Self-defence from panic: commentary on the hunt for communists
De Volkskrant commentary (11 Oct 1965) warning that the hunt for communists could drive Aidit's followers to armed self-defence. It describes Muslim demonstrators wrecking Aidit's and Njoto's houses and then "the headquarters of the communist women's organisation Gerwani", and army occupation of PKI headquarters in Ace
Der Bund, 12 October 1965: The instigator of the coup captured
Der Bund (Bern), 12 Oct 1965, Reuter report from Singapore: Lt Col Untung, leader of the 30 September Movement, reported captured; tense Central Java as armed Communists flee to the mountains; curfew reduced. Citing Malaysian radio quoting Radio Jakarta, a crowd burned down the Gerwani premises in Aceh (North Sumatra),
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 12 October 1965: Normalisation in Indonesia
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 12 Oct 1965, 'Normalisation in Indonesia' (Reuter/UPI wire digest). Items: armed Communists fleeing into Central Java mountains, Antara placed under military management, evacuation of American embassy families, and a Swiss ambassador's credentials. Relevant here: Malaysian radio, citing Radio Jaka
Schweizer Bauer, 13 October 1965: Hunt for communists
Short Reuter wire item in the Swiss farm paper Schweizer Bauer, 13 Oct 1965. Reports tension in Central Java as Communists flee to the mountains, and that an angry crowd burned down the Gerwani premises in Aceh, North Sumatra, per Radio Djakarta via Malaysian radio.
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
Sukarno will act against Reds (The Hindustan Times, 7 November 1965)
The Hindustan Times, 7 Nov 1965 (Reuter, Bogor, 6 Nov): Sukarno promises action against the PKI while the army hunts its members; Subandrio reports Sukarno scolding Njoto for the party's 'childish disease'. The armed forces bulletin says nine Gerwani 'suicide members' were killed by paratroopers when they blocked the r
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
The army: violence against Gerwani women near Solo
De Waarheid, 8 Nov 1965, p. 3: report that the army continues violent actions against progressives; per an army communique, paratroopers near Solo shot nine women who stood before tanks and refused to move, said to be Gerwani members. Also notes army encouragement of Muslims to destroy communists' buildings in Tasikmal
Freiburger Nachrichten, 8 November 1965: Indonesia - the hunt for communists continues
Freiburger Nachrichten, 8 Nov 1965, 'Indonesia: hunt for Communists continues' (Reuter/AFP). Citing the Army newspaper, paratroopers killed nine women described as 'suicide fighters of Gerwani' who tried to block army tanks near Solo, shot after warning shots; also arrests in Cilacap, suspensions in Kalimantan, a 'holy
251 dead in Central Java; women demonstrate against the PKI
Leeuwarder Courant, 9 November 1965, p. 5: report that about 10,000 housewives, schoolgirls and actresses marched in Jakarta to the National Front office demanding dissolution of Gerwani and state control of communist-run schools, while over a million demanded the PKI's dissolution. Governor Mokhtar says 251 were kille
Indonesia: golden time
Algemeen Handelsblad column 'Golden time' (1965-11-29) on post-coup Indonesia: loyalty advertisements in newspapers, frozen bank accounts for suspected persons, price rises and Conefo stamps, a quarrel in a Malang court. A final item, 'Gerwani, kill her', describes villagers near Tasikmalaya chasing 'Gerwani' with kniv
Pest Megyei Hírlap, 7 Dec 1965: detainees in North Sumatra and Pati
Pest Megyei Hirlap (Hungarian), 7 Dec 1965, p. 56: brief Jakarta item on mass arrests after the 30 September Movement: 10,500 people, mostly plantation workers, held in North Sumatra and 10,333 arrested around Pati, Central Java, all described as members of the peasant front, People's Youth, Gerwani or other left organ
