Gerwani Archive
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GA-00264 1963-02-06 News-Mail rel A

Indonesia Protest at Mass Arrests (News-Mail, 6 Feb 1963)

Indonesia Protest at Mass Arrests (News-Mail, 6 February 1963), duplicate OCR

News-Mail (Bundaberg), 6 February 1963, p. 7, AAP-Reuter wire from Jakarta (duplicate OCR of GA-00265, with scrambled columns). SOBSI cabled protest to Singapore over mass arrests of leftists on 2-3 February; Partindo and Gerwani also protested. Also reports Brunei's Sultan warning against Indonesian volunteers and Gen

GA-00265 1963-02-06 News-Mail rel A

Indonesia Protest at Mass Arrests (News-Mail, 6 Feb 1963)

Indonesia Protest at Mass Arrests (News-Mail, 6 February 1963)

News-Mail (Bundaberg), 6 February 1963, p. 7, AAP-Reuter wire from Jakarta (clean OCR). The SOBSI federation, claiming three million members, cabled Singapore condemning its mass arrests of leftists as a move to quell opposition to Malaysia, and Partindo and Gerwani also protested. The Sultan of Brunei warned against a

GA-02613 1964-09 rel B licensed

Indonesia: Communist parties and internal politics (LBJ National Security Files, September 1964-February 1965)

LBJ National Security File: Indonesia, Communist Parties and Internal Politics (Sept 1964-Feb 1965)

LBJ Library National Security File, Indonesia (Sept 1964-Feb 1965): White House/State memoranda, Djakarta cables and CIA OCI reports on Sukarno's leftward drift, 'Sukarnoism' anti-PKI movement, succession, Malaysia and the USIS library crisis. Includes the CIA 'Sukarno and the Communists' report, listing Women's Front

GA-02407 1965 rel C licensed

The September 30 Affair: Background to the Coup (US Embassy Airgram A-300, Johnson Library copy)

US Embassy Airgram A-300 (Johnson Library copy): The September 30 Affair - background to the coup

Second, noisier OCR copy of the same US Embassy Djakarta airgram A-300 of 22 October 1965 (Masters), from the Johnson Library country file, 46 pages. Covers Sukarno-PKI offensive, the coup, PKI and Sukarno roles, army prospects. Gerwani is mentioned only as PKI women taunting the generals at Lubang Buaya (p.14) and as

GA-02561 1965 rel B licensed

Indonesia: Periodic Reports on Internal Political Situation (FO 371/180309, 1965)

FO 371/180309: Periodic Reports on Indonesia's Internal Political Situation (1965)

UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180309 (1965), periodic reports on Indonesia's internal political situation, mostly weekly letters from the British Embassy in Djakarta (S.J.G. Cambridge, M.J.T. McCann) to D. Tonkin, January to July 1965, with Antara and press extracts. It covers Aidit and the arming of peasants, Chairul

GA-02562 1965 rel C licensed

Indonesia: Internal Political Situation, Attempted Coup against Sukarno [3] (FO 371/180312, 1965)

FO 371/180312: Internal Political Situation, Attempted Coup against Sukarno [3] (1965)

UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180312 (1965), 'Internal political situation, Attempted coup against Sukarno [3]', a volume of Embassy letters and telegrams from Djakarta (Ambassador Gilchrist, S.J.G. Cambridge), February to April 1965. It includes Gilchrist's character notes on Subandrio, Aidit and the generals, the tak

GA-02563 1965 rel B licensed

FO 371/180317: Indonesia, Internal political situation, Attempted coup against Sukarno [8] (Oct 1965)

FO 371/180317: Attempted Coup against Sukarno [8] (2-9 Oct 1965)

UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180317 (2-9 Oct 1965): Jakarta embassy and Foreign Office telegrams on the 30 September coup, Suharto's takeover, Sukarno and Omar Dani, Soviet press silence, and a Singapore proposal for unattributable propaganda to blacken the PKI. Gerwani is named in Suharto's 4 Oct statement and a 6 Oc

