JPRS Translations on South and East Asia No. 101: Indonesian press, October 1965 (dismiss Gerwani from the women's movem
JPRS Translations on South and East Asia No. 101: selected Oct 1965 Indonesian press items. Gerwani-related: Duta Masjarakat (16 Oct) 'Dismiss Gerwani from Women's Movement' saying members trained at Lobang Buaja and urging Kowani (chair Hurustiati Subandrio) to act; 11 Oct 'Gerwani and Pemuda Rakjat in Disguise' (clai
Anger mounts against the PKI over the killings (Berita Harian, 1965)
Berita Harian, 7 October 1965, p. 1: Sukarno's first cabinet meeting after 30 September; Nahdlatul Ulama demands a PKI ban and claims rebels armed Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani and SOBSI, and that Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani members trained at 'Sarang Buaya' (Lubang Buaya). Also press and rally restrictions in Sumatra and an ar
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
Suara Merdeka, 29 October 1965, p. 2: 'Confession' of a Pemuda Rakyat leader on Lubang Buaya training
Suara Merdeka (Semarang), 29 Oktober 1965, hlm. 2. Antara report of the 'confession' of Pemuda Rakyat leader 'MSN': secret 'GTM' recruitment for Lubang Buaya training from July 1965, seeing many Gerwani, PR and BTI in ranks, 'Ibu Djumono of the DPP Gerwani', and ranks that 'appeared happy and sang'.
Nógrád, 7 Nov 1965: army kills communist women demonstrators in Solo
Page of Hungarian county daily Nograd, 7 Nov 1965, with an MTI Djakarta dispatch: the army press office says paratroopers 'were forced to take the lives' of Gerwani women who blocked a military column in Solo (Surakarta), Central Java; the communique does not state numbers. Also Pravda's Jakarta report on the banning o
Somogyi Néplap, 7 Nov 1965: Sukarno condemns anti-communism; nine women killed by army in Central Java
Somogyi Neplap (Hungary), 7 Nov 1965, p. 2: MTI/AFP dispatch from Bogor on Sukarno's cabinet meeting, where he condemned anti-communist revenge and upheld NASAKOM. States an army press communiqué that soldiers fired on marching Gerwani women in Solo, Central Java, killing nine. Also notes de facto bans on the PKI and t
Szolnok Megyei Néplap, 7 Nov 1965: Indonesia, Gerwani women killed in Solo
Hungarian provincial daily Szolnok Megyei Néplap, 7 Nov 1965, world-politics page. Its Indonesia item reports an official army communiqué claiming that in Solo (Central Java) paratroopers 'were forced to take the lives' of Gerwani women who blocked the road before an armoured column; it does not say how they were kille
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
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
Almost overlords yesterday, almost outlaws today: what happened to the PKI? (Bloodworth, Straits Times, 1965)
The Straits Times, 8 December 1965, p. 12, analysis by Dennis Bloodworth on why the PKI failed. In passing it repeats the Lubang Buaya slander as fact: 'six leading generals were done to death, horribly mutilated by doe-eye girls of the PKI's Gerwani women's movement'. It then covers Sukarno's weakness, Nasution's esca
Suara Merdeka, 26 June 1968, p. 1: Genjer-genjer trainer at Lubang Buaya arrested
Suara Merdeka front page, 26 June 1968: an Antara/Pendam V Jaya report that four alleged PKI members were arrested in Jakarta, including Titi Suwarti, said to have joined training at Lubang Buaya and taught Genjer-genjer. Shows New Order framing of women's alleged role at Lubang Buaya.
Suara Merdeka, 29 June 1968, p. 1: 'New-style PKI' arrested in Purworejo; Darmini labelled Gerwani
Suara Merdeka front page, 29 June 1968: Purworejo correspondent reports the arrest of an alleged 'new-style PKI' underground and Darmini, 28, labelled a Gerwani member, with lurid detail on her and a housemate's pregnancies. Typical New Order sexualised portrayal of Gerwani women.
