th leaflets and other artifacts around which Mr. Rendell has constructed The Museum of World which Germany signed the armi- German notes: hitler’s outline 1939 to “All concerned Home and Abroad from Admirality”: “Commence Hostili- passing out of living memory – 70 -an- was going to happen. i consider his review a great honor. ties at once with Germany.” niversary commemorations of D-Day War II. Photos by Gavin Ashworth. The exhibition closed on August 2, 2014 stice ending World War i. hitler for his speech to the Reichstag are now taking place – it is the served his revenge hot: after on Jan. 30, 1939, with phrases, the european theater, ‘For you Special exhibition ephemera that ends up reviving conquering paris, 22 years later, fragments, allusions to German the war is over,’ had a different the past, jolting us into more he had the car removed from a genius and to a new age being meaning for Germans surren- vivid understanding. and much French museum and brought to ushered in, though the speech dering to the Russians – for 95 The King’s Speech continued from page 1 the King to forget everyone else and just the neW YoRK tiMeS RevieW of what we see in this exhibition where Germany was once forced itself was later spun out in an percent of them, life was over.” say the speech to him, as a friend. his de- Saturday, June 7, 2014 • (Recreated with permission) does just that. objects of every- to surrender, turning it into a site oratorical trance; it became most but German defeat in the east people might have had, they needed, the livery was calm, dignified and measured. nation needed, an unwavering leader in the day life during World War ii – for French submission. it was famous for hitler’s announce- helped make defeat possible the posters, the signs, the leaflets, the shipped to berlin in triumph. ment that any coming world war in the West. here, too, are the months before churchill became prime Min- the King opened his speech with the first the newspapers, the letters – land would lead to “the annihilation original plans for the normandy ister; King George vi had to be that person. paragraph of this draft: “In this grave hour, on contemporary senses like as for France after the fall, its of the Jewish race in europe.” invasion, with red and blue pen- perhaps the gravest in our history, I send to sparks still smoldering. character becomes clear with cil marks showing the hoped-for his personal story is well told in the mov- every household of my people this message, the display of two paris guides as if in response, the adjacent positions after the first day ie and numerous books. the tragic an- written with the same depth of feeling for they were selected by Kenneth written in German, along with display contains a typewritten of fighting. nouncement to the nation was a personal each one of you as if I were able to cross W. Rendell, a rare book and man- a set of 1942 posters in French manuscript for a 1946 speech by triumph for the King who showed the your threshold and speak to you myself.” same mettle he expected of his people. uscript dealer, from his private and German, outlining reprisals churchill. the english channel and given prominent display collection of some 7,000 artifacts against any suspected saboteur: is described as a “strip of salt is one of nine bound copies of this three page carbon typescript has no- around which he has constructed all male relatives will be shot, water” that in the battle of brit- the instrument of Surrender by tation in pencil, “Intermediate draft of the Museum of World War ii all female relatives pressed into ain may be said to have “saved Japan on Sept. 2, 1945, created the King’s speech on the outbreak of war. just outside boston. the Grolier work, all children sent to a super- the freedom of the world” by for Gen. Douglas Macarthur’s I did the first draft, a good bit of which show’s displays, which chronicle vised school. giving allies time to prepare personal distribution. remains -- but spoiled by translation into the war from various posts and and hitler “the time to make long sentences. Spoken stuff should be periods, consistently unite the there are examples of senti- his fatal mistake.” if the exhibition were focused short winded. H[arold] V[ale] R[hodes].” familiar with the unexpected. mental propaganda, including more particularly on its theme – (Rhodes played an important role in setting posters of norman Rockwell’s one aspect of that mistake can word, image and propaganda – up the Ministry of information in 1939.) So while we are acquainted by paean to the Four Freedoms, but be glimpsed in a case devoted it would have more coherence, now with the “Degenerate art” also of virulent propaganda. in to the Soviet Union, which but had it done that, it would this intermediate draft was written on august exhibition that hitler staged (its one Japanese poster, “american includes a book of German have also given a more restrict- 25, 1939, two days after the Molotov-Ribben- guide is here), there is also an demons” have bound Filipino invasion plans for Ukraine, a ed picture of the war. instead, trop pact was signed between Germany and enameled sign created by the soldiers to bamboo stalks for use German invasion map for the it manages to give a powerful the U.S.S.R., making war all but inevitable Reichskulturkammer, the nazi as human shields. area around leningrad and a compact survey, while suggest- by paving the way for the invasion of poland. bureau overseeing cultural life. map of approaches to Moscow. ing how much of that epochal “Swing tanzen verboten,” it there are examples, too, of sub- We read: “the phrase spoken conflict yet remains beyond the final speech, while retaining the sen- reads: “Swing dancing forbid- terranean currents: an american to all surrendering soldiers in easy understanding. timent and