The Museum was created by the Municipality of Herakleion, following the organization of an exhibition of documents of the period 1941-1945, on the occasion of the celebration on the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Crete(1941).

It is housed in a large room in a building in the centre of the town. Among the Museum’s exhibits are thousands of authentic photographs, paintings and drawings of the Battle of Crete and the national resistance, about two hundred books, monographs, essays on the historic events from 1941 to 1945, hundreds of documents and a great many newspaper cuttings. The Museum also includes a variety of objects related to the war (arms, accessories, uniforms, items of everyday use etc.).

In addition, the museum also operates as a research centre thanks to a team of researchers and scientists who have undertaken to collect archival material from ten countries, to translate war documents of the 1940-1945 period, as well as to write about the Battle of Crete.