Appeal for Solidarity with Gerwani and the Women of Indonesia (WIDF Bureau, June 1966)
WIDF Bureau appeal (Berlin, 2-5 June 1966), German original with English translation and notes by Faye Chan (2015). It states that tens of thousands of Indonesian women were murdered or are held and tortured, that Gerwani's leaders and several thousand members were arrested, and that Gerwani and other women's organisat
Indonesia: protest against persecution of the women's movement Gerwani
De Waarheid, 13 May 1966, p. 1: report that the NVB wrote to President Sukarno in shock and indignation at the terror against Gerwani and other democratic organisations, recalling the role they played in the Indonesian revolution and nation-building, and demanding the release of all political prisoners and lifting of t
Protest against persecution of Gerwani (full front page, 13 May 1966)
Full De Waarheid front page, 13 May 1966, mostly Dutch domestic and international news (cabinet Cals wage policy, Soviet trade delegation, US-China air incident). Only one box is relevant: the NVB's letter to Sukarno protesting terror against Gerwani and other democratic organisations and demanding release of political
WIDF appeal: release of arrested Indonesian women demanded
De Waarheid, 23 Jul 1966, p. 6: report that the WIDF Bureau, meeting in Berlin in June 1966, adopted an appeal for solidarity with Indonesian women and the progressive organisation Gerwani, demanding immediate release of arrested Gerwani members and leaders and restoration of legality for all Indonesian women's organis
Thousands of Indonesian women still languish in Suharto's prisons
Tribune (Sydney), 20 May 1975, p. 7, abridged from the British magazine TAPOL (Mar 1975): thousands of women remain among about 100,000 political prisoners. Describes Gerwani's work, its banning, the sexual slander ('sex-maniacs', mutilation claims) as fuelling the massacres, torture and rape of women tapols, Plantunga
Thousands of Indonesian women still languish in Suharto's prisons
Tribune (Sydney), 20 May 1975, p. 7, abridged from the British magazine TAPOL (Mar 1975): thousands of women remain among about 100,000 political prisoners. Describes Gerwani's work, its banning, the sexual slander ('sex-maniacs', mutilation claims) as fuelling the massacres, torture and rape of women tapols, Plantunga
Tempo, 1 October 2012: Erwin's rice and tajin porridge (1965 detention in Jakarta)
Tempo piece (1 Oct 2012) on conditions of 1965 political prisoners in Jakarta: torture and tiny rations at Cipinang, Salemba, Kalong HQ and Bukit Duri, with testimony of Eko Wardoyo, Bedjo Untung, Jawito. Includes Gerwani member and journalist Sri Sukatno, jailed years at Bukit Duri, describing electric torture at 'Gan
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.
Zulbainar, a woman fighter for marginal communities as Gerwani activist (1961-1977)
Journal article (2020) by Agustina and Fatimah, a biography of Zulbainar (b. 1939, West Sumatra), who joined Gerwani c. 1954, became treasurer of Gerwani Padang Pariaman, lost her husband to a mob in 1965 and was held 12 years without trial until 1977. Regional Gerwani life history.
Tempo, 2 October 2021: Black propaganda against Gerwani (Ita Fatia Nadia)
Op-ed by Ita Fatia Nadia in Tempo (2 Oct 2021) tracing the army-controlled press campaign from 7 Oct 1965 that cast Gerwani as sexually sadistic, contradicted by the military doctors' autopsy (Roebiono Kertapati). It links the slander to the mass killings, Kowani's expulsion of Gerwani (29 Oct 1965), Lubang Buaya volun
Tempo English, 4 October 2021: Traumatic burden of 1965 (Umi Sardjono's last years)
Tempo English cover story 'Traumatic Burden of 1965' (4 Oct 2021, Dini Pramita) on Umi Sardjono's silence and guilt after release in 1978. Ita Fatia Nadia read her a Medan woman's testimony of gang rape and public parading, and showed Sudjinah's X-ray; Umi wept, saying it was her responsibility. It covers her life in t