CIA, Press information relating to insurgency and counterinsurgency: South and East Asia (217), 28 October 1965
CIA Foreign Documents Division compilation of Indonesian, Malaysian, Burmese and Cambodian press, 28 Oct 1965. Djakarta's Angkatan Bersendjata (early Oct) is quoted on the 30 September Movement and the Lubang Buaya killings: bodies found near a bivouac of Gerwani and Pemuda Rakjat volunteers, Suharto's remark about a G
Kim Il Sung and the Chinese Delegation, 28-29 Oct 1965
Cable by Yang Yong and Hao Deqing, 29 Oct 1965, recording Kim Il Sung's 28 Oct meeting with a Chinese People's Delegation (Wilson Center; trans. Jeffrey Wang and Charles Kraus). Kim covers Korean war preparations, Japanese militarism and Asia's revolutionary role; on Indonesia he calls the 30 September incident 'necess
LBJ National Security File: Indonesia, Communist Parties and Internal Politics, Nov 1965-May 1966
LBJ Library National Security File, Indonesia country file (vol. VI): US Embassy Jakarta cables and withdrawal sheets, mainly December 1965 to May 1966, on the army's moves against the PKI, Sukarno's speeches, student demonstrations and Suharto's rise. Gerwani appears twice. Embtel 2077 (17 Jan 1966) reports Bogor wall
The Anti-Communist Campaign in Indonesia: A Chronology (USIA R-158-65), Nov 1965
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
FBIS item (1 Nov 1965, Indonesian Information Service to diplomatic missions): over 300 members of BTI, Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwani in Rantjamalang village, Bandung regency, were reported to have renounced PKI membership and dissolved their organisations, saying they were 'tricked' by the PKI leadership; about 100 PKI su
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
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
CIA, Press information relating to insurgency and counterinsurgency: South and East Asia (Summary 6897), 4 November 1965
CIA Foreign Documents Division weekly digest (Summary No. 6897, 4 Nov 1965) of press on insurgency in South and East Asia. Its Indonesia section reproduces Army-controlled press (Angkatan Bersendjata, Duta Masjarakat) on the 30 September Movement, including claims that Gerwani volunteers trained at Lubang Buaja and moc
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
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
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
The Hindustan Times, 8 Nov 1965: the Bali war administrator has suspended the PKI and affiliates, including Gerwani (Women's Movement), Pemuda Rakjat, students' association, peasants' union and SOBSI, with daily reporting to the military, removal of signboards in five days and a curfew from 3 Nov. It notes Sukarno was
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
The Irish Times, 9 Nov 1965, p.44: Sukarno tells his Cabinet communism should not be suppressed but the PKI need not be kept; 102 MPs are listed for investigation; Malaya's Tunku accuses Subandrio of involvement in the coup. About 10,000 housewives and women students marched in Jakarta led by drum majorettes, demanding
Peking Review no. 46, 12 November 1965: anti-communist and anti-China activities of Indonesian right-wing forces
Peking Review Vol. VIII No. 46, 12 November 1965, a Chinese weekly. Contents: October Revolution anniversary, the Wang Chieh campaign, the Renmin Ribao/Hongqi refutation of the CPSU 'united action', and Indonesia reports on the anti-China current, a Chinese protest to Jakarta and 'rabid anti-communist' activities of ri
National Front Head Briefs Women's Congress (FBIS, 14 Nov 1965)
FBIS item (Jakarta radio, 14 Nov 1965): National Front secretary-general Sudibjo briefed Kowani leaders and affiliated organisations, saying the 30 September Movement, especially PKI elements and mass organisations, split revolutionary unity and weakened the Dwikora offensive. He urged mass action consolidated under Su
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
Telegram 1516 to Secretary of State, 20 Nov 1965
US Embassy telegram 1516, 20 Nov 1965, relaying Yugoslav and Australian secondhand accounts that PKI activists relied on Sukarno, claimed no foreknowledge of the 30 September Movement and expected the party to vanish for years. Context on PKI grassroots confusion.
