What do do with inherited WW2 material

Question

We have inherited some WW2 German material that we do not know what to do with. The material has been in storage since just after WW2. The family member who acquired this was a multi-star US Army General and much of the material would be considered as &ldquo;trophies of war&rdquo; by past standards, but it is not so easy to get rid of. From the general&rsquo;s high-ranking position in the military, we are certain some of the items would be considered collectable and not run-of-the-mill items &ndash; e.g. museum artifact quality. We do not want to sell it to collectors, we do not see to make any money on this, and are worried that our storage unit will be broken into and we will be embarrassed.Any ideas on disposing of this material?

toomuchtodo · Accepted Answer

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/Artifact donations can be reached at +1 504 528 1944 x515

weinzierl · Answer

I am not 100% sure if you want to see the items out of the world or in good hands but I assume the latter.
The issue with this is that you lose control once you give them away, no matter what.
A former landlady of mine donated the historical motorcycle her father once owned to a reputable museum under the condition that they keep it on display. Couple of years later by mere coincidence she got wind that the bike was amongst items the museum was about to auction off. She bid it back for a lot of money.
Moral of the story is that once you give it away it is out of your control. It is certainly good to be conscious who you give it to, but in my opinion it is not worth sweating over it.

Trashmetoday · Answer

Both good comments. We would be happy with a steam roller, but there may be some display value to the right organization. And I guess one could attribute the donation to the late general's estate. We tend to be anonymous people however. But, you could imagine 3- and 4-star generals diving up post war items found with H----- or his senior staff. (Thats the story passed to me, I'm not planning to investigate it, and I do not want to spin this up as too big of a deal). But, we do not want to donate something and have it found on being auctioned to a group of people that honor this stuff.

jammer2 · Answer

You are wrong to try to make judgements on historical material.
Do not destroy it.
Sell it and do some good with the money or donate it.
Todays momentary views on the rights and wrongs og enemies will pale in comparison to the future historical value.
Would you wish someone would have destroyed Alexander the great or Caesars things or rather see them in a museum?