CIA report, 6 April 1950: Ho Chi Minh's Indonesian agents
CIA report, 6 April 1950, claiming Aidit and Trimurti visited Ho Chi Minh and would return as his 'agents' to build a people's army in Indonesia. Almost certainly unreliable but links future Gerwis founder S.K. Trimurti to alleged transnational conspiracy.
CIA report, 30 April 1951: Women communists in Indonesia
CIA report, 30 April 1951, on 'Women Communists in Indonesia': Chinese and Indonesian women's links, the Stockholm peace appeal, and Gerwis chair 'Sri Mangunsarkoro' protesting France's ban on the WIDF. Early foreign surveillance of Gerwis's WIDF ties.
FBIS, 17 September 1951: Women's leader arrested (S.K. Trimurti)
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
WIDF Bulletin no. 5/1952 'The Women of Indonesia': a WIDF-sympathetic account of postwar Indonesia in 1952, covering militarised budgets, unemployment, hunger, maternal and infant mortality, the Round Table legacy and US agreements. It says women formed committees for 8 March and Children's Day and that local GERWIS br
FBIS, 6 April 1952: Delegates to Vienna (Gerwis)
One-line FBIS item (6 Apr 1952): the Movement of Awakened Indonesian Women (Gerwis) will send delegates to the International Conference for the Defense of Children in Vienna, 12-16 April. Evidence of Gerwis's international children's and WIDF-circle activity.
FBIS, 17 May 1952: Conference appeal receives responses (Asia-Pacific Peace Conference)
FBIS-monitored Xinhua report (17 May 1952) on responses from 20 countries to the call for an Asia-Pacific Peace Conference in Peking. The Indonesian section lists 11 sponsors chosen in April, including Suwarti, member of Parliament and president of Gerwis, plus Setiadi, Tjoa Sik Ien, Dharta (Lekra), Djawoto (Antara), S
Daily Worker, 27 May 1952: 20 nations pick delegates for Asia peace parley
Page 4 of the Daily Worker (New York, 27 May 1952) with a roundup of 20 countries naming delegates for the Asian Peace Conference preparatory meeting in Peking. The Indonesian list includes a member of Parliament named as president of the Indonesian Women's Movement ('Olpuwarti' in garbled OCR), alongside SOBSI, Lekra-
Analysis of Communist Propaganda in Indonesia (OIR 5714.7, 1952)
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,
FBIS, 3 June 1952: Children's Day statement (Gerwis-sponsored committee)
Brief FBIS item (3 Jun 1952): the committee for observing International Children's Day, formed under the auspices of Gerwis (Gerakan Wanita Indonesia Sedar), issued a statement appealing for attention to children's future worldwide and in Indonesia, warning that war such as in Korea endangers children's physical and me
FBIS, 3 June 1952: Details of meeting - preparatory meeting for the Asian and Pacific Peace Conference, Peking
FBIS-monitored Xinhua report (3 Jun 1952) on the opening of the preparatory meeting for the Asia-Pacific Peace Conference, Peking: 49 delegates from 19 countries. The Indonesian delegation is Suwarti (Gerwis president), Suroso and Surjonegoro; Suwarti is on the presidium and the manifesto drafting commission, and Indon
FBIS, 6 June 1952: Indonesian peace movements (Suwarti and Surjonegoro interview)
FBIS-monitored Chinese Home Service excerpts (6 Jun 1952): press interview with Indonesian delegates Suwarti and Surjonegoro in Peking. They described Indonesian livelihood under foreign capital, the land question, US aid and the rubber embargo (prices down about 70%), and said over 600,000 Indonesians signed a request
CIA report, 6 July 1953: Assignment of Gerwis commissars, West Java
CIA report, 6 July 1953, on Gerwis commissars assigned to West Java areas (Djatinegara, Bogor, Sukabumi, Cianjur, Bandung), with background on Kartinah and Kartowijono and their ties to Perwari, peace and WIDF activity. Names regional Gerwis leaders.
