Permanent
IWM London
Everyone
Free exhibition
IWM London’s Second World War Galleries display over 1,500 collection items that bring to life a war which affected millions of people from around the world, from London to Russia, to New Zealand, to China and the Philippines.
It is a war with which everyone will have a personal connection.
Dedicated to conserving, displaying and interpreting stories of the most devastating conflict in human history, IWM London is the first museum in the world to house Second World War Galleries and The Holocaust Galleries under the same roof. These galleries will change the way we understand the past for generations to come.
Spanning two floors, these vast new, award-winning galleries bring together the stories of real people from diverse communities to examine the complex relationship between the Holocaust and the course and consequences of the Second World War.
2022 winner of the 'Museum + Heritage' Permanent Exhibition of the Year.
Personal stories
The Second World War and the Holocaust will soon pass out of living memory, leaving us without the first-hand testimony of veterans, eyewitnesses and survivors. IWM’s new galleries preserve their stories and ensure the world never forgets what they experienced.
The new galleries bring together significant new acquisitions and loans, alongside items from IWM’s collections, including the first piece of wreckage of the USS Arizona, sunk at Pearl Harbor in 1941, ever to be displayed outside of the United States.
Unseen objects, untold stories, unheard voices
Through these unseen objects, untold stories and unheard voices, together with the newest research and technology, gain an understanding about the most devastating conflict in modern global history and the genocide of the Holocaust.
Learn More
Total War is an illustrated account of the most pivotal historical episode of the 20th century: the Second World War. It was not one single event, but rather the confluence of many simultaneous conflicts across the globe – on land, in the air, across the sea and beneath it.
This authoritative, immersive account of a conflict that forever reshaped the geopolitical landscape is told not only through compelling photographs of wartime events and detailed maps, but also through a series of artefacts that convey the real-life stories of those involved, from Europe, Asia, the United States and beyond.
Published to coincide with the much-anticipated opening of the new Second World War and Holocaust galleries at Imperial War Museum London, in 2021, this is an essential book for anyone with an interest in the everyday realities of one of the most brutal and significant wars in modern history.
