About the World War II Victory Museum

WWII Secondary Menu

Museum Information (Adobe Acrobat Files)

Information Packet (100KB)
Brochure (1 MB)


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The World War II Victory Museum was established in 1999 through the generosity of its founders, Dean and Kristin Kruse, and their sons, Dima and Devin, of Auburn, IN. The World War II Victory Museum contains one of the world’s most impressive collections of artifacts from the Second World War.

The collection includes approximately 150 vehicles and hundreds of uniforms, weapons and smaller artifacts. The majority of this collection comes from the former Victory Memorial Museum that was located in Messancy, Belgium. Due to the Victory Memorial Museum’s location (It was located in the Ardennes Forest region, approximately 30 miles from Bastogne, and was near areas where heavy fighting occurred during the Battle of the Bulge.) many of the pieces that are now in the collection of the World War II Victory Museum are survivors of the Battle of the Bulge.

The collection was transported from the Belgian facility of the Victory Memorial Museum to its current home in Auburn, IN during the months of October 2001 until January 2002. This impressive collection of artifacts includes many rare and, sometimes, the only known surviving examples of certain pieces.

By obtaining such an outstanding collection of artifacts, the World War II Victory Museum has a solid base upon which to build. The museum celebrated its “Grand Opening” in May 2003. However, much planning, fundraising, investment, and hard work remain to be accomplished before the museum nears the realization of its long-term goals.

Comprehensive Mission Statement

The World War II Victory Museum endeavors to honor and preserve the experiences of individuals and nations during the Second World War and celebrate the perseverance and victory of the world’s citizens over the largest armed conflict in world history through:

  • Relating the personal, human aspect of the war.
  • The promotion of further research and study of the war, its causes, and its consequences
  • Highlighting social, technological, and political change as hastened by the war.
  • The identification of menaces to liberty, justice, and peace and the stressing of vigilance in defending against such threats.
  • Highlighting the positive values and human qualities of character that inspired and made feasible the world victory over Nazism and fascism.
  • Emphasizing the relevance of the lessons of the Second World War to today’s world and the importance of these lessons.
  • Stressing education by experience over education by simple observation.
  • The acquisition, restoration, preservation, exhibition, and interpretation of artifacts pertaining to the Second World War;
  • Serving as a memorial to those who served during the Second World War.
  • Service to living veterans of the war.
  • Recording the history of those war survivors who are still living.

Vision Statement

To be the leading national and international institution in efforts of education, research, and preservation regarding subjects and artifacts relating to the Second World War while also serving as a memorial for the world’s people, living and dead, who served, toiled, and suffered during the Second World War.

Values Statement

The World War II Victory Museum believes that many strong and important lessons exist that should be learned from the American and world experience in the Second World War. Accordingly, a primary focus of the museum will be efforts to teach lessons on topics such as preserving liberty and freedom, duty and unselfish service in the extension of justice, the American spirit, and the values that enabled the WWII generation to achieve remarkable victory both during and after the Second World War. In order to most effectively relate and exemplify these lessons, the World War II Victory Museum, its staff, and its board of directors will stress:

  • The highest moral and ethical standards of conduct for those associated with the museum.  Traits that will be stressed include but are not limited to integrity, honesty, diligence, generosity, fairness, and general goodwill towards mankind.
  • Honor and respect for individuals and their rights in accordance with common decency and the founding principles of the United States of America.
  • Advanced training and education for its staff in order to maximize the quality of all museum programs and the cultural and educational benefits that are offered to museum visitors and the public.
  • Multi-sensory presentation in museum galleries to encourage learning through experience rather than simple observation.
  • The relevance and importance to today’s world of the lessons that are inherent in the WWII experience.
  • The use of primary learning sources.