Torture of the generals recounted: testimony of Emi Marijam (Kompas, 12 January 1971; JPRS translation)
JPRS translation of Kompas, 12 Jan 1971: Emi Marijam, 24, described as a Jakarta Gerwani activist, testifies as witness in the subversion trial of Pemuda Rakjat secretary-general Sukatno. She says she and three women were assigned to torture the generals at Lubang Buaja, gouging eyes for one million rupiah, after train
Day woman gouged general's eyes with a knife: Emmy Marjam testimony (Straits Times, 1971)
The Straits Times, 13 January 1971, p. 2: at the special-court trial of Pemuda Rakjat chairman Sukatno, witness Emmy Marjam, 24, a Gerwani member now under arrest, testifies that she gouged a general's eyes with a knife and saw friends mutilate another's genitals at Lubang Buaya after training from 26 Sept. Reported as
Harian Neraca serial 'Siapa menabur angin akan menuai badai' (60): the 1 October abductions and Djamilah's 'confession'
Harian Neraca, 13 Mar 1989, p. 10: instalment 60 on the 1 October abductions; says about 100 Gerwani members of AURI-trained 'Sukarelawan Kita' were at Lubang Buaya, citing the 'confession' of Nyonya Djamilah.
Harian Neraca serial 'Siapa menabur angin akan menuai badai' (61): army's 1965 sexual slander retold
Harian Neraca, 14 Mar 1989, p. 10: instalment 61, the serial's most important Gerwani item, reprinting the army's 1965 slander: PR and Gerwani dancing naked in a 'flower-scent party', sex permitted, stimulant injections, per 17-year-old Djamilah.
Sukitman's story of G30S/PKI (part 2)
Akcaya (Pontianak), 10 Nov 1991, p. 7: concluding part of a retelling of police officer Sukitman's 1965 story, with the paper glossing the 'volunteers' as '(Gerwani - red)', reproducing the New Order slander.
Amien Rais: Communism, the cruellest ideology
Bali Post, 30 Sept 1996, p. 1: at a youth seminar on the 'latent danger of communism' Amien Rais says Gerwani 'slashed' the generals; Taufiq Ismail cites S.K. Trimurti as ex-Gerwani; PRD branded 'new PKI'.
Hari Kesaktian Pancasila is not only remembering a bloody event
Analisa (Medan), 4 Oct 1997, p. 7: commentary for Hari Kesaktian Pancasila repeating the official G30S account and invoking 'the barbarity of the PKI with its Gerwani and Pemuda Rakyat'.
Saskia Wieringa's 2002 monograph, the foundational history of Gerwani: a semi-autonomous organisation with triple loyalty to feminism, nationalism and socialism, and the New Order's founding on manipulation of sexual symbols through the 1965 slander. Based on interviews with Umi Sardjono, Sulami, Sudjinah, Trimurti and
Influence of Gerwani's image on the women's movement 1966-1998 (Retnoningrum, 2009)
2009 Sanata Dharma history thesis by Elisabeth Retnoningrum on Gerwani's orientation, the New Order's spreading of a bad image of Gerwani, and later women's movement development; concludes the sexual mutilation story was untrue and legitimised the regime.
Wieringa's 2011 article condensing her research: the army's sexual slander of Gerwani was the spark without which the genocide would not have happened; reconstructs the Lubang Buaya night (about 70 women and girls, mostly Pemuda Rakyat volunteers) and reads the monument mural. Programmatic synthesis.
Wieringa and Katjasungkana's 2019 Routledge monograph, from the IPT 1965 prosecution report, arguing the 'real coup' was the ousting of Sukarno through about a million killings enabled by propaganda about Gerwani's alleged sexual perversion; chapter 6 treats two sexual moral panics. Key analysis.
Feminism as a Class Question, Part II (Ita Fatia Nadia, 2020)
Part II of Nadia's essay (südostasien 3/2020): how the army and paramilitaries used sexualised violence to destroy Gerwani after Oct 1965, the Lubang Buaya slander and film, 1966 tattoo 'searches', and New Order redefinition of women's roles. In German.
Buried Histories: The Anticommunist Massacres of 1965-1966 in Indonesia (Roosa, 2020)
John Roosa's 2020 book, from nearly 400 interviews, arguing the typical 1965-66 killing was army execution of detainees (hence mass disappearance); dissects army propaganda including how Gen. Sugandhi sexualised Lubang Buaya from 9 Oct 1965. Key scholarship.