GA-02564 1965 rel C licensed

Indonesia, Internal political situation: Attempted coup against Sukarno [9] (FO 371/180318, October 1965)

FO 371/180318: Attempted Coup against Sukarno [9] (Oct 1965)

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

GA-02614 1965-10 rel B licensed

LBJ National Security File: Indonesia, komunis dan politik dalam negeri, Oktober-November 1965 (Indonesia communist parties and internal politics)

LBJ National Security File: Indonesia, Communists and Internal Politics (Oct-Nov 1965)

Compilation from the LBJ National Security File (ProQuest), Oct-Nov 1965: State Department memos, CIA intelligence memoranda and Indonesia Working Group situation reports on the 30 September Movement and army counter-moves. Gerwani appears only in passing: arrests of Gerwani and Pemuda Rakyat members (6 Oct), CIA claim

GA-02615 1965-10 rel B licensed

Kabel LBJ National Security File: kudeta militer Indonesia, Oktober-November 1965 (Indonesia military coups, A-300 'The September 30 Affair')

LBJ National Security File: Indonesian Military Coups, Oct-Nov 1965 (Airgram A-300 'The September 30 Affair')

Supplement to the LBJ National Security File (cables, Oct-Nov 1965), centred on the long Djakarta embassy airgram A-300 'The September 30 Affair' plus telegrams. A-300 repeats the Lubang Buaya account that the generals were 'taunted and humiliated' by Gerwani women before being killed, and says Gerwani members were pla

GA-02381 1965-10-06 rel A

FRUS 1964-68, vol. XXVI, Doc. 149: Intelligence Memorandum, The Upheaval in Indonesia (6 October 1965)

FRUS 1964-68 vol. XXVI, doc. 149: Intelligence memorandum, The Upheaval in Indonesia (6 October 1965)

FRUS 1964-68 vol. XXVI, doc. 149: CIA/OCI Intelligence Memorandum 'The Upheaval in Indonesia' (6 Oct 1965). Describes the 30 September Movement, Suharto's takeover and Sukarno's manoeuvres, and says GERWANI (the 'Communist women's front group') was reportedly involved. Quotes Suharto's 4 Oct statement that an area near

GA-01506 1965-10-15 South China Morning Post rel A licensed

Torture Squads in Djakarta: How Indonesian Generals Died (South China Morning Post, 15 Oktober 1965)

Torture squads in Djakarta: how Indonesian generals died (South China Morning Post, 15 October 1965)

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

GA-01525 1965-10-15 The Hindustan Times rel A licensed

Jakarta women danced as generals were murdered (The Hindustan Times, 15 Oktober 1965)

Jakarta women danced as generals were murdered (The Hindustan Times, 15 October 1965)

The Hindustan Times, 15 Oct 1965: report of a police witness's account at Lubang Buaya that Communist women danced naked in a circle while six generals and a lieutenant (mistaken for Nasution) were tortured to death, with torn-out fingernails and faces mutilated. Gerwani is not named, but this is an early instance of t

GA-02406 1965-10-22 rel C licensed

The September 30 Affair: History and Interpretation of the Attempted Coup (US Embassy Airgram A-300)

US Embassy Djakarta Airgram A-300, 22 October 1965: The September 30 Affair - history and interpretation of the attempte

US Embassy Djakarta airgram A-300 (22 Oct 1965, Edward Masters), a 46-page analysis of the 30 September Movement, the PKI, Sukarno, Air Force and army prospects. Gerwani appears only twice: as members of PKI paramilitary TIK units trained at Halim, and as PKI women said to have taunted and humiliated the generals at Lu

GA-02926 1966 rel B licensed

Dossier of the Indonesian Drama (New Left Review 36)

Dossier of the Indonesian Drama (Lucien Rey, New Left Review, 1966)

