Soviet Woman, 30 Nov 1954: 'Our Guests', first Indonesian women's delegation in the USSR
Soviet Woman, 30 Nov 1954, p. 36: 'Our Guests' news column on foreign women's delegations to the USSR. Opens with the first Indonesian women's delegation, headed by Mrs Sastrohusodo Andreas, welcomed at Moscow airport; an article by Mrs Supardjo is promised. Other delegations from Britain, Romania, Albania and Israel.
Djakarta postpones the evil day (The Observer, 16 January 1955)
The Observer, 16 Jan 1955, p.7, Rawle Knox, 'Djakarta Postpones the Evil Day': impressionistic report from Jakarta on a lively, disorderly capital, the Ali Sastroamidjojo government's dependence on Communist support, Sukarno's drift from impartiality, the delayed first election and anti-Dutch boycotts. A passing quote
1956 extract from a speech by Sunardi, Indonesian delegate to the World Conference of Women Workers, plus a column of international women's news. She describes low wages, foreign monopolies, plantation women workers, absence of democratic marriage law and labour protection, the unilateral abrogation of the Round Table
Moscow News, 30 May 1956: Indonesian women's delegation in Moscow
Moscow News (English), 30 May 1956, p. 5. Among general items (Afghan independence day, Anglo-Soviet and trade comment), a short piece reports a delegation of Indonesian women arriving in Moscow at the invitation of the Central Council of Trade Unions, led by Setiati Surasto, secretary of the plantation workers' union,
Communist Campaign in Indonesia (OIR report, July 1956)
State Department intelligence report (17 July 1956) on the Soviet and Chinese communist campaign in Indonesia after the 1956 visits, with a chronology of Indonesia-China exchanges. Gerwani features only in the chronology: a May 1956 Gerwani protest against US H-bomb tests, plus Indonesian delegations to the WIDF meetin
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
Soviet Relations with Indonesia, State Department Files 1960-1963
Compilation of State Department central-file items on Soviet relations with Indonesia, 1960-63 (telegrams, airgrams, despatches). One airgram (7 Dec) 'Soviets Woo Indo Women' describes the Soviet ambassador's wife hosting Indonesian women's leaders at the embassy, noting Gedung Wanita as a hub for Gerwani and Kongres W
Dilemmas of Indonesian Communism (van der Kroef, 1962)
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
Soviet Woman, 31 Mar 1962: 'Our Deeds and Dreams' (Mme Adam Malik on Indonesian women)
Soviet Woman, 31 Mar 1962, p. 29: article by Madame N. Adam Malik, wife of Indonesia's ambassador to the USSR, for International Women's Day. Outlines Indonesian women's movement history (1928 Mothers' Congress, Kartini Day), says legal equality is not yet practical equality, and pledges women's support for the West Ir
Soviet Woman, 31 Aug 1962: 'We Have Many Common Grounds', interview with Hartini Sukarno
Soviet Woman, 31 Aug 1962, p. 21: interview with Hartini Sukarno during her Moscow visit, on Soviet-Indonesian women's friendship. She says Indonesian women stand shoulder to shoulder with men in the West Irian struggle, joining military training and the Volunteer Corps, and thanks the USSR for support. Also an unrelat
World Congress of Women, Moscow, June 1963
WIDF publication on the World Congress of Women, Moscow, 24-29 June 1963 (1,543 women, 113 countries): reports, speeches, resolutions and the new WIDF council list. Gerwani is mentioned briefly: its roughly 1,000 day nurseries for working mothers are cited as a model; its role in the West Irian campaign is praised; and
Moscow News, 25 Apr 1964: 'Remote but Near' on Indonesia; Moscow commemorates Kartini
Moscow News (English), 25 April 1964, pp. 13-16 section. Includes a travelogue by a Soviet cultural-delegation member on Indonesia (new Jakarta monuments, Soviet-built stadium, 100,000 students, Lekra in Bandung) and a short item on a Moscow meeting marking Kartini's birth, run by the USSR-Indonesia Society's Women's C
The Sino-Soviet Conflict in the Fronts, Sept 1962-Dec 1963 (CIA study, 12 June 1964)
CIA Directorate of Intelligence staff study (ESAU XXV, OCI 1855/64, 12 June 1964, by Helen-Louise Hunter) on the Sino-Soviet conflict in the international front organisations, September 1962 to December 1963. It covers AAPSO at Moshi, the Djakarta journalists' and writers' conferences, and Chinese attempts to build riv
Soviet Woman, 30 Nov 1964: 'Indonesia's Independence Day' (10th Kowani Congress)
Soviet Woman, 30 Nov 1964, p. 11-12: Victor Tsoppi's 'Indonesia's Independence Day' (with a separate Algerian woman's story). Madame Manai Sofian and Soviet women, incl. Nina Orlova, report on attending the 10th Congress of Kowani (Federation of Indonesian Women's Organizations) at Jakarta's stadium, invited by Hurusti
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
FO 371/180320: Gilchrist Despatch of 8 October 1965 on the Coup and Counter-Coup
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180320 (Oct-Nov 1965): Gilchrist's despatch no. 13 of 8 Oct 1965 on the coup and counter-coup, plus telegrams, NATO and Commonwealth reports and Chinese/Soviet/Hanoi reactions. The despatch lists GERWANI among 'chief suspects' (p. 11) and says members of PKI youth and women's groups took p
