The collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts by Messner and others, memoirs by Messner, photographs and printed materials. Manuscripts by Messner include a typescript (275 p.) entitled "Nekotorye prichiny porazhenii︠a︡ Germanii v voĭnu 1939-1945 g.g." Messner's memoirs (3293 p. and 350 p.) cover the years 1914-1973. Included among them are clippings, photographs, mimeographed materials and pamphlets. The majority of his memoirs concern World War I and the Civil War. Photographs are mostly copies. Printed materials consist mostly of clippings of articles by Messner in South American monarchist periodicals.

Papers include materials relating to the Russian forces in France (correspondence, reports, orders) in 1915-1918, and documents relating to Dutov's army in 1919-1920. Also included are three manuscripts by Karkhanin. Two are memoirs, on Dutov's army in 1919-1920 and its retreat to China in 1920; the third is about the Russian corps in France in World War I. There are also issues of "Russkai︠a︡ Mysl"́ with Karkharin's articles about the Russian forces in Macedonia and France in World War I, and a brief biography of Karkhanin by his wife.

The collection contains Simonovich's correspondence, manuscripts, doucments, subject files, and printed materials. There are letters to Simonovich from a friend who had settled in Yugoslavia, A. S. Poplavskiĭ, and Belgian postcards from before World War I. Manuscripts deal with Simonovich's experiences in the Imperial army on the Caucasian front and in the White army under general Slashchev. There are also essays devoted to the Russian emigre colonies in Belgium and in France. The subject files concern the Belgian section of the Gallipolian Society (Obʺshchestvo Gallipolit︠s︡ev) and Russian emigre events in Belgium. The printed materials include chiefly miscellaneous journals and clippings, some with articles by Simonovich.