New York Times, 16 June 1957, p.37, Special to the Times from Jakarta: Sukarno names the 45 members of the new National Council (Dewan Nasional), chaired by himself, with Roeslan Abdulgani as deputy chairman and secretary-general. About a quarter are described as Communists or sympathisers, including PKI member Sujono
Article by Justus M. van der Kroef (Pacific Affairs, summer 1962) on the PKI's dilemmas under Guided Democracy: dependence on Sukarno, the July 1960 'Evaluation' clash with the army, and the party's use of mass fronts. Gerwani is named as the PKI's women's front: its organ was aggressive without censure in 1961, and in
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180318 (Oct 1965): Djakarta embassy telegrams, minutes and copied US cables on the 30 September affair. Covers the anti-PKI demonstration and burning of PKI HQ, Sukarno's return, Suharto and Nasution, and Anglo-American debate on backing the generals. Only Gerwani-relevant item: the 10 Oct
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180324 (1965), 'Attempted coup against Sukarno [15]': telegrams and letters from Djakarta, Washington and Peking, November 1965, plus appended US and Canadian reports. It records Sukarno's Heroes Day speech, Adam Malik's view of the Sukarno-generals stalemate and accounts of 30 September.
FBIS-monitored Jakarta radio item (7 Oct 1965): Gertasi, a Gasbiindo transport union and the Progressive Pioneer Youth called for dissolving PKI and its mass organisations. The transport union salutes ABRI for arresting 'members of the people's youth (Pemuda Rakjat) and the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani), both s
FBIS item (7 Oct 1965, Jakarta radio): the Perti party's executive board denounces the 'gestapo-style' terror, backs NU and PSII demands that Sukarno dissolve the PKI and its affiliates, listing Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, SOBSI, CGMI, Lekra, and suspends three members, placing the party under Rusli Abdul Wahid. Another ea
US Embassy telegram 971, 12 Oct 1965: a German embassy source says the Army is considering overthrowing Sukarno and signalling Western embassies; Sukarno refused to read PKI-complicity papers. High-politics context; no Gerwani content.
South China Morning Post, 15 Oct 1965, p.12, 'Torture squads in Djakarta: how Indonesian generals died', by a special correspondent. A lurid account of the 1 October killings: it says 'frenzied members of the Gerwani women's organisation' chanted insults and danced naked while Pemuda Rakjat youths emasculated six gener
Leader-Post (Regina), 18 Oct 1965, p.10 (AP, Singapore/Jakarta): Radio Jakarta announced a military ban on the PKI and affiliates in the name of Maj-Gen Umar Wirahadikusumah; SOBSI banned, and Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwani, 'the party's women's wing', also placed under the ban. Further reports: attacks on PKI offices in Ba
Ottawa Citizen, 18 Oct 1965, p.3 (AP, Singapore): 'Jakarta outlaws Communist party.' Radio Jakarta announced a military ban on the PKI and affiliates in the name of Maj-Gen Umar Wirahadikusumah; SOBSI was banned nationwide, and Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwani, 'the party's women's wing', were also banned, with leaders ordere
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 18 Oct 1965, p.1 (AP, Jakarta/Singapore): Radio Jakarta announced a military ban on the PKI and affiliates in the name of Maj-Gen Umar Wirahadikusumah; SOBSI banned, and Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwani, 'the party's women's wing', also placed under the ban. Also reports attacks on PKI offices in Banda
Calgary Herald, 19 Oct 1965, p.6: AP/Washington Post wire item from Singapore/Jakarta reporting that Indonesia's army banned the Communist party in Jakarta in the name of Gen. Umar Wirahadikusumah, also banning Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwani, 'the party's women's branch', and outlawing SOBSI. Mentions arrests of Radio Jakar
Daily Mail (London), 19 Oct 1965, p.2, by Arthur Cook from Singapore: Indonesia's ruling generals banned the Communist Party in Jakarta and its surrounding region; Radio Jakarta listed the organisations (People's Youth Front, Gerwani 'the Communist women's organisation', the peasants' and scientists' associations, stud
