P.K.I. (list of PKI candidates)
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1956-03-02, p. 2): list of PKI candidates by electoral district across East Java, Central Java, West Java, Greater Jakarta and Sumatra. It includes women: Umi Sardjono (Mrs. Sukisman), Suharti Suwarto (Solo), Mudigdio (Siti Aminah Mochsjam, Jakarta), Sundari Abdulrachman (Semarang), Salawati D
West Irian soon a province: liberation committee letter to Dutch parliament
De Nieuwsgier item (7 Mar 1956): after Dutch parliamentary reports on making West Irian a Dutch territory, the West Irian Liberation Action Committee, in a letter signed by Mrs. Sudarman, Umi Sardjono and Mrs. Sutedjo, urged the Volkskongres to press for a provincial administration for West Irian and handed over Rp 1,3
Foster Dulles arrived in Jakarta
Java-Bode, 12 March 1956, p. 1: report on US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles's arrival at Kemajoran airport, Jakarta. Demonstrators shouted 'Abolish SEATO' and a 25-year-old woman, Samsia, a member of Gerwani (called communist-minded), threw a red pamphlet into his car and was detained by police.
Demonstration (against Dulles)
Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 12 March 1956: short item on the Jakarta airport demonstration against Dulles, where about two dozen Indonesians shouted 'Abolish SEATO' and a young woman of the left-leaning Gerwani threw a paper at his car and was detained.
Dulles in Djakarta: 'Our joint effort will one day lead to a better world'
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1956-03-13, p. 1): US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles arrives in Jakarta; a score of demonstrators shout 'Hapuskan SEATO'. A 25-year-old woman, Samsia, a member of Gerwani ('a communist-minded women's organisation'), threw a red anti-SEATO pamphlet into his car and was arrested for quest
Gerwani's objections
Short Algemeen Indisch Dagblad item (1956-03-13, p. 1): the Gerwani central board issues a statement objecting to John Foster Dulles's visit, his interference and his push for Indonesia to join SEATO, which it says contradicts the Bandung (Afro-Asian) Conference decisions on peace and friendship.
America offers Jakarta economic aid - Dulles in Indonesia
Arnhemsche Courant, 13 Mar 1956 (UP-Reuters): John Foster Dulles visits Sukarno in Jakarta and informally offers economic aid. A young woman of Gerwani among about two dozen protesters shouting 'Abolish SEATO' threw a piece of paper at his car and was detained for questioning.
Objections to visit
Java-Bode, 13 March 1956, p. 1: before John Foster Dulles's Jakarta visit, the Gerwani central board issued a statement objecting to the visit, to his interference in Indonesia's internal affairs and to his pressure on Indonesia to join SEATO, after studying US interventionism in Latin America and Asia.
Economic aid offered to Indonesia (Dulles in Jakarta)
Nieuwe Tilburgsche Courant, 13 March 1956: report on US Secretary of State Dulles's visit to Jakarta, where about two dozen demonstrators shouted 'Abolish SEATO' and a young woman of the left-leaning Gerwani threw a paper at his car and was detained for questioning. Dulles also met Sukarno, discussed New Guinea and off
High Commissioner absent at Dulles's arrival
Nieuwsblad van het Zuiden, 13 March 1956: report on Dulles's arrival in Jakarta (no Dutch high commissioner present), his statement, and an airport incident in which a young Gerwani woman threw a paper at his car and was detained. Also Sukarno's accepted invitation to the US and discussion of New Guinea and economic ai
Dulles in Indonesia: America offers Jakarta economic aid
Nijmeegsch Dagblad (13 Mar 1956) on John Foster Dulles's brief Jakarta visit and offer of economic aid. A young woman belonging to Gerwani, among about two dozen demonstrators shouting 'Abolish SEATO', threw a piece of paper at his car and was detained for questioning.
Film censorship and film council
Java-Bode, 15 March 1956, p. 2: installation of the new film censorship committee (chair Maria Ulfah Santoso) and film council at the education ministry. Among some thirty censorship members is Setiati Soerasto (Surasto), a figure from the 1953 Copenhagen delegation; the item gives no Gerwani affiliation or comment.
Communist crowd welcomes the president at Kemayoran airport
De Nieuwsgier report (19 Mar 1956) on Sukarno's return to Kemajoran airport, where PKI supporters, communist veterans and the "communist women's organisation Gerwani" demanded PKI inclusion in Ali Sastroamidjojo's cabinet. Sukarno urged calm; Gerwani appears only among the crowd with banners.
Lilly Wachter portrait: West German delegate at the Dutch Women's Movement congress
De Waarheid, 19 Mar 1956, p. 3: profile of Lilly Wachter (West Germany), attending the NVB congress for the WIDF. Recalls the 1951 WIDF commission to Korea, in which Trees Sunito-Heyligers represented the NVB, and how Wachter was jailed 25 days and fined 12,000 marks after signing its report blaming US forces. Sunito a
Film censorship and Film Council
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 22 Mar 1956, p. 2: installation of the new Film Censorship Committee (chair Maria Ulfah Santoso) and Film Council; Setiati Surasto and S. Kartowijono are listed among the committee's members.
