Colonel in South Borneo 'suspends' PKI and Gerwani activity
De Waarheid, 26 Aug 1960, p. 1: report that the military commander of South Kalimantan, Colonel Hasan Basry, 'temporarily suspended' activities of the PKI and other organisations in the province, including SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat, the BTI peasant front, the women's organisation Gerwani and a cultural body, saying PKI ideo
'Mobilise national unity': Sukarno at the Gerwani congress
De Waarheid, 15 Dec 1961, p. 4: report that President Sukarno addressed the Gerwani congress on Thursday, rejecting the Luns policy on West Irian, calling force 'probably the only language imperialists understand' and urging mobilisation of national unity among nationalists, religious groups and communists, before his
After PKI protests: Sukarno withdraws election bills
De Waarheid, 8 May 1962, p. 2: report that Sukarno withdrew four bills on representative bodies (under which only one-third of the People's Congress, parliament and regional councils would be elected, the rest appointed) after protests first from the PKI, SOBSI, women's movement Gerwani and Pemuda Rakjat, later PNI and
Communists in Indonesia: isolated position despite five million followers
Algemeen Handelsblad analysis by a contributor (1963-06-01) on the PKI's isolated position despite about five million followers. It credits the PKI with 1 million members plus 1.5 million in 'the communist women's organisation Gerwani', and discusses food prices, the lifting of the state of siege, SOKSI's rise and West
Gone to the farmer: communists in the Indonesian countryside
Friese Koerier travel/feature piece (12 Mar 1964, p.11) on how Indonesian communists won rural support via relief after Darul Islam raids, farming advice, theatre, wayang and badminton. It states the communists founded nominally non-communist organisations: BTI, Gerwani ('the Indonesian women's movement') and Pemuda Ra
Communists against the 'Murba party'
Short ANP wire item in Amigoe di Curaçao, 20 May 1965: Gerwani urges President Sukarno to ban the Murba party for good, calling it 'anti-Sukarno, anti-communist and anti-Nasakom'. Murba had been provisionally banned in January 1965. Shows Gerwani as a PKI-aligned political voice in the Nasakom polarisation.
Protest in Jakarta against high prices
Short ANP item in Het Vrije Volk (23 Sep 1965, p.9), one week before the coup attempt: thousands of Indonesian women demonstrated at the Ministry of Trade in Jakarta against rising prices of necessities, as reported by PKI paper Harian Rakjat. They demanded strong action against capitalists, bureaucrats, swindlers and
Short and small (women's price demonstration)
'Kort en klein' column, Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (23 Sep 1965). One Indonesia item: thousands of women demonstrated before the trade ministry against high prices, per PKI paper Harian Rakjat, urging action against capitalists and bureaucrats. Organisers not named, Gerwani not mentioned. Other items unrelated.
Short and small (women's price demonstration, duplicate)
'Kort en klein' column, Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (23 Sep 1965), duplicate of the previous item. Thousands of women demonstrated before the trade ministry against high prices, per Harian Rakjat, urging action against capitalists and bureaucrats. Organisers not named, Gerwani not mentioned.
Backgrounds of the rebellion in Djakarta (conclusion)
Algemeen Handelsblad (1965-10-09), concluding part of 'Backgrounds of the rebellion in Djakarta': surveys PKI under Aidit, PNI infiltration (including its women's movement), PKI campaign against village ulama, the banned BPS and the army's rising role under Nasution. Names S.K. Trimurti as wife of Sajuti Melik and chai
Army commander bans PKI in Jakarta and surroundings, including Gerwani
De Waarheid, 19 Oct 1965, p. 3: report, citing foreign agencies, that Jakarta garrison commander General Umar Wirahadikusumo provisionally banned the PKI in and around Jakarta, along with SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani and some student groups, and ordered their leaders to report to police or military posts before 24 Oct
Demonstration against Subandrio
Leeuwarder Courant, 19 October 1965, p. 3: per Radio Jakarta the garrison commander Umar Wirahadikusumah temporarily banned the PKI in Jakarta and its allied organisations, including Sobsi and Gerwani, the latter accused of taking part in the torture and murder of six generals. Army 'cleansing operations' continue; Sub
Jakarta denies searching embassy
Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (19 Oct 1965): Jakarta denies soldiers searched the Chinese embassy, as Beijing protested. Reports Maj.-Gen. Umar Wirahadikusumah's temporary ban in the Jakarta district on the PKI and affiliated bodies including Pemuda Rakyat, SOBSI and Gerwani; leaders have five days to report. Army reported
Jakarta denies searching embassy (duplicate)
Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (19 Oct 1965): Jakarta denies soldiers searched the Chinese embassy, as Beijing protested. Reports Maj.-Gen. Umar Wirahadikusumah's temporary ban in the Jakarta district on the PKI and affiliated bodies including Pemuda Rakyat, SOBSI and Gerwani; leaders have five days to report. Army reported
Nasakom for now without 'kom': communists frozen but not yet eliminated
Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (21 Oct 1965), H.L. Leffelaar from Jakarta: the freezing of the PKI is an army victory over Sukarno; Nasakom 'without kom'. A poster targets Mrs Subandrio, head of the women's federation (Kowani), for not yet suspending Gerwani. Hatta criticises communist land seizures; a minister recounts Unt
Nasakom for now without 'kom'; Subandrio increasingly cornered
Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (21 Oct 1965), H.L. Leffelaar from Jakarta: the freezing of the PKI is an army victory over Sukarno; Nasakom 'without kom'. A poster targets Mrs Subandrio, head of the women's federation (Kowani), for not yet suspending Gerwani. Hatta criticises communist land seizures; a minister recounts Unt
Reorganisation of the PKI?
Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 22 October 1965: correspondent's Jakarta report. A poster targets Mrs Subandrio, head of the women's organisations federation (Kowani), for not yet suspending the communist women's league Gerwani. Also Njoto and Lukman reportedly at Subandrio's house, and Hatta describing communist infiltrat
Secret meeting
Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 26 October 1965, p. 5: citing Karya Bakti, reports a secret PKI meeting on 19 October led by M.H. Lukman, attended by economist J. Piry and 'Aidit's mother-in-law, Mrs Moedigdio' [Mudigdio], amid attempts to set up revolutionary councils in Cirebon and Bali. The text is partly garbled.
Jakarta expects Subandrio's role will soon be played out
Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (26 Oct 1965), Leffelaar from Jakarta: Subandrio's role expected to end; successors speculated. Reports Karya Bhakti's claim of a secret PKI meeting under Lukman attended by Mrs Mudigdio, Aidit's mother-in-law, and economist J. Piry. Army raids continue, Onrust island used as an internment cam
Sukarno: my life is in danger
Trouw (3 Nov 1965), wire report: Sukarno tells ministers his life is in danger; demonstrations in Medan demand Subandrio's removal; a Muslim leader urges dissolving the PKI. Reports that Gerwani was expelled from the women's congress Kowani, chaired by Mrs Subandrio. Early evidence of Gerwani's isolation weeks after 30
Sukarno: my life is in danger
Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (3 Nov 1965): Sukarno tells cabinet his life is in danger; 100,000 demonstrate at the Chinese consulate in Medan demanding Subandrio's dismissal; army purge in Central Java hampered by unreliable troops; Gerwani expelled from the women's congress Kowani, chaired by Mrs Subandrio; soldiers kill
Indonesia: slap for Omar Dhani
Algemeen Handelsblad column (1965-11-18) on post-coup Indonesia: Suharto slaps Omar Dhani, rumours of poisoning, false communist accusations, and an RPKAD anecdote. Reports that Mrs. Subandrio, chair of Kowani, announced Gerwani had been expelled from the federation; Berita Yudha mocked her, and Mrs. Nasution reportedl
Njono: PKI coup hastened by Sukarno's illness
Leeuwarder Courant, 1 December 1965, p. 11: relays armed-forces newspaper reports of SOBSI chief Njono's interrogation statements: planning began in July, Aidit's claim that Sukarno was gravely ill was decisive, and Njono was to raise a 2,000-man reserve from PKI, Pemuda Rakjat, Sobsi, BTI and Gerwani members, learning
Trial begins in Jakarta: Dutch woman defends Untung
Trouw (14 Feb 1966): on the eve of the Untung and Njono trials in Jakarta, Dutch-born lawyer Trees Soenito-Heyligers, herself a PKI member, takes on the defence after others refused. Profiles her and her husband as 'non-extreme' communists with Leiden training. No mention of Gerwani; context for the 1965-66 Mahmillub t
Not public: the Njono trial
Limburgsch Dagblad, 15 February 1966, p. 1: start of the closed Mahmillub trial of SOBSI leader Njono, who says he was told to inform Sukarno of a 'council of generals' but joined the coup instead. Students demanded a public trial; only selected journalists are admitted. Njono is defended by Dutch-born lawyer Trees Soe
Untung confesses to murder of six generals
Algemeen Dagblad (1966-02-25) on Lt.-Col. Untung's trial before the special military tribunal: he now admits that 'taking away' the six generals meant killing, denies PKI membership and claims he acted against a 'council of generals'. Notes Trees Sunito refused to defend him and sought clemency for the condemned Njono.
Lively discussion: twenty years of the Dutch Women's Movement
De Waarheid, 7 Nov 1966, p. 3: report on the NVB's 20th-anniversary congress and gathering in Amsterdam. Chair Heiltje de Vos recalls NVB solidarity with Indonesia and proudly notes that first NVB chair Trees Sunito-Heyligers recently defended PKI leader Njono before the generals' military tribunal in Jakarta. Greeting
ANP news report, 17 February 1967 (Indonesia: four PKI leaders arrested)
ANP radio bulletin, 17 Feb 1967: four prominent banned-PKI members arrested in Jakarta, three of them Central Committee members (Rachmat, 'Mrs Soedjimah' [Sudjinah] and Mrs Soelami [Sulami]). The last two were also leading figures in Gerwani. Documents the arrest of two top Gerwani leaders.
Indonesian protests abroad against stance of Soviet leaders
De Waarheid, 4 Nov 1967, p. 3: report that Indonesian representatives abroad of SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwani protested Soviet leaders' stance towards the Suharto regime. SOBSI secretary Setiati Surasto condemned a Soviet union delegation's January 1967 visit; Gerwani rejected a 'hypocritical' WIDF resolution in Eas
Army leadership in Jakarta: 'infamy' as Njono, Sudisman, Wirjomartono executed
De Waarheid, 29 Oct 1968, p. 1: report, via Reuters, that the Indonesian military regime executed PKI Central Committee members Njono and Sudisman and Yogyakarta PKI secretary Wirjomartono by firing squad in Jakarta Bay after secret tribunal hearings; an initial report on Supardjo and Ruslan Kamaludin was retracted. It