Another item out of the many which will move viewers is a coat, gifted by a father to his son, who was on the Kindertransport.
“We have a case of a child’s coat, a boy who was fourteen at the time, and his father bought it for the journey,” said Wilmott.
“He bought it several sizes too big, knowing that he was never going to see his son again, so that he would grow into it – it was a parting gift, almost.
“That’s a particularly moving one for me – it’s remembering that many of the parents were often not allowed to come with them, and many of them later ended up being murdered.”
Before the opening, the museum is embarking on a fundraising drive of £250,000 which will go towards the conservation of the barracks and installation work that has yet to be completed.
Diane Lees, Director-General of the museum, said: “It has never been more important to learn about the Second World War and the Holocaust and to understand this defining period of the 20th century, which dramatically shaped the world we live in today.
“Though this conflict will soon pass out of living memory, leaving us without the first-hand testimony of its veterans, eyewitnesses and survivors, IWM will ensure that the experiences of those generations are never forgotten through our incredible new galleries, which have been almost seven years in the making.”