HAMMOND — Southeastern Louisiana University is opening a new military history museum called the HIPS Military Museum, with its opening exhibit focused on the Nuremberg Trials.

The museum opens Aug. 26  in the Patricia A. Ahrens Gallery, on the second floor of Fayard Hall at 1250 North Oak Ave. It will be open to students, faculty, staff and the general public 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Thursday, except for holidays. Admission is free.

The name HIPS stands for the Department of History and Political Science, which curates the collections. The museum holds more than 1,000 catalogued military antiques, including firearms, swords, uniforms and other artifacts spanning centuries of global conflict.

The collections were largely donated by Al Freyder and Ralph Shaw, with some smaller donations from alumni.

The opening exhibit, "The Nuremberg Trials and the Search for Justice," commemorates the 80 anniversary of the verdict in the International Military Tribunal that held senior Nazi officials accountable for crimes committed during WWII. More than 100 artifacts are on display.

The exhibit covers the rise of Adolf Hitler, his demand for a war of annihilation and the ideology that drove the murder of more than 6 million Jews and 5 million others based solely on race and ethnicity. Most senior Nazi officials tried were convicted and many were sentenced to death by hanging.

The exhibit also highlights a local connection to the trials. Justice Paul M. Hebert, former dean of LSU Law, served on the bench at one of the Subsequent Trials and the judicial robe he wore at that trial will be on display, on loan from LSU Law Center and LSU Law Library.

Associate Prof. of Military History Sam Cavell, who serves as the museum's director, said what makes it unique is that many items come "out of the cabinet" for students and visitors to touch and feel, giving them a deeper understanding of what it meant to go to war at a specific time and place in history.

"We're a small museum, but the story packs a punch," said Cavell. "It's so important to remember this critical moment in our not-so-distant past when the U.S. led the charge for accountability and justice in an international forum."

"Today Holocaust denial has never been more prevalent, especially among young people," Cavell said. "The Nuremberg Trials put the Holocaust on record using the Nazis own documents to prove both their actions and the numbers they killed. It's a fact of history that cannot be forgotten."

History and Political Science Department Head Bill Robison credited Cavell and her assistants for their work and thanked donors Freyder and Shaw for their contributions.

"Southeastern students now have a hands-on experiential learning resource on campus and it is not just for history or cultural resource majors," Robison explained. "Students across many disciplines can be a part of the creative process of designing a museum, maintaining its collections and making it a platform for community outreach."