PKI has one million members: Aidit interview with Ogonyok
De Waarheid, 23 Mar 1956, p. 2: Moscow dispatch that the PKI has one million members, per Aidit in an interview with the Soviet magazine Ogonyok; SOBSI has 2.6 million, the peasant union BTI 2.5 million, Pemuda Rakjat 700,000 and Gerwani about 500,000. Useful as a contemporary membership figure for Gerwani.
Appreciation from Gerwani
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1956-03-28, p. 2): Gerwani's West Java branch publishes an open letter praising the police over the Tengku Angkasa affair, but argues prostitution persists while foreign capital controls resources and prices rise. It urges police to support the people's struggle against foreign capital and for
Chairmanship of parliament handed to Sartono
Java-Bode, 4 April 1956, p. 2: handover of parliament's chair to Mr Sartono. A letter announces the new 'Pembangunan' faction (chairs Suprapto and Abdulhajat; secretary Hartojo) whose members include Umi Sardjono; the paper notes it consists of persons nominated by the PKI in the general elections.
Mrs Salawati (PKI) in parliament criticises the cabinet
Two-sentence De Nieuwsgier parliamentary note (13 Apr 1956): Mrs. Ch. Salawati (PKI) criticised the cabinet's composition and Prime Minister Burhanuddin Harahap's attempt at compromise with the armed bands on security.
Ali Akbar's remarks in parliament
Java-Bode, 16 April 1956, p. 2: Masjumi's Dr Ali Akbar, in the cabinet debate, says PKI leader Lukman's call for Masjumi cooperation lost credibility after attacks by 'Mrs Salawati of the PKI faction'. He asks Sakirman about the true intent and proposes a council for moral protection in medicine.
Law concerning the RTC agreements
Java-Bode, 16 April 1956, p. 2: parliamentary debate on the government programme and abolition of the RTC agreements, with Sakirman (PKI), Prawoto and others. Umi Sardjono of the Pembangunan faction spoke on the lot of Indonesian women, still unprotected by marriage legislation.
Short Algemeen Indisch Dagblad item (1956-04-17, p. 2): Umi Sardjono, MP of the Pembangun faction, speaks in parliament on the lot of Indonesian women, who lack marriage legislation protection, and appeals for national marriage legislation in the short term.
Dr Ali Akbar in parliament responds to PKI cooperation call
De Nieuwsgier parliamentary note (17 Apr 1956): Masjumi's Ali Akbar said PKI member Loekman's call for cooperation interested his faction, but the optimism evaporated because of attacks by Mrs. Salawati of the PKI faction. Salawati (Daud) appears only as the cause of friction.
Mrs Umi Sardjono in parliament pleads for national marriage legislation
Short De Nieuwsgier parliamentary note (17 Apr 1956): Umi Sardjono (listed as Pembangunan faction) spoke on the fate of Indonesian women, still unprotected by marriage legislation, and pleaded for national marriage legislation.
PNI standpoint
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1956-04-18, p. 2): PNI West Java secretary Rivai explains the party's rejection of the Sundanese Youth Front and its support for regional autonomy within a unitary state. Illustrates daerah representation by noting Mrs. Ch. Salawati (PKI) from Sulawesi raised the security problem in the parlia
Kartini committee in Rangkasbitung
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1956-04-20, p. 2): in Rangkasbitung a Kartini committee is formed with Hartati (Gerwani) as chairwoman and all women's organisations taking part; Kartini Day events from 21 April include a health campaign and a commemoration speech. A second item reports a school and meeting hall built by comm
Short Algemeen Indisch Dagblad item (1956-04-20, p. 3): Mrs. Umi Sardjono (Pembangunan faction) again raises marriage in parliament, hoping for a legal marriage regulation soon and a closer study of adat law in the various regions of Indonesia.
Indonesian women briefly in Amsterdam en route to Budapest working women's conference
De Waarheid, 24 May 1956, p. 4: report on eight Indonesian women briefly in Amsterdam en route to the international conference of working women in Budapest (until 17 June), after a Soviet visit. They represent health, tea or cigarette, industrial and union workers, including Suhartini, Sutjati, Sudjinem, Supinah, Sumar
BP4 congress
Short Algemeen Indisch Dagblad item (1956-06-21, p. 2): the BP4 (marriage-counselling body) will hold its first Indonesian congress in August. Gerwani had applied some time earlier for BP4 membership without a decision; nineteen organisations are affiliated so far.
Gerwani Central Sumatra demands death penalty
Short item, Indische Courant voor Nederland, 5 Jul 1956, p. 2: the Gerwani Central Sumatra branch writes to the government demanding the death penalty for Attamimi, tried for a sexual assault that killed a woman from Pasuruan, and urges other women's groups to do the same.