Article by Lucien Rey (New Left Review no. 36, March 1966) reconstructing the 1 October 1965 events as a plot by dissident Central Java officers, plus a translated Asahi Shimbun interview with PKI deputy chair Njoto. Says People's Youth and Gerwani auxiliaries trained at Halim took part in the generals' executions in r

GA-00287 1966-04-14 The Canberra Times rel C

Night walk of the ghosts (Canberra Times, 14 April 1966)

Night Walk of the Ghosts (Canberra Times, 14 April 1966)

Canberra Times, 14 Apr 1966, p. 2: first part of an anonymous Jakarta writer's anti-PKI reconstruction of 30 Sep-1 Oct 1965, casting Aidit and Untung as plotters and describing the murder of generals, with young Communist 'gangs of youths and girls' trained in camps. Gerwani not named; story continues next day. Cold Wa

GA-00288 1966-04-15 The Canberra Times rel A

Bloody orgy at Halim air base (Canberra Times, 15 April 1966)

Bloody Orgy at Halim Air Base (Canberra Times, 15 April 1966)

Canberra Times, 15 Apr 1966, p. 10: concluding part of a 'Special Correspondent' account repeating the Lubang Buaya slander. Claims 100 Gerwani women at Halim took razor blades, tortured and mutilated the generals, citing 'Mrs Djamilah' via the Djakarta Mail (15 Nov), singing 'People's Blood'. Adds Nasution escape narr

GA-00289 1966-04-15 The Canberra Times rel A

Bloody orgy at Halim air base (Canberra Times, 15 April 1966)

Bloody Orgy at Halim Air Base (Canberra Times, 15 April 1966), duplicate

Canberra Times, 15 Apr 1966, p. 10: concluding part of a 'Special Correspondent' account repeating the Lubang Buaya slander. Claims 100 Gerwani women at Halim took razor blades, tortured and mutilated the generals, citing 'Mrs Djamilah' via the Djakarta Mail (15 Nov), singing 'People's Blood'. Adds Nasution escape narr

GA-03036 1968 rel B licensed

The Politico-Military Role of the Indonesian Armed Forces, October 1965–1968 (MA dissertation, University of Chicago)

The Politico-Military Role of the Indonesian Armed Forces, October 1965-1968 (Fox, 1968)

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

GA-00298 1971-01-13 The Canberra Times rel A

Indonesia girl admits torture (Canberra Times, 13 Januari 1971)

Indonesia Girl Admits Torture (Canberra Times, 13 January 1971)

Canberra Times, 13 Jan 1971, p. 7 (AAP-Reuter): at the trial of Sukatno, ex-chairman of the Communist youth organisation, Gerwani member Emmy Marjani, 24, now under arrest, testifies she gouged a general's eyes on 30 Sep 1965 and saw friends mutilate another, claiming she was paid one million rupiah. Repeats the Lubang

GA-00299 1971-01-13 The Canberra Times rel A

Indonesia girl admits torture (Canberra Times, 13 Januari 1971)

Indonesia Girl Admits Torture (Canberra Times, 13 January 1971), duplicate

Canberra Times, 13 Jan 1971, p. 7 (AAP-Reuter): at the trial of Sukatno, ex-chairman of the Communist youth organisation, Gerwani member Emmy Marjani, 24, now under arrest, testifies she gouged a general's eyes on 30 Sep 1965 and saw friends mutilate another, claiming she was paid one million rupiah. Repeats the Lubang

GA-03062 2020 rel A licensed

Years of Dressing Dangerously: Modern Women, National Identity and Moral Crisis in Sukarno's Indonesia, 1945-1966

Years of Dressing Dangerously: Modern Women, National Identity and Moral Crisis in Sukarno's Indonesia (Sullivan, 2020)

Charles P. Sullivan's PhD dissertation (History, University of Michigan, 2020) reads Indonesian women's magazines (Wanita, Puspa Wanita, Varia) from 1945-66 to argue that the Lubang Buaya narrative about Gerwani worked as a 'post-text' of long-running anxieties over modernity, moral crisis and the 'Mother of the Nation