Gerwani Archive
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GA-03604 1955-05 CIA Reading Room, CIA-RDP78-02646R000300150001-8 rel A

The Communist Party of Indonesia (CIA survey, May 1955)

CIA intelligence survey of the PKI's history, structure and front organisations, May 1955, before the September 1955 elections. Section III.E (report pp. 49-50) profiles Gerwani: founded 1950 as Gerwis, renamed Gerwani at the March 1954 congress, 25,000+ members, S.K. Trimurti general chairman and Umi Sardjono chairman

GA-02372 1959-11-12 rel B

Current Intelligence Weekly Summary (12 November 1959)

CIA Current Intelligence Weekly Summary, 12 November 1959

CIA Current Intelligence Weekly Summary, 12 Nov 1959, a long multi-topic report; the Indonesia part (pp.23-27) assesses PKI strength (Aidit's claim of 1.5 million members, Java as base, army and Sukarno restrictions, Aidit's 1959 Moscow and Peking trip). It names GERWANI as the PKI's women's front, alongside Pemuda Rak

GA-03039 1961 rel A licensed

The Communist Party of Indonesia, 1951-1961: A Decade of the Aidit Leadership (PhD thesis, Australian National University)

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

GA-03347 1963-03-25 The Straits Times rel B

Java Reds in protest march (Purwokerto)

Java Reds in protest march, Purwokerto (Straits Times, 1963)

The Straits Times, 25 March 1963, p. 2, UPI/Antara: 1,500 communists demonstrate in Purwokerto, Central Java, against high prices and the cost of living; participants came from the PKI and affiliates including Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani, BTI and Lekra. They petition for lower prices and the inclusion of communists in the C

GA-03610 1964 Translations on South and East Asia, no. 52-65, 1964 (JPRS) rel B

JPRS 1964: Lekra presidium incl. S. Rukiah and Mia Bustam (PKI conference on literature and art)

JPRS 1964: PKI national conference on literature and art (Lekra presidium incl. S. Rukiah, Mia Bustam)

JPRS translation page (Translations on South and East Asia, 1964, seq 520) on a PKI national conference on revolutionary literature and art. Secretary Sudisman opens it; a 17-person presidium includes D.N. Aidit, Njoto, S. Rukiah and Mia Bustam from Central Java; Aidit reports on serving workers, peasants and soldiers

GA-02380 1964-10-23 rel B licensed

CIA Office of Current Intelligence, Sukarno and the Communists (Special Report SC 00642/64A, 23 October 1964)

CIA Special Report SC 00642/64A, 23 October 1964: Sukarno and the Communists

CIA Office of Current Intelligence Special Report SC 00642/64A, 'Sukarno and the Communists' (23 Oct 1964, Secret; declassified 1975). Analyses Sukarno's mutual exploitation with the PKI and Aidit's strategy; lists PKI front membership claims, including Gerwani at almost two million, beside BTI, SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat an

GA-02612 1964-10-23 rel B licensed

CIA, 'Sukarno and the Communists' (Office of Current Intelligence, 23 October 1964)

CIA, 'Sukarno and the Communists' (Office of Current Intelligence, 23 Oct 1964)

CIA Office of Current Intelligence report 'Sukarno and the Communists' (23 Oct 1964, ten pages), pre-coup assessment of the PKI-Sukarno relationship. Describes PKI growth to a claimed three million members and its fronts, including the Women's Front (GERWANI), 'almost two million'; also the cabinet, National Front, lan

GA-02505 1965-04-25 rel A licensed

Friendship Society (FBIS, 25 Apr 1965)

FBIS-monitored Xinhua report (25 Apr 1965): Premier Zhou Enlai, in Jakarta for the Bandung anniversary, received Indonesia-China Friendship Association and mass-organisation representatives, among them SOBSI chair Mohammad Munir, the Peasants' Front, and Mme Mudikdio (Mudigdio), leader of the Indonesian Women's Movemen

GA-02509 1965-10-07 rel B licensed

Perti Moslem Party (FBIS, 7 Oct 1965)

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

GA-02511 1965-10-18 rel A licensed

PKI Affiliates Including Gerwani Suspended (FBIS Daily Report, 18-21 Oct 1965, HathiTrust scan)

PKI Affiliates Including Gerwani Suspended (FBIS, 18-21 Oct 1965)

FBIS Daily Report pages (19 and 21 Oct 1965; HathiTrust scans) with the Jakarta war administrator's reporting order: from 19 to 24 October board members of PKI, Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, BTI, CGMI, Perhimi, IPPI, Lekra and HSI must report to police or military posts or face action. Also the bans on PKI and affiliates, Ge

