The collection was brought together by Boll while he was assigned to the 12th Army Group's Publicity and Psychological Warfare unit whose purpose, as in all psychological warfare, was to undermine the military and civilian war efforts of the enemy. The information to be used was gathered by interrogating prisoners-of-war, monitoring German language radio broadcasts, intercepting the centrally controlled German news dispatches and reading German and occupied territory newspapers. The leaflets in the collection represent only one segment of the psychological warfare effort although a large part of the Publicity and Psychological Warfare unit's activity was the creation of “Flugblatter” (leaflets) which, at least for the 12th Army Group, were dropped from airplanes on the 4 to 5 a.m. “milk run” flight over cities and army camps. The leaflets always had a surrender message to reinforce dissatisfaction on the other side.
The variety of material and the wide range of languages in this collection give an idea of the many ways used to affect opinion. The cartoons, newspapers, pamphlets, posters, stickers and even toys for children represent a global effort aimed at all aspects of society both Allied and Axis. There is material from every theatre of the war and from both sides. German and Japanese material illustrate the similar nature of psychological warfare efforts regardless of who produces it. The donor does not recall how the Communist Pamphlets were produced or used in Germany but these are interesting because of their format. Covers on the pamphlets have an innocuous title such as Gardening at Home; the first few pages will address that topic but the body of the text will be reprinted speeches and political analyses of the Communist Party.
