Title: John J. Boll Propaganda Collection
Inclusive Dates: 1941-1945

Creator:

• Boll, John J., 1921-

Call Number: U.S. Mss 124AF

Quantity: 0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Propaganda collection gathered by Boll while serving in Europe with an U.S. Army Publicity and Psychological Warfare unit. Consists mainly of Allied-produced leaflet series for use against the German war effort. Also present are cartoons, newspapers, posters, and children's toys from every theater of the war, in several languages, and from both Allied and Axis countries, including Communist pamphlets produced in Germany.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0124af

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John Boll, professor, University of Wisconsin Library School, was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1921. His family left Germany in 1931, lived in Switzerland for five years, and immigrated to the United States in 1936. Boll joined the United States Army in January 1943. After basic training he volunteered for training as an interrogator which eventually resulted in his being promoted to technical sergeant and sent to England in April 1944 for further training in psychological warfare. Assigned to the 12th Army Group's Publicity and Psychological Warfare unit, his duties included acting as the unit's librarian and as a radio monitor and translator of German language news releases. Following the Normandy invasion Boll's unit was sent to France and gradually followed the “front” westward. After V-E Day the Publicity and Psychological Warfare unit became the Information Control Division which controlled the mass media in Germany through licensing people who in any small way might have affected news reporting. Control of the media by the Army was continued until civilian authority was reestablished. Boll was discharged from the Army in December 1945 but continued as a civilian employee of the Army attending the lesser Nuremberg trials until 1949. He came to the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a faculty member in 1956.

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.

Acquisition Information

Presented by John Boll, Madison, Wisconsin, 1980. Accession Number: MCHC80-20

Processing Information

Processed by Thomas F. Reitz and Joanne Hohler, December 1980.

Box   1 Folder   1	Cartoons - Allied.
Box   1 Folder   2	Communist Pamphlets.
Box   1 Folder   3	Handouts, Flyers and Stickers - Allied.
	Leaflets,
	Allied,
Box   1 Folder   4	unnumbered, 500, 700, 8-, 90 series.
Box   1 Folder   5	A, AA, AA-K, AgG, AG, Agr series.
Box   1 Folder   6	CPH, CT series.
Box   1 Folder   7	EL, F, FPS, G, G-X, GN-a, GS, IA-CT, JEM series.
Box   1 Folder   8	MD, MW, PWB series.
Box   1 Folder   9	T, US series.
Box   1 Folder   10	WE, WG, XG series.
Box   1 Folder   11	ZB, ZF series.
Box   1 Folder   12	ZG, ZG-A, ZG-a, ZG-K series.
Box   1 Folder   13	Arabic.
Box   1 Folder   14	Burmese/Kachin/Shan.
Box   1 Folder   15	Dutch.
Box   1 Folder   16	Polish, Russian, Slavic.
	Proposed.
	German,
Box   1 Folder   18	English.
Box   1 Folder   19	Italian, Belgian, Swedish, Portugese, Spanish.
	Italian,
Box   1 Folder   20	Anti-Axis.
Box   1 Folder   21	Pro-Axis.
Box   1 Folder   22	Anti-Communist.
Box   1 Folder   23	Japanese.
	Newspapers.
	Allied.
Box   1 Folder   24	Belgian, French, Spanish, 1944-1945.
Box   1 Folder   25-26	German, 1941, 1944-1945.
Box   1 Folder   27	German, 1944-1945.
Box   1 Folder   28	Social Democrat, WWI, post-WWII.
	Pamphlets,
Box   2 Folder   1-2	Allied.
Box   2 Folder   3	German for German Civilians, Anti-Soviet.
Box   2 Folder   4	Periodicals - Allied, French.
Box   2 Folder   5	Poster - Allied, English/Arabic.
Box   2 Folder   6	Toys - Allied.
Box   2 Folder   7	United States Army, Information Control Division - Reeducation Text.
Box   2 Folder   8	United States Military Intelligence - Training Manual.
Box   2 Folder   9	United States Office of War Information - Translation Guide.