English typescript prison memoir by Sudjinah, Gerwani translator and journalist (c. 2000): courier in 1945-49, WIDF secretariat in Berlin, Gerwani HQ in 1965, capture in 1967, torture and detention at Bukit Duri and Tangerang. Key Gerwani survivor memoir.
Western Mail (Perth), 18 Aug 1949, reprint of Denis Warner's article presenting the Feb 1948 Calcutta youth conference as a Moscow-directed 'blueprint' for Asian revolution. Indonesian delegate Francisca Fanggidaej is listed among the 'guests'; Warner says there is little to show 'his' politics and doubts Indonesian in
Kalgoorlie Miner wire report (Batavia, 6 November 1949, p. 5). South Celebes police are searching for Mrs Salawati Danoed (Salawati Daud), a woman municipal councillor of Makassar, believed involved in the kidnapping and murder of Dutch tobacco employee T.H. Pluyter, taken in a municipal council car; six arrests made.
Kalgoorlie Miner wire report (Batavia, 6 November 1949, p. 5). South Celebes police are searching for Mrs Salawati Danoed (Salawati Daud), a woman municipal councillor of Makassar, believed involved in the kidnapping and murder of Dutch tobacco employee T.H. Pluyter, taken in a municipal council car; six arrests made.
FBIS item (26 Oct 1950): political parties and organisations in Makassar, sponsors of the Good Services Committee on the South Celebes guerrilla issue, protested the army's arrest of Mrs Salawati (since 21 Oct) while she tried to contact guerrilla leaders; protest backed by delegates from 29 parties and organisations.
One-paragraph FBIS item (30 Oct 1950, citing ANTARA): Mrs Salawati Daud was released from prison on 29 Oct after ten days' confinement and at once called on the Interdepartmental Commission still in Makassar, which was to tour and then go to Menado on 4 Nov. Follows her arrest of 21 Oct.
FBIS item (17 Sep 1951): Mrs S.K. Trimurti, chairman of the Executive Committee of Gerwis (Indonesian Women's Movement), was arrested on 16 Sept on the Attorney General's orders while applying at the Jakarta Immigration Office for a passport to visit China for the 1 October anniversary celebrations of the PRC. Key reco
OSS/State Department report OIR 5714.7 (30 May 1952) analysing PKI propaganda: party structure, front organisations, relations with international communism and themes. Names Gerwis under Mrs Mudigdo as the communist vehicle competing with Kowani for women, and BTI under S. Sardjono; appendices cover publishing, films,
US State Department Office of Intelligence Research report IR-6165, 'Communism in the Free World' (January 1953), a compilation of about 30 country studies of communist capabilities, held in the CIA reading room. The Indonesia study (IR-6165.3) covers PKI aims and tactics, labour, and front organisations. Section VI.A
Full 20-page issue of the Kankakee Daily Journal (Illinois), 12 March 1956. Front-page AP/UP report on US Secretary of State Dulles's visit to Jakarta (talks with Sukarno) says police arrested a woman named Sansia, who said she was a member of Gerwani, 'a leftist women's organization founded in 1954', over a banner pro
Toowoomba Chronicle, 13 Mar 1956, p. 3 (AAP-Reuters): US Secretary of State Dulles visits Jakarta after the SEATO conference; demonstrators shout 'Abolish SEATO' and 'We want peace, not war'. A young girl arrested for throwing a pamphlet says she is a Gerwani member; Gerwani had earlier protested the visit.
Toowoomba Chronicle, 13 Mar 1956, p. 3 (AAP-Reuters): US Secretary of State Dulles visits Jakarta after the SEATO conference; demonstrators shout 'Abolish SEATO' and 'We want peace, not war'. A young girl arrested for throwing a pamphlet says she is a Gerwani member; Gerwani had earlier protested the visit.
