40 Years of the PKI
'40 Tahun PKI', compiled by the PKI History Institute (Lembaga Sejarah PKI) for the party's 40th anniversary, Yayasan Pembaruan, Jakarta 1960, following D.N. Aidit's 'Lahirnya PKI dan perkembangannya'. A party-line history from the 1920 founding through the 1926 uprising, Japanese occupation, revolution and the VI Cong
Suara Tani, June 1960: Biography of Kartinah Kurdi (DPR-GR) and her article on International Children's Day
Suara Tani (BTI organ), June 1960 (vol. XI no. 6), OCR noisy. Issue marks PKI's 40th anniversary, the DPR-GR, the sharecropping law and the 5-Principles rice method. P. 3 (cont. p. 6) gives short biographies of BTI peasant representatives in the DPR-GR, including Ny. Kartinah Kurdi (Taman Siswa teacher, Yogyakarta, act
The Communist Party of Indonesia 1951-1961: A Decade of the Aidit Leadership (Hindley, 1961)
Donald Hindley's 1961 ANU PhD thesis on the Indonesian Communist Party under the Aidit leadership, 1951-1961, covering PKI strategy, party-building, finances, mass organisations and elections. Section 'Women' (pp. 422-448, esp. 'Gerwani', pp. 428-441) traces Gerwis from its founding on 4 June 1950 (about 500 members) t
US Monthly Indonesian Press Survey (1962-63): Aidit's speech at the Gerwani Training Center, October 1962
US Monthly Indonesian Press Survey (1962-63) extract on D.N. Aidit's speech at the Gerwani Training Center on 23 and 27 Oct 1962, in the debate over 'nationalising' Chinese-sounding names. Aidit calls the demand racialism and says reactionaries fan anti-Chinese feeling. Shows the PKI chair addressing a Gerwani cadre sc
Njoto at Gerwani course on smashing 'Malaysia' (snippet)
Snippet-only Renmin Ribao extract (22 Sept 1964, p. 4): PKI deputy chairman Njoto urges Indonesians to take the 'revolutionary road' to smash 'Malaysia', in a speech at a training course organised by Gerwani. Truncated. Full text is GA-01940.
Njoto urges the people to carry out Sukarno's order, at a Gerwani training course
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao (22 Sept 1964, p. 4), citing Harian Rakjat: PKI second deputy chairman Njoto, at a Gerwani training course, names three roads for carrying out Sukarno's order to smash 'Malaysia' (moderate, adventurist, revolutionary) and backs the revolutionary one, praising Sukarno's 17 August speech. Ad
FO 371/180326: Political Parties and Communism (Feb-Aug 1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180326 (Feb-Aug 1965): embassy telegrams, letters and Antara extracts on the PKI's growth before the coup: its 45th anniversary, Aidit's speeches, Mao's greeting, Sino-Soviet positions and Sukarno's leftward drift. Gerwani items: Antara of 9 June reports Sukarno addressing Gerwani, chaired
Aidit's political report to the PKI Fourth Plenum (snippet)
Snippet-only Renmin Ribao extract (12 June 1965, p. 3) from Aidit's political report to the PKI's enlarged Fourth Plenum, 'Intensify the revolutionary offensive on all fronts'. The visible sentence says SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani, Lekra and CGMI are beginning to give Marxist education to their membership; trunc
D.N. Aidit, 'Step up the revolutionary offensive on all fronts': political report to PKI plenum
Long Xinhua summary in Renmin Ribao (12 June 1965, p. 3) of D.N. Aidit's political report to the enlarged PKI Central Committee plenum, 'Step up the revolutionary offensive on all fronts': Nasakom, bureaucratic capitalists, takeovers of US firms, the Murba/BPS ban, Vietnam, the UN exit, Khrushchev's fall; PKI over 3 mi
Seven Student Organizations Establish Front (FBIS, 27 Oct 1965)
FBIS-monitored ANTARA report (27 Oct 1965): seven student and pupil organisations formed a Student Front and called on Sukarno to dissolve the PKI and mass organisations 'such as Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, CGMI, IPPI, SOBSI, HSI', and backed the education minister's suspension of PKI-linked bodies in the ministry. Another
The Anti-Communist Campaign in Indonesia: A Chronology (USIA R-158-65), Nov 1965
USIA Research and Reference Service report R-158-65 (November 1965), a chronology of the anti-Communist campaign in Indonesia, 1-20 October 1965, built on Indonesian and foreign radio and press. Gerwani entries: Suharto's 4 Oct TV statement linking the generals' murders to Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwani training grounds; NU
ANP news report, 8 November 1965, 18/19.00 (Indonesia)
Third ANP bulletin of 8 Nov 1965: troops seal Jakarta's Chinese quarter; about 10,000 women march in support of Sukarno and the army against the PKI. Their resolution demands the dissolution of Gerwani and government takeover of communist-run schools, linking the attack on Gerwani to its educational work.
