WIDF president Eugenie Cotton accused over anti-war poster
Short De Waarheid item (2 Jun 1950): WIDF president Eugénie Cotton, also head of the Union of French Women, was accused over a poster urging French mothers not to let under-age sons enlist for Vietnam; the paper compares it to Dutch women's action against the Indonesian war and calls for protest letters. No Indonesian
It began in Paris: five years of the WIDF
De Waarheid retrospective (14 Dec 1950) on five years of the WIDF, founded in Paris in Dec 1945, describing its heroines and growth to 91 million members in 59 countries, the 1946 founding of the Dutch Women's Movement, the 1949 Asian women's conference in Peking and the Stockholm Appeal. Indonesian women are only name
Businesses and meetings: motions and protests against WIDF and WFTU ban
De Waarheid (Dutch Communist daily), 1 Feb 1951, p. 1: report on motions sent to Queen Juliana by workers' groups and the Nederlandse Vrouwen Beweging (NVB) Rotterdam, demanding amnesty for Piet van Staveren and other Indonesia-conscientious objectors, and a peace government. NVB Rotterdam also protested to the French
International commission visited Korea: repulsive crimes of American interventionist armies
De Waarheid, 19 Jun 1951, p. 3: report of a press briefing in Amsterdam by Mr. T. (Trees) Sunito-Heyligers, Dutch member of the 20-person WIDF commission that visited North Korea 17-30 May 1951. She describes US bombing and alleged massacres, and links Dutch troops in Korea to Dutch colonial wars in Indonesia. Context
Dutch Women's Movement held successful national day in Hilversum
De Waarheid, 2 Jul 1951, p. 1: report on the NVB national day in Hilversum with 2,000 attendees, opened by chair Rie Lips; speeches by Trees Sunito-Heyligers (WIDF Korea commission) and Alie van Dijk. A motion supports ending the Korean war and letters go to Indonesia-refusers and Piet van Staveren. Shows the Dutch com
Gerben Wagenaar: United we can stop the war (International Women's Day, Amsterdam)
De Waarheid, 10 Mar 1952, p. 1: report on International Women's Day demonstration of 5,000 in Amsterdam, organised with the NVB, with speeches and a WIDF greeting, demands for peace and release of Piet van Staveren, and a 'Sinar Indonesia' dance performance. Gerben Wagenaar speaks. No Gerwani members; shows Dutch commu
The city of Piet: reception for released Dutch conscientious objectors
De Waarheid, 25 Jul 1952, p. 4: report on a celebratory reception in The Hague and Amsterdam for released Dutch conscientious objectors to the Indonesian war (Wil van Kempen, Niek de Pater, Jan Maassen) and Piet van Staveren, with CPN, ANJV and NVB speakers. A delegation of Indonesian women and the group Sinar Indonesi
Arrest of Sunito and Go Gien Tjwan: countermeasures demanded in Indonesia
De Waarheid, 9 Dec 1952, p. 4: Jakarta dispatch on reactions to the Dutch arrest of Indonesians Sunito and Go Gien Tjwan in Amsterdam and action against PKI representatives Aidit and Njoto. The PKI Central Committee calls it arbitrary and urges reprisals; Gerwis also asked the government for counter-measures. A Dutch p
Two PvdA board members resign; photo of Trees Sunito-Heyligers
De Waarheid, 10 Feb 1953, p. 1: two items. A brief note that the Wormerveer PvdA chairman and a board member resigned, and a photo caption showing Trees Sunito-Heyligers with her two children waiting for the bus to Schiphol, where she and Go Gien Tjwan were closely guarded before deportation to Indonesia. Only the capt
Many said farewell to Go and Sunito at Schiphol
De Waarheid, 10 Feb 1953, p. 1: report on the departure from Schiphol on 9 Feb 1953 of the families of Sunito and Go Gien Tjwan, expelled from the Netherlands, under heavy police guard. Trees Sunito-Heyligers, former NVB vice-chair, was seen off by Rie Lips and Annie Averink; she called her husband's arrest 'shameful a
Letter from Trees Sunito to the Dutch Women's Movement
De Waarheid, 24 Feb 1953, p. 3: letter from Trees Sunito-Heyligers to the NVB executive, sent by KLM post between Dhahran and Karachi on her way to Indonesia after the family's expulsion. She thanks the NVB for the send-off, says she felt bound to the Netherlands of the peace movement and the February strike, and expec
Dear sisters: Dutch Women's Movement greeting to Indonesian women
De Waarheid, 14 Aug 1953, p. 3: open letter from the NVB chair G. Blokker-de Groot congratulating 'dear Indonesian sisters' on the eighth anniversary of the Republic, praising Gerwis as a sister organisation of great significance in women's struggle for equality. Recalls the Dutch and Indonesian women's meeting at the
Congratulation from Dutch Women's Movement to the Indonesian women's league
De Waarheid, 14 Aug 1953, p. 3: headline and one-line introduction only, stating that the NVB executive sent a letter to Gerwis; the letter text itself is not in this item (it appears in the companion item 'Dierbare zusters'). Evidence of NVB-Gerwis contact.