GA-02512 1965-10-19 rel B licensed

South Sulawesi Groups (FBIS, 19 Oct 1965)

FBIS-monitored Makassar radio text (19 Oct 1965): the commandant of the 14th South-Southeast Sulawesi military command, as regional Dwikora authority, temporarily prohibited activities of PKI, Gerwani, SOBSI and affiliated unions, Pemuda Rakjat, CGMI, Perhimi, Lekra and HSI, effective 18 October, in line with Koti inst

GA-02513 1965-10-20 rel B licensed

Moslem Youth Rally (FBIS, 20 Oct 1965)

FBIS-monitored ANTARA English report (20 Oct 1965): some 100,000 Ansor youths in Jakarta (Taman Suropati) demanded dissolution of the PKI and affiliates for their part in the coup, endorsed the war administrator's suspension decision, said 'CGMI, Gerwani, SOBSI and Lekra were deeply involved in the recent terror moveme

GA-02514 1965-10-20 rel B licensed

Suspension in North Sulawesi (FBIS, 20 Oct 1965)

FBIS-monitored Manado radio text (20 Oct 1965): the commandant of the 13th Regional Military Command, as regional Dwikora authority, temporarily suspended the PKI and its affiliates in North Sulawesi: Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, BTI, CGMI, Perhimi, IPPI, HSI, Lekra and SOBSI (Pepelrada decision 029/1965). Regional ban nami

GA-02516 1965-10-23 rel B licensed

7 Political Parties Issue Joint Statement (FBIS, 23 Oct 1965)

Seven Political Parties Issue Joint Statement (FBIS, 23 Oct 1965)

FBIS-monitored ANTARA report (23 Oct 1965): seven parties (PSII, Catholic Party, IPKI, Perti, NU, a functional group and Muhammadiyah) issued a joint statement of 21 October that the PKI and its mass organisations, naming Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, SOBSI, HSI, Lekra, CGMI and others, were clearly involved in the 30 Septem

GA-02521 1965-11-03 rel B licensed

Council Resolves to Follow Sukarno Commands (FBIS, 3 Nov 1965)

FBIS summary of Manado radio (3 Nov 1965): the North Sulawesi Regional Council pledged to implement Sukarno's 21 October commands and asked him to dissolve the PKI and affiliates including Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, SOBSI, BTI, fishermen's front, HSI, Lekra, CGMI, IPPI, Perhimi and Baperki; it urged purges, and trial of d

GA-02522 1965-11-03 rel B licensed

PKI Chapter Condemns 30 September Movement (FBIS, 3 Nov 1965)

FBIS-monitored Manado radio text (3 Nov 1965), released by the 13th Regional Military Command: PKI chapter and affiliates in Tolitoli, Central Sulawesi, condemned the 30 September Movement, severed ties with PKI leadership and resigned en masse from 15 October, pledging loyalty to Sukarno. Signatories include represent

GA-02523 1965-11-06 rel B licensed

Suspension, Curfew in Bali (FBIS, 6 Nov 1965)

FBIS-monitored ANTARA report (6 Nov 1965): PKI and affiliates on Bali, including BTI, Gerwani, Pemuda Rakjat, Lekra, HSI, SOBSI, IPPI and the PGRI teachers' union, were suspended from 3 November. Leaders must report daily to military commands and sign obedience statements, take down signboards within five days; the war

GA-01541 1965-11-08 The Times of India rel B licensed

PKI, its affiliates are suspended in Bali (The Times of India, 8 November 1965)

The Times of India, 8 Nov 1965, p.1 (Jakarta, 7 Nov): the PKI and affiliated mass organisations in Bali, including Gerwani (Women's Movement), Pemuda Rakjat, Lekra, BTI, student, teachers' (PGRI) and SOBSI unions, have been suspended; leaders must report daily and a curfew applies. Sukarno says he is considering bannin

GA-03044 1967 rel C licensed

Politics in Simalungun: A Study in Political Integration

Politics in Simalungun: A Study in Political Integration (Liddle, 1967)

PhD dissertation (Yale, 1967) by R. William Liddle, a political-science study of local parties and political integration in Simalungun regency and Pematangsiantar, North Sumatra, based on 1963-64 fieldwork. Gerwani appears in a few brief passages in ch. VI: listed among PKI mass organizations (p. 190), given no members

GA-03061 1969 rel C licensed

The United States and the 'New Order' in Indonesia (PhD American University, 1969)

The United States and the 'New Order' in Indonesia (Sullivan, 1969)

John H. Sullivan's 1969 American University PhD in international relations traces US-Indonesian relations c. 1963-68 and the emergence of the New Order, covering the anti-American period, the 30 September Movement and its aftermath, and regional, communist-bloc and economic relations. It is diplomatic and political his