Women Demonstrate for PKI and Affiliates Ban, Condemn Gerwani (FBIS, 9 Nov 1965)
FBIS Daily Report pages (9 Nov 1965; HathiTrust scans pp.155-157): after a Sukarno-era Heroes Day speech text, ANTARA reports a 30,000-strong demonstration by housewives and girl students from about 30 women's organisations (NU, Perti, Muslim, Christian, Catholic) received by Suharto and Sudibjo. They demanded a PKI an
Women Demonstrate for PKI, Affiliates Ban (FBIS, 8 Nov 1965)
FBIS item from Jakarta ANTARA, 8 Nov 1965: about 30,000 housewives and girl students from some 30 women's organisations demanded dissolution of the PKI and Gerwani. They petitioned Maj. Gen. Suharto and National Front secretary-general Sudibjo, condemned Gerwani for the generals' killing, asked that Gerwani schools be
Sukarno given list of suspected MPs; women demonstrate against Communists (South China Morning Post, 9 November 1965)
South China Morning Post, 9 Nov 1965, p.20 (Jakarta, 8 Nov): Sukarno is given a list of suspected PKI members of parliament; about 10,000 housewives, girl students and actresses marched to Suharto's HQ and the National Front office shouting support for Sukarno and the armed forces, denounced Gerwani, 'the PKI's women's
The Guardian, 9 Nov 1965, p.12 (BUP/Reuter, Jakarta, 8 Nov): about 10,000 Indonesian women and girls, led by drummers and majorettes, marched from Suharto's headquarters to the National Front office shouting support for Sukarno and against the Communists, and called for the dissolution of Gerwani, 'the Communist women'
Berita Yudha, 30 November 1965. Antara story that 'executioners of Lubang Buaya' interrogated in Bandung, including 19-year-old Sujati alias Jossy, 'confessed' Aidit promised a 'Golden Horse Star' for killing the generals.
Armed Forces Information Centre, Intisari Berita, 4 December 1965: 'How the PKI poisons children's minds'
Armed Forces Information Centre bulletin, 4 Desember 1965. Item 'Cara PKI meracuni jiwa anak-anak' claims in PKI kindergartens run by 'Gerwani' women children were taught God does not exist because He could not give pencils; demonisation through religion and education.
Indonesia, a new Vietnam? (Haugesunds Avis, 17 December 1965)
Haugesunds Avis (Norway), 17 Dec 1965, p. 8 (page image): Albert Henrik Mohn's Jakarta article 'Indonesia, a new Vietnam?' on PKI history, Aidit's rise and party growth to 3 million. It names PKI mass organisations (SOBSI, peasant front, Pemuda Rakyat, and the women's organisation Gerwani with about 1.5 million members
Indonesia, a new Vietnam? (Haugesunds Avis, 17 December 1965), OCR text
Haugesunds Avis (Norway), 17 Dec 1965, p. 8 (OCR text): Albert Henrik Mohn's Jakarta article 'Indonesia, a new Vietnam?' on PKI history, Aidit's rise and party growth to 3 million. It names PKI mass organisations (SOBSI, peasant front, Pemuda Rakyat, and the women's organisation Gerwani with about 1.5 million members)
Angkatan Bersendjata, 11 January 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 11 Jan 1966. NTB military order (31 Dec 1965) dissolving the PKI and affiliates including Gerwani, BTI, SOBSI, Lekra, Baperki and Universitas Rakyat (UNRA), confiscating their property; about 66,000 detainees in Central Java.
Sinar Harapan, 18 Oct 1966: Communist books burned
Sinar Harapan, 18 Oktober 1966: 'Buku2 komunis dibakar'. Antara item: in Kayuagung (South Sumatra) 'ex-PKI/Gerwani' members burned communist and Marxist literature seized in a military raid before the regency authorities.
Sinar Harapan, 6 Dec 1966: 'Night of Terror, Dawn of Hope' (V), Clarence Hall serial
Sinar Harapan, 6 Desember 1966: 'Malam Teror Fajar Harapan' (V). Serial translation of Clarence Hall's 'Indonesia: Night of Terror, Dawn of Hope' ends with the claim that the kidnapped generals were 'handed over to about 100 screaming Gerwani members'; also an essay on education as protection against betrayal.
Berita Yudha, 30 August 1968
Berita Yudha, 30 Agustus 1968. Instalment IV of 'PKI Gaja Baru di Djatim': portrays Nj. Kartini, 'Gerwani deputy chair before G30S', disguised as a poor village woman and training cadres in forest 'schools'.
Angkatan Bersendjata, 14 March 1969: 'Uncovering the Djatibarang Incident' (II)
Angkatan Bersendjata, 14 Maret 1969: 'Menjingkap Peristiwa Djatibarang' (II). Part II of a series claiming a 'household course' was a mask for PKI cadre activity, based on the confession of junior-high girl Purwati; a template of the 'Gerwani underground' narrative.