SOBSI, Partindo and Gerwani protest to Singapore government (Berita Harian, 1963)
Berita Harian, 6 February 1963, p. 3: SOBSI, Partindo and Gerwani send a protest to the Singapore government over the previous week's arrests of left-wing figures (Operation Coldstore); SOBSI blames the British and Tunku Abdul Rahman. The clipping is damaged and ends abruptly; Gerwani is only one of three protesting bo
SOBSI protest to Singapore government over mass arrests (Straits Times, 1963)
The Straits Times, 6 February 1963, p. 10, Reuters: SOBSI cables the Singapore government protesting the mass arrests of left-wing people the previous weekend and demanding release of detainees; Partindo and the Gerwani Women's Movement 'have also protested'. Brief mention of Gerwani among Indonesian left organisations
Untung captured: Kremlin warns rebels (Straits Times, 1965)
The Straits Times, 13 October 1965, p. 1: Lt-Col. Untung is captured at Tegal; broadcasts claim rebels' support collapsed and many youths were rounded up; Medan rally demands a PKI ban; Soviet leaders warn Indonesia against imperialist threats; PKI chief Aidit still in hiding. Page also carries Vietnam war news. No men
Fate of four Diponegoro Division officers unknown: Gerwani and the generals' widows (Berita Harian, 1965)
Berita Harian, 15 October 1965, p. 3, Reuters: troops capture local communist leaders in Serang, units search a communist's house in Jakarta, and unrest in Yogyakarta; reports claim 'more and more' Gerwani members tried to kidnap army officers' wives and, the previous night, to seize several generals' widows. An early
Aidit surrounded by army in Central Java: Gerwani 'suicide squad' in Solo (Berita Harian, 1965)
Berita Harian, 7 November 1965, p. 1: reports Aidit surrounded in Central Java (Col. Jasir) and, from army broadcasts, that nine 'suicide' members of Gerwani blocked tanks in Solo, jeered at paratroopers and were killed when they would not move. The text does not say how; the account is army-sourced and unverified. Als
Pregnant teenager confesses: PKI women tell of the cruel killing at Lubang Buaya (Berita Harian, 1965)
Berita Minggu/Berita Harian, 7 November 1965, p. 10, UPI: the 'confession' of Jamilah, 15 and pregnant, a Pemuda Rakyat member, reported from Angkatan Bersenjata. She says about 100 Gerwani women among 500 at Halim were given knives, struck first, and hacked a blindfolded general's genitals. A core Lubang Buaya slander
Suicide squad women crushed by army tanks (Straits Times, 1965)
The Straits Times, 7 November 1965, p. 7, world round-up: an army bulletin says nine 'suicide members' of Gerwani blocked army tanks in Solo, were 'gently asked' to move, jeered at paratroopers, and were killed by the troops when they refused. Same army-sourced story as Berita Harian's 7 November report; unverified. He
Berita Harian, 15 Nov 1965: communist woman detained in North Sumatra
Berita Harian, 15 Nov 1965 (UPI/Antara, lead only). North Sumatra authorities detained a woman, said to be a Gerwani member, accused of attempting a murder and bearing a 'secret mark' on her thigh. The 'secret mark' trope echoes slander about Gerwani women.
Communist woman detained in North Sumatra (Berita Harian, 1965)
Berita Harian, 15 November 1965, p. 3 (clipping lacks its headline), Antara via Medan: a Gerwani member is detained near an Islamic scholar's house; police say a 'secret mark' was found on her thigh and she confessed she was assigned to kill the cleric. A typical 1965 propaganda item on Gerwani as assassins and 'marked
Berita Harian, 9 Dec 1965: imprisoned woman (UPI photographer's scene)
Berita Harian, 9 Dec 1965 (UPI photographer Kurnipi, lead only). First-person scene with an imprisoned woman crying that her children are at home and asking why she is held and for how long. Matched on Gerwani; the lead does not name her organisation.
Women in prison: tears at Bukit Duri (photo story, Berita Harian, 1965)
Berita Harian, 9 December 1965, p. 4: UPI photographer Kurnipi visits Bukit Duri women's prison, Jakarta (about 110 detainees), among them Gerwani leaders and MPs Salawati Daud and Umi Sardjono, plus Emi binti Madali, 20, who 'confessed' to killing General Yani, and two small children jailed with their mothers. Women p
Berita Harian, 21 Dec 1966: Aidit's wife arrested
Berita Harian, 21 Dec 1966 (UPI, lead only). Reports the arrest of D.N. Aidit's wife, described as a leader of the women's wing Gerwani, who had been under intelligence watch since the coup and was a very active communist.
Eastern Sun, 21 Dec 1966: Wife of Aidit captured
Eastern Sun, 21 Dec 1966 (UPI, lead only). Aidit's wife, a leader of Indonesia's communist women's organisation, was captured; intelligence agents had watched her since the coup and described her as a dedicated Communist.
Straits Times, 21 Dec 1966: Mrs Aidit and daughter captured in Kebayoran
Straits Times, 21 Dec 1966 (lead only). Berita Yudha reported that Aidit's widow and her daughter were captured in Kebayoran, Jakarta; Aidit had been shot dead in an ambush in Solo a year earlier.
Army seizes Aidit's wife (Berita Harian, 1966)
Berita Harian, 21 December 1966, p. 1, UPI: the wife of D.N. Aidit, described as a leader of the communist women's section (Gerwani), is arrested; per the paper 'Harian Perang' she had been watched since the coup and stayed very active as a fugitive. Short item; she is not named in the text.
Straits Times, 22 Jun 1967: woman Red gets life sentence (Palembang)
Straits Times, 22 Jun 1967 (lead only). A special military tribunal in Palembang sentenced Mrs Suwardiningsih, a local communist leader, to life imprisonment for complicity in the 1965 coup attempt; she was the first woman tried by that tribunal.
Communist leader in West Java captured near Bandung: Gerwani members arrested (Berita Harian, 1967)
Berita Harian, 11 July 1967, p. 3, Reuters: the army announces capture near Bandung of Yakob Margolang, who allegedly tried to form a new Communist party in West Java; several women believed to be members of Gerwani, 'the secret organisation of Communist women', were also arrested. Context: army warnings against pro-Su
Eastern Sun, 13 Dec 1967: detained communists build their own prisons
Eastern Sun, 13 Dec 1967 (by Soeharjono, lead only). Thousands of detained Communists are building brick-and-bamboo prisons because of acute prison-space shortage and lack of funds to feed some 60,000 rounded up after the coup. Lead does not mention Gerwani; matched on a query about Aidit's wife.
Berita Harian, 7 Oct 1968: Hartini not detained
Berita Harian, 7 Oct 1968 (Reuters, lead only). Presidential secretary Col. Sutikno denied that Hartini, Sukarno's second wife, had been detained or recently questioned; the last interrogation was about 18 months earlier. Matched on Gerwani though lead does not mention it.
Eastern Sun, 7 Oct 1968: Hartini not detained, says Sutikno
Eastern Sun, 7 Oct 1968 (Reuters, lead only). Presidential secretary Col. Sutikno denied that Hartini, Sukarno's second wife, was detained or recently interrogated; the last questioning was about 18 months earlier. Matched on Gerwani though the lead does not mention it.