The Daily Telegraph (London), 19 Oct 1965, p.25, Rawle Knox from Singapore: Radio Jakarta announced a ban on the Indonesian Communist party in the Jakarta area (order attributed to 'Maj.-Gen. Kasomo' i.e. Umar Wirahadikusumah), its leaders told to report to police by Sunday; affiliates banned include Pemuda Rakjat, 'th
The Gazette (Montreal), 19 Oct 1965, p.2 (AP, Singapore): 'Sukarno resists pressure to dissolve Communists.' The army banned the PKI in Jakarta in the name of Maj-Gen Umar Wirahadikusumah, SOBSI outlawed, and Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwani, 'the party's women's branch', also placed under the ban; leaders to report within fi
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
The Economist, 6 Nov 1965, p.594, 'Rings on a tree trunk', from a special correspondent in Jakarta: the army-inspired anti-communist campaign has gained its own momentum, with raids on PKI offices, arrests, 26 Antara correspondents detained, Aidit in hiding, Sukarno declaring Central Java in a 'state of war'. Wall graf
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'
Hamilton Spectator, 19 Nov 1965, p.6: Arthur Dommen (Los Angeles Times) on the 'Indonesian mystery' of the 30 September movement in central Java: Pemuda Rakjat raids on police posts at Boyolali and Klaten (22 Oct), army claims about 1,000 raiders killed, arms from China and guerrilla plans. The wartime-quality OCR name
Peking Review Vol. 9 No. 18, 29 April 1966, a Chinese weekly. Besides Cultural Revolution and Afro-Asian Journalists' Association material, it carries Chinese protests against Indonesian anti-China outrages and a Renmin Ribao commentary, 'Right-Wing Reactionaries Plunge Indonesia into a Bloodbath' (p. 25), quoting New
PhD dissertation in political science (Claremont, 1967) by Jerry Mark Silverman on national communism and polycentrism, 1919-1966, using the 'political community' framework with the PKI as case study (Section III, chs. 4-5 on PKI independence and ambivalence). It confines its Indonesian analysis to the period before 1
Edward J. Fox, University of Chicago MA dissertation (1968; the catalogue title says PhD) on the Indonesian armed forces' control programme and the pattern of violence from October 1965 to early 1968. Gerwani appears only in passing: a footnote cites 1.75 million members and notes its self-dissolution (p.32), and one u
Article by Justus M. van der Kroef (Pacific Affairs, spring 1970) on the PKI underground and army counter-campaign after 1965, from the Blitar and Purwodadi operations to political prisoners and Moscow/Beijing exile factions. Gerwani appears once (p.50): arrests of former Communists 'including members of Gerwani (the P
Roger Paget's 1970 Cornell PhD thesis on how student and youth action groups, culminating in KAMI, emerged after 1 October 1965 and helped undermine Sukarno. Gerwani appears in several passages: action fronts demanded its banning (p. 44) and its offices were ransacked (p. 63); Herlina denounced it for not fighting Mala
Journal article by Reuven Kahane (Contributions to Asian Studies, vol. 5, 1974) giving a structural-sociological explanation of the 1965 coup and army dominance in Indonesia: religious-class polarisation, failing Sukarno-era control mechanisms, and the army's rise. Gerwani appears only in a footnote listing PKI-affilia
TAPOL Bulletin no. 47 (London, September 1981): East Timor offensive and the East Timor assembly's report, West Papuan refugees, Pramoedya's re-arrest, the new Procedural Code, and rape and lesbianism cases. Its new 'Spotlight on a Prisoner' profiles Suwardiningsih, the only woman full member of the PKI Central Committ
TAPOL Bulletin no. 54 (London, Nov 1982), 24 pages, mostly on West Papua, East Timor, Borobudur and military law. Its 'Spotlight on Two Tapols' profiles Napsiah, a veteran of Pesindo/Perwari who joined the PKI in 1949, helped build Gerwani in East Java and sat on the PKI East Java committee. Arrested in 1968 after the
TAPOL Bulletin no. 80 (London, April 1987) on East Timor, the 1987 elections, the Societies Law and ex-tapol rights. A short 'Gerwani members arrested' item reports a woman called 'Mrs Har', said to be a former Gerwani member, arrested with her three daughters in Tanjung Priok (14 Feb 1987), and another alleged Gerwani
TAPOL Bulletin no. 83 (London, Oct 1987) on East Timor at the UN, Kedung Ombo, labour unrest, Muslim trials and transmigration. A boxed item 'Serving 26 years for a 20-year sentence' profiles Siti Sundari, 66, a founding member of Gerwis and Gerwani, PKI candidate in 1955 and 1964 central committee candidate, jailed si