GA-03050 1970 rel B licensed

Youth and the Wane of Soekarno's Government

Youth and the Wane of Soekarno's Government (Paget, 1970)

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

GA-03048 1976 rel C licensed

The Crescent Arises over the Banyan Tree: A Study of the Muhammadijah Movement in a Central Javanese Town

The Crescent Arises over the Banyan Tree: Muhammadiyah in a Central Javanese Town (Nakamura, 1976)

Mitsuo Nakamura's 1976 Cornell PhD thesis, an ethnography and local history of the Muhammadiyah reform movement in Kotagede, Yogyakarta, arguing that Islamization of Java is an ongoing, internally generated process. Gerwani appears only in passing (p. 208), listed with Pemuda Rakyat and Lekra as PKI-influenced mass org

GA-00267 1978-01-19 Papua New Guinea Post-Courier rel B

After 12 Years Freedom (Post-Courier, 19 Jan 1978)

After 12 Years Freedom (Post-Courier, 19 January 1978)

Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, 19 January 1978, p. 5, feature by George Oliver on the release of 10,000 political prisoners held since the 1965 coup, with PKI members forced to swear loyalty. It describes the Category A, B, C system, the 1965-66 massacres (estimates up to half a million killed), Amnesty International's

GA-00268 1978-01-19 Papua New Guinea Post-Courier rel B

After 12 Years Freedom (Post-Courier, 19 Jan 1978)

After 12 Years Freedom (Post-Courier, 19 January 1978), clean OCR

Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, 19 January 1978, p. 5, clean OCR of George Oliver's feature on the release of 10,000 political prisoners held since the 1965 coup (same article as GA-00267). It covers the official and alternative accounts of 30 September, killings of perhaps half a million, half to three-quarters of a mi

GA-03038 1983 rel B licensed

Harian Rakjat, Daily Newspaper of the Communist Party of Indonesia: Its History and Role (MA thesis, Australian National University, 1983)

Harian Rakjat, Daily Newspaper of the Communist Party of Indonesia (Groves, 1983)

Kerry Groves's ANU MA thesis (1983) on Harian Rakjat, the PKI daily: its stance on press freedom, administration, polemics (e.g. with Merdeka, 1964), content and treatment of leaders, drawing on Indonesian sources and interviews with ex-prisoners. Gerwani appears in Chapter VI (pp.142-149) on the paper's women's column

GA-03064 1988 rel B licensed

Losing a Revolution: The PKI versus the Army in Indonesia, 1949-1965

Losing a Revolution: The PKI versus the Army in Indonesia, 1949-1965 (Sutley, 1988)

Stewart K. Sutley's MA thesis (Political Science, McGill, 1988) applies Tilly and Aya's 'political conflict' model to the PKI-Army struggle of 1949-65, arguing the PKI's state-within-a-state depended on Sukarno and was destroyed after the army struck at the president. Gerwani is treated only as the PKI's 'women's front

GA-03059 1992 rel C licensed

The Destruction of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI): A Comparative Analysis of East Java and Bali (PhD Harvard, 1992)

Destruction of the Indonesian Communist Party: East Java and Bali compared (Sudjatmiko, 1992)

Iwan Gardono Sudjatmiko's 1992 Harvard sociology PhD thesis compares East Java and Bali to explain the PKI's destruction after 1965, arguing that it followed from the party's 1963 revolutionary strategy and that violence depended on public figures, army units and PKI size. It covers mobilisation, land reform and local

GA-03713 2012 KITLV Press (Verhandelingen 274), Leiden rel B

Heirs to World Culture: Being Indonesian 1950–1965

Heirs to World Culture: Being Indonesian 1950-1965 (KITLV Press, 2012)

Edited volume (KITLV Press, Leiden, 2012) by Jennifer Lindsay and Maya H.T. Liem on Indonesian culture and its international links, 1950-65. Gerwani appears only in passing: Michael Bodden's chapter on Lekra theatre says Gerwani, like Lekra and CGMI, was pressed by the PKI in 1964 to declare itself communist (p. 470, c

GA-03714 2012 KITLV Press (Verhandelingen 274), Leiden rel B

Heirs to World Culture: Being Indonesian 1950–1965

Heirs to World Culture: Being Indonesian 1950-1965 (KITLV Press, 2012)

Edited volume (KITLV Press, Leiden, 2012) by Jennifer Lindsay and Maya H.T. Liem on Indonesian culture and its international links, 1950-65. Gerwani appears only in passing: Michael Bodden's chapter on Lekra theatre says Gerwani, like Lekra and CGMI, was pressed by the PKI in 1964 to declare itself communist (p. 470, c