structure of this draft, is char- den.” and while the graphic army sign for showers sends acterized by shorter and less grammati- brilliance of nazi propaganda “white” enlisted men in one cally complex sentences than this draft. posters is widely acknowledged direction and “colored in another. it was delivered by the King standing at a (and all too disturbing), the min- a 1939 announcement of a “mass DiRectoR’S note lectern in an anteroom, with the window iature books we see celebrating demonstration for true american- i have long considered ed Rothstein to be the most perceptive and open and his jacket off, and with his un- the Führer, equipped with loops ism” at Madison Square Garden intelligent museum critic anywhere. his article, “new insights conventional australian speech therapist, of string that let them be carried organized by the German ameri- into history May Skew the big picture,” which appeared in The lionel logue, at his side. logue advised by children, deliver an under- can bund promises support for stated wallop. “100,000,000 aryan (White, New York Times on March 19, 2014 lays out in detail what is wrong Gentile) americans.” with history museums today and should be the guiding light for Like Smoldering Sparks, War’s Ephemera museums to find their way back to what their missions were orig- Want to know something about the atmosphere in london as So while the overall history is inally. it is a brilliant contribution to the lessons that history muse- Special exhibition as autographed pictures go, there may be ums need to understand in responsibly representing their subjects. none so damning as the one that David German bombs fell in 1940? familiar, these artifacts give look at the british leaflet i“ f sharp, incisive glimpses of pas- lloyd George, britain’s prime minister it was with great anticipation that i learned he was going to during the latter part of World War i, the invader comes: What to sions and experiences that can Do – and how to Do it.” “You be missed in the larger currents review my exhibition “the power of Words and images in a the StaRt oF WoRlD WaR ii inscribed on Dec. 1, 1933: World at War”. the documents and artifacts are drawn from “to chancellor hitler, with must not be taken by surprise,” of the war’s history. but we citizens are warned. lessons also see the war itself unfold- the Museum of World War ii and represent my concepts of il- admiration for his brilliant lustrating all aspects of the world at war in the original words gift of courage.” have been learned from the nazi ing, and in many instances are overrunning of belgium and the amazed that we are seeing these of those who were there. i have always carefully worked on the pacing of artifacts and exhibits in order to avoid precisely by now the consequences netherlands. “Stay put,” readers artifacts at all. are told. also: “Do not believe what he describes as a “passive absorption of familiar ma- of such brilliant gifts and terial”. in language, and in magic, the mind anticipates and the admiration they in- rumors and do not spread them.” in a conversation, Mr. Rendell another leaflet has instructions described how in the early skips over what may or may not be there, and i want the spired are so well known, they hardly need viewer to always realize they need to look at each artifact retelling. but coming upon this photo at the on “how not to get gassed”: decades of his collecting, Masks should be carried at all there was often little interest and document carefully and discover for themselves infor- Grolier club, as part of a modest but potent mation that brings them as close to the reality as possible. exhibition, “the power of Words and im- times along with jars of “no. 2 in such material at auctions, anti-gas ointment (price 6d.).” even from government librar- ages in a World at War,” is startling. its he understood with great perception exactly what is behind matinee idol image of a british leader, ac- ies and archives. he would even a photograph that seems readily (and inexpensively) my exhibition designs and my belief that history should companied by that fawning tribute, leaves be conveyed directly from the participants to the museum Above: The Original Secret Cipher Telegram, September 1, 1939 from the War Of- us unable to settle into passive absorption The Power of Words and Images in a World at War The exhibition at the Grolier Club, top inconsequential takes on reso- buy entire collections. nance. a railway car, incongru- visitor without the filters of curators and historians who far fice addressed to the Governors and Commanders-in-Chief in the Middle East and of familiar material. includes posters with images, from left, of Hitler, Churchill and Uncle Sam. The show, from too often make judgments knowing how history unfolded. other areas, and British troops in China and Commonwealth countries. ously parked at the brandenburg So here are six detached pad- the collection of Kenneth W. Rendell, a rare book and manuscript dealer, also includes signs, Gate in berlin, is the same car in size sheets, scrawled with they apply the social values of today to a very different Righbt: Hand-written Naval Message marked, “Most Immediate,” on September 3, in fact, with the Second World War slowly world 75 years ago, a time when people didn’t know what th leaflets and other artifacts around which Mr. Rendell has constructed The Museum of World which Germany signed the armi- German notes: hitler’s outline 1939 to “All concerned Home and Abroad from Admirality”: “Commence Hostili- passing out of living memory – 70 -an- was going to happen. i consider his review a great honor. ties at once with Germany.” niversary commemorations of D-Day War II. Photos by Gavin Ashworth. The exhibition closed on August 2, 2014 stice ending World War i. hitler for his speech to the Reichstag