1957 'Letter to an Unknown Friend' by Sudjinah (Gerwani) on Indonesian children's conditions, framed by colonial history, Japanese occupation and the Round Table agreement. Gives statistics (15-20% infant mortality, one doctor per 59,000, illiteracy 65%, 5 of 12 million children in school) and notes Gerwani, with the I
CIA compilation of reference data (February 1957, data to 1 October 1956) on international communist-front organisations and friendship societies, including the Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF). The WIDF directory lists headquarters, publications, executive officers and national affiliates. Under Indo
FBIS Daily Report (6 May 1958), HathiTrust scan p.430: Xinhua report that Indonesian mass organisations endorsed Premier Djuanda's denunciation of US intervention (PRRI crisis). Gerwani sent a message to the UN Secretary-General strongly protesting American intervention and urging the UN to warn the US and expel the Ch
1958 WIDF note: Indonesian women write that the country faces rebellion backed by SEATO and the US (the PRRI/Permesta crisis), and that women join the struggle shoulder to shoulder with men. Gerwani sets up public kitchens, collects food and magazines for the front, runs first aid; in rebel-held West Sumatra its leader
FBIS-monitored Xinhua report (5 May 1958), a noisier excerpt of the same item as GA-02461: Indonesian mass organisations endorsed Premier Djuanda's denunciation of US intervention; the Peasants' Front claimed 3.5 million members; Gerwani sent a strong protest to the UN Secretary-General and demanded expulsion of the Ch
CIA/US government study (September 1958) surveying the activities of the international Communist fronts (World Peace Council, Afro-Asian Solidarity Council, WFDY/IUS, WIDF, WFTU and others) in 1958. Chapter IV covers WIDF's Fourth Congress (Vienna, 1-5 June 1958) and secretariat. Gerwani appears only briefly: Suharti (
Evening Post (Wellington), 3 April 1959, UPI report 'Hula Hoops Improper': the Indonesian Women's Movement (probably Gerwani, though not named) urged the government to ban hula hoops as inconsistent with Eastern ethics and harmful to mental health, as Surabaya military authorities warned hooping children about decency.
Headline-only clipping ('Hula Hoops Improper') of the Evening Post article of 3 April 1959 on the Indonesian Women's Movement's call for a hula hoop ban; no further text.
Article-body clipping from the Evening Post, 3 April 1959: the Indonesian Women's Movement urged Indonesia's government to ban hula hoops as contrary to Eastern ethics and harmful to mental health, as reported by UPI from Jakarta, alongside a Surabaya military warning on decency.
US Monthly Indonesian Press Survey (1959-60) extracts. A review of the new monthly Api Kartini, published by Yayasan Melati and headed by Maasje Siwi, lists its editors (S. Asijah, Darmini, Parjani Pradono, S.K. Trimurti, Rukiah Kertapati and others). Parliamentary notes list Umi Sardjono (functional group for women) a
1961 short story 'The dawn is breaking' by Sulami, 'our Indonesian correspondent', in Women of the Whole World. Peasant woman Sarinah, active in the peasant organisation, explains the new Agrarian Act and land reform to village women, including women's right to own land and head households; landlords pay the government
FBIS Daily Report (26 Jul 1962), HathiTrust scan pp.235-236: North Vietnam section carrying a Korean message of solidarity, a Moscow resolution on the Geneva anniversary, and VNA's 25 July item that Gerwani and the Union of Australian Women sent messages to the Vietnam Women's Union. Gerwani protests US aggression and
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
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
FBIS-monitored Xinhua item (4 Jun 1963): the National Women's Federation of China received a letter from the Central Council of the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani) condemning the May 1963 anti-Chinese 'racist counterrevolutionary' riots, blaming ex-Masjumi, PSI and other elements with foreign subversive agents ai
Peking Review no. 27 (5 July 1963), Chinese state weekly, reporting the WIDF World Congress of Women in Moscow (June 1963). It covers the Chinese delegation's votes against the WIDF programme and Appeal, its statements, and the clash with the Indian delegate and chair over the Sino-Indian border. Umi Sardjono, head of
CIA Bi-Weekly Propaganda Guidance, 15 July 1963, on the Sino-Soviet clash at the WIDF Moscow World Congress of Women (June 1963). It quotes the Indonesian press of 9 July, per NCNA, carrying a statement by Maasje Siwi, general secretary of GERWANI, condemning the undemocratic handling of the congress and saying Gerwani
Peking Review no. 41 (9 Oct 1964), Chinese state weekly, on the 15th anniversary of the People's Republic. A list of foreign guests received by Chinese leaders (p. 7) names Mme Suharti, PKI Central Committee member and First Vice-Chairman of Gerwani, with Mme Chairul Saleh (Women's Union of the Indonesian Republic), Mm