Issue of New Age, weekly organ of the Communist Party of India, 21 November 1965 (Vol. XIII No. 47; OCR very rough). Mainly Indian politics (Shastri, US food blackmail, Indo-Soviet friendship, Bangalore peace conference). It reports the WIDF Council session in Salzburg (24-27 Oct 1965, 20th anniversary), where a Chines
Telegram 1025A (1591) to Secretary of State, 30 Nov 1965
US Embassy telegram, 30 Nov 1965, recording a Polish diplomat's claim that a PKI Central Committee member was 'elated' on 1 October and that only an Aidit-led 'special group' knew of the plot. Secondhand diplomatic evidence on PKI involvement.
Further Report on Confessions of Njono (FBIS, 2 Dec 1965)
FBIS item (ANTARA, 2 Dec 1965) reporting Njono's army-publicised interrogation: PKI Politburo allegedly planned the coup from July to August 1965 under Aidit. Gerwani is named among the organisations expected to support military operations and, with Pemuda Rakyat, BTI and SOBSI, in Njono's Jakarta force. Lubang Buaya i
Djakarta Ban on PKI and Affiliates Reported (FBIS, 6 Dec 1965)
FBIS item (Jakarta radio, 6 Dec 1965): the Jakarta military authorities banned the PKI and its mass organisations as masterminds of the 30 September Movement. Maj. Gen. Umar Wirahadikusumah announced an operation to recover weapons allegedly distributed to Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani and SOBSI members. Gerwani appears only
Central Kalimantan Bans PKI Activities (FBIS, 7 Dec 1965)
FBIS item (ANTARA, 7 Dec 1965): Central Kalimantan's Dwikora administrator suspended PKI and cover-organisation activities. It also reports that Gerwani in East Kalimantan dissolved itself, admitting involvement in the coup, and that PKI, Gerwani and Pemuda Rakyat members at Balikpapan disbanded before authorities. Off
Airgram A-373: Joint Weeka no. 46, 7 Dec 1965
US Embassy Joint Weeka no. 46 (airgram A-373), 7 Dec 1965: Aidit's capture and death, the fate of Politburo members, and a figure of 34,000 PKI prisoners in Java. Context on leadership elimination and detention scale.
The masses did not rise (The Hindustan Times, 8 December 1965)
The Hindustan Times, 8 Dec 1965, Dennis Bloodworth (Singapore), 'PKI Debacle I: The Masses Did Not Rise': analysis of why the PKI collapsed after the 1 Oct coup: overrated membership, reliance on Sukarno and on army and air force penetration, no general strike, SOBSI dissolving. It reports Untung's alleged claim that m
Army plans to kill P.K.I. for ever (The Scotsman, 8 December 1965)
The Scotsman, 8 Dec 1965, Dennis Bloodworth, 'Army plans to kill PKI for ever': Suharto and Nasution press to destroy the PKI while Sukarno refuses to ban it; the article analyses the PKI's miscalculations. It repeats the slander that six generals were mutilated by 'doe-eyed girls' of the PKI's 'Gerwani' women's moveme
Straits Times, 8 Dec 1965: almost overlords yesterday, almost outlaws today (Dennis Bloodworth)
Straits Times, 8 Dec 1965, by Dennis Bloodworth (lead only). Analysis of how Indonesian Communists, implicated in the 'ruthless but abortive' 1 October coup, miscalculated their moment, strength and strategy, and the army's savage determination. Matched on Gerwani and PKI; lead does not name Gerwani.
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
Evening Post (Wellington), 10 Dec 1965, commentary on the Indonesian Communists after the 30 September coup. It repeats the Lubang Buaya atrocity claim that six generals were 'horribly mutilated by doe-eyed girls' of the PKI's 'Gerwani' women's movement and thrown into a well, with Communist youth dancing at Halim; als
Sukarno the Key to Any Revolution in Indonesia (Evening Post, 10 December 1965), headline clipping
Headline-only clipping 'Sukarno the Key to Any Revolution in Indonesia' from the Evening Post of 10 Dec 1965; no further text. The full article repeats the Gerwani Lubang Buaya claim.