FO 371/180326: Political Parties and Communism (Feb-Aug 1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180326 (Feb-Aug 1965): embassy telegrams, letters and Antara extracts on the PKI's growth before the coup: its 45th anniversary, Aidit's speeches, Mao's greeting, Sino-Soviet positions and Sukarno's leftward drift. Gerwani items: Antara of 9 June reports Sukarno addressing Gerwani, chaired
FBIS-monitored VNA report (2 Apr 1965) on volunteers in socialist and other countries offering to fight in Vietnam, citing letters from the USSR, China, DPRK, Cuba and Hungary. The final sentence says workers', peasants' and women's organisations in Indonesia called on members to enrol as volunteers and the Indonesian
Soviet Woman, 30 Apr 1965: 'Till We Meet Again', KOWANI delegation in the USSR (Nina Voronina)
Soviet Woman, 30 Apr 1965, p. 18: Nina Voronina's 'Till we meet again', on a three-week USSR tour (Moscow, Riga, Leningrad, Dushanbe) by a five-woman KOWANI delegation: Basariah Simorangkir, Sidi Moehammad (WANI), Ani Boesiri, Ratjih Natawidjaja, Mimi Soeparmi, with Hurustiati Subandrio in Moscow. Left a message in the
Soviet Woman, 30 Apr 1965: 'We Have Seen...' (Basariah Simorangkir, KOWANI delegation)
Soviet Woman, 30 Apr 1965, pp. 18-21: Basariah Simorangkir (KOWANI Presidium) 'We Have Seen...' on the January 1965 KOWANI delegation's USSR tour, after Nina Voronina's 'Till we meet again'; delegates incl. Ratjih Natawidjaja (Wanita Marhaenis) and Mimi Soeparmi. Then unrelated anti-Nazi statute-of-limitation statement
CIA Bi-Weekly Propaganda Guidance, 8 November 1965 (WFTU Congress, AAPSO, Setiati Surasto)
CIA Bi-Weekly Propaganda Guidance of 8 Nov 1965 on Communist fronts (commentary 13-26 Oct 1965, WFTU Warsaw Congress, AAPSO Havana conference, Chinese foreign policy). Setiati Surasto appears only in a list of newly elected WFTU officials (Indonesia); the document notes the WIDF 20th anniversary and Indonesian delegate
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
FCO 15/155: Indonesia, Arrests and Trials (1967-1968)
UK Foreign Office file FCO 15/155 (Feb 1967 to June 1968) of Jakarta embassy letters, press cables and an air attache's report on the Mahmilub trials of Supardjo and Omar Dani, plus a June 1968 note on a Soviet protest over PKI prisoners. Gerwani appears only in the Omar Dani report, as female youth trained at Lubang B
Daily World, 17 June 1969: Women's congress cheers plea for a free Vietnam (WIDF Helsinki congress)
Page 10 of the Daily World (New York, 17 Jun 1969) with a Beatrice Johnson report on the WIDF World Congress of Women in Helsinki. Vietnamese NLF delegate Nguyen Thi Binh appeals for US withdrawal, and the congress hears that hundreds of women are being tortured in camps and prisons in Greece, Indonesia, Spain and else
Daily World, 16 May 1975: Connecticut towns hear peace delegates (WILPF-WIDF seminar)
Page 9 of the Daily World (New York, 16 May 1975) with a Connecticut report on delegates to a WILPF-WIDF disarmament seminar. They included British woman Carmel Budiardjo, who was in Djakarta in 1965 and imprisoned for three years while her husband remained jailed after ten years; she says over a million were killed an
Ford Questioned on CIA Activity in Indonesia (FBIS, 16 Oct 1975)
FBIS item: Radio Peace and Progress (Moscow, in Indonesian, 16 Oct 1975) commentary on Ratna Sari Dewi's letter asking President Ford to explain the CIA's role in 1965. She cites hundreds of thousands killed and tens of thousands jailed without trial. A Dutch editor is quoted saying PKI, SOBSI, Gerwani and Pemuda Rakya
The WIDF: History, Main Agenda, and Contributions, 1945-1991 (de Haan, c.2012)
Overview essay by Francisca de Haan (Women and Social Movements International database, c. 2012) on WIDF's origins, agenda, UN role and Cold War marginalisation, 1945-1991. Gerwani is listed once as a large, influential WIDF member organisation (with footnotes to Wieringa and to McGregor on Indonesian women and WIDF);
Francisca de Haan's 2018 chapter proposing a 'global left-feminist 1960s' led by the WIDF network, from the 1953 Copenhagen Congress (whose declaration reached Indonesia) to the 1963 Moscow congress. Frames WIDF transnationalism relevant to Gerwani.
WIDF, the Third World and the Global Cold War (Gradskova, 2019)
Yulia Gradskova's 2019 article, from Soviet WIDF archives (GARF), on how far the WIDF's anti-colonial stance gave women from Africa, Asia and Latin America real voice in the late 1950s-mid 1960s; internal documents show a Europe- and Soviet-dominated agenda. Context for Gerwani's WIDF role.
Global Gender: the WIDF, the Global South and the Cold War (Gradskova, 2021)
Yulia Gradskova's 2021 monograph on the WIDF, the Global South and the Cold War, based on GARF, RGASPI and IISH archives: Soviet supervision, Cold War battles and relations with women from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Background on the WIDF in which Gerwani participated.