Indonesia evening of the Dutch Women's Movement announced
De Waarheid, 15 Jan 1954, p. 2: brief notice that, in view of an upcoming Gerwis congress, the NVB organises an 'Indonesia evening' on 27 January in the Doelenzaal, Amsterdam, with a speech by Annie Averink, a reading from Max Havelaar by Bep van Geel and a film on Indonesian women's lives.
Illustrations from Joop Wolff's book on Indonesia: review mentions Gerwis marriage-law struggle
De Waarheid, 23 Jan 1954, p. 6: Annie Averink's review of Joop Wolff's Pegasus book 'Uit het rijk der duizend eilanden', based on a trip to Indonesia after the SOBSI congress of late 1952, with colonial-contrast views of Jakarta and kampongs. It notes that Gerwis, which organises workers' and peasants' wives, leads wom
Warmth despite cold on the Indonesian evening: NVB Amsterdam event report
De Waarheid, 28 Jan 1954, p. 2: report on the NVB Amsterdam 'Indonesia evening' attended by about 200 women, with krontjong music, a reading from Multatuli, a film from the High Commission, and Annie Averink's speech on Indonesia's colonial past and on Gerwis's tens of thousands of members campaigning for a democratic
Solidarity with women in the Netherlands: Umi Sardjono on NVB invitation
De Waarheid, 10 Mar 1954, p. 5: excerpt from Umi (Sardjono) describing how the NVB received Gerwis's invitation to its congress with joy, sending a delegation and running a friendship campaign and a soap-selling drive (soap printed with Dutch and Indonesian hands) to strengthen solidarity and support Indonesia's demand
Indonesian seamen greet the women's congress
De Waarheid, 29 Mar 1954, p. 3: short Rotterdam report that Indonesian seamen from the ships Waterman, Tomori, Tosari and Kota Gede and Rotterdam pilots, led by the SBPP union, held a joint meeting and adopted a resolution to send a greeting letter to the Gerwis congress in Jakarta. An unrelated earthquake note follows
Rie Lips in Indonesia: arrival for the second Gerwis congress
De Waarheid, 14 Apr 1954, p. 5: report on NVB chair Rie Lips and British writer Monica Felton arriving in Jakarta for the second Gerwis congress, warmly welcomed. Lips described Dutch women's protests against the colonial wars and support for conscientious objectors. The opening reception was attended by Jakarta mayor
But what is the reality? Travel report on workers in Indonesia
De Waarheid, 1 May 1954, p. 4: travel report by Mak Meyer, a Dutch union delegate to the SOBSI conference, on Indonesian workers' misery: poverty, homelessness, factory conditions and wages, child labour, becak drivers, and figures such as 35,000 women dying in childbirth yearly. Portrays SOBSI and PKI as leaders and u
A great and strong people fights for a better life: Rie Lips on Java
De Waarheid, 12 May 1954, p. 5: opening of an interview with Rie Lips, vice-chair of the NVB, back from six weeks on Java after the Gerwis/Gerwani congress. She rejects stereotypes of Indonesians as lazy, dirty or stupid, citing women who work in factories or walk hours to attend meetings of the women's movement, 'the
Indonesian workers greet Piet van Staveren: telegrams on his release
De Waarheid, 6 Aug 1954, p. 3: report of congratulatory telegrams from Indonesia on Piet van Staveren's release from Dutch prison, including from SOBSI, SBPP, Pemuda Rakjat (200,000 members), Sarbupri and the World Federation of Trade Unions. A telegram signed GERWANI, from 'Indonesian women and mothers', thanks him fo
Meeting with Indonesian women: delegation returns from the Soviet Union
De Waarheid, 8 Sep 1954, p. 5: report on an Indonesian women's delegation passing through Amsterdam after five weeks in the USSR (three in Moscow). Members came from different organisations: Masjumi Islamic women (Samsudin), PM Ali Sastroamidjojo's sister, Partai Buruh, a ministry official, students, Wanita Taman Siswa
Successful festive evening of the Dutch Women's Movement (ten years of WIDF)
De Waarheid, 12 Dec 1955, p. 3: report on the NVB's festive evening in Amsterdam for the WIDF's tenth anniversary, with a speech by Betty Zeehandelaar on equal pay and women's rights, a Belgian greeting, and a Scapino ballet programme. At the close, letters were sent to the WIDF and to Gerwani asserting Indonesia's rig
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
Dutch-Indonesian declaration on New Guinea: delegates met in Colombo
De Waarheid, 15 Jul 1957, p. 3: report from the Dutch Peace Council's organ 'Vrede' on a Dutch-Indonesian declaration on West New Guinea (Irian), agreed at the Peace Council conference in Colombo. It calls the dispute the main cause of poor relations and urges both sides to reopen talks. Signed by Umi Sardjono and coll
Dutch-Indonesian declaration on New Guinea: delegates met in Colombo (reprint, 16 July 1957)
De Waarheid, 16 Jul 1957, p. 3: report from the Dutch Peace Council's organ 'Vrede' on a Dutch-Indonesian declaration on West New Guinea (Irian), agreed at the Peace Council conference in Colombo. It calls the dispute the main cause of poor relations and urges both sides to reopen talks. Signed by Umi Sardjono and coll