Opening November 3, 2023, The National WWII Museum’s highly anticipated capstone exhibit hall, Liberation Pavilion, explores the end of World War II, the Holocaust, the postwar years, and how the war continues to impact our lives today. The three-story pavilion houses two floors of exhibit space featuring first-person accounts, iconic imagery, powerful artifacts, and immersive environments, as well as a third-floor theater offering a brand-new cinematic experience.

The grand opening of Liberation Pavilion and dedication of the Col. Battle Barksdale Parade Ground, the impressive 24,000-square-foot outdoor gathering space at the heart of The National WWII Museum’s campus, will mark the conclusion of the Museum’s $400 million Road to Victory Capital Campaign that has fueled the expansion of its physical campus in New Orleans.

Liberation Pavilion’s first floor, Finding Hope in a World Destroyed, honors the sacrifices of the WWII generation and explores the immense cost of war with exhibits on the Holocaust, Anne Frank, faith in wartime, and the Monuments Men and Women.

The second floor of Liberation Pavilion, the Goldring Family Foundation and Woldenberg Foundation Forces of Freedom at Home and Abroad (1945–Present), explores the war’s impact in the postwar period and its lasting legacies today. Exhibits examine the rebuilding efforts of a world destroyed, the war crimes trials, the emergence of the US as a world “superpower,” movements for social change and civil rights, new technological innovations, and the war’s impact on foreign policy.

On the third floor of Liberation Pavilion, the Priddy Family Foundation Freedom Theater offers audiences a multimedia experience focused on what was at stake during World War II and subsequent generations’ ongoing struggle for freedom and human rights. Powerful, original visuals are projected throughout the show, and at a pivotal moment, the theater audience platform itself rotates.