CIA report, 23 February 1953: Meeting of the sub-section committees, PKI Surabaya
CIA report, 23 February 1953, on a PKI Surabaya sub-section committees' meeting (Dec 1952) with directives on discipline, cadres and election preparation, including 'more support' for Gerwis. Shows Gerwis treated as a PKI-supported front.
US State Dept. report IR-6165, January 1953: Communism in the Free World - Indonesia section on Gerwis
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
FBIS, 4 May 1953: Women's delegation (to the Copenhagen congress)
FBIS item (4 May 1953): first group of Indonesia's delegation to the International Women's Congress in Copenhagen (from 5 June) left Jakarta by ship on 4 May: a SARBUPRI central committee woman (name garbled, Suranto), Maasje Siwi and Kartinah, both of Gerwis. Records named Gerwis delegates to the WIDF congress.
CIA information report, 6 November 1953: Financial problems of communist front organizations
CIA information report, 6 Nov 1953: 'Financial Problems of Communist Front Organizations' (Indonesia). Reports that the World Peace Committee sought Rp 50,000 from a Chinese organisation and that GERWIS has not paid its monthly Rp 2,500 to SOBSI since January 1953 and has also asked for aid. One page; a single paragrap
Soviet Woman, 31 Dec 1953: 'We Are Stronger Than Ever', WIDF and the Copenhagen Congress
Soviet Woman, 31 Dec 1953, pp. 49-52: WIDF declaration for peaceful settlement and Eugenie Cotton's statement, then Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier's 'We are stronger than ever' on follow-up to the Copenhagen World Congress of Women. One sentence notes the Indonesian women's union GERWIS would hold its congress in Dece
CIA report, 6 May 1954: Financial preparations for the Gerwis congress, March 1954
CIA report, 6 May 1954: Trimurti and Dr Thung Sin Nio collecting funds to finance the Gerwis (now Gerwani) congress in Jakarta, 25-31 March 1954, including from Chinese-Indonesian donors. Evidence on congress financing and cross-community support.
WIDF pamphlet 'I Want To Live' (Berlin, May 1954) campaigning to ban atomic weapons after the March 1954 Bikini H-bomb test, with Hiroshima testimonies, the Stockholm Appeal and WIDF appeals. Page 25 cites a resolution of 1 April 1954 in Jakarta by the National Congress of the 'Indonesian Women's Democratic Organisatio
Short 1954 WIDF note 'Dutch-Indonesian Solidarity': Dutch women's movement raised funds for a delegate to attend the Gerwis national congress (March 25) and sold soap 'For peace and friendship between Indonesian and Dutch women'. Mrs. Umi of Gerwis's executive says the campaign strengthened solidarity and showed Dutch
Indonesia: Miss Darmini of Gerwis (WIDF, 1954)
WIDF 1954 profile of Miss Darmini of GERWIS, reporting to a WIDF meeting. Membership rose from 6,000 at the 1951 first congress to 37,000 by 1953 and about 600,000 prior to the March 1954 second congress (as printed); the Union of Railway Workers' Wives affiliated. She describes campaigns on women's rights, maternity l
Indonesian and Dutch delegates meet at WIDF Executive, Geneva (1954)
Caption (1954) from WIDF's magazine: Indonesian and Dutch delegates met at the Geneva WIDF Executive Committee. Mrs. Rie Lips of the Dutch women's movement was invited to the congress of GERWIS, described as the national organisation in Indonesia with 80,000 members.
FBIS, 11 March 1954: Soviets to attend 'Gerwis' congress
FBIS-monitored Jakarta radio item (11 Mar 1954): two delegates of the Soviet Anti-Fascist Women's Committee will attend the Second Gerwis Congress in Jakarta, 24-31 March, at the invitation of the Gerwis central committee; delegates from other Eastern-bloc countries will also attend. Evidence of Gerwis's socialist-bloc
FBIS, 12 March 1954: Women's congress (Gerwis invitations)
FBIS item (12 Mar 1954): the Gerwis congress committee invited women's organisations in Britain, the Netherlands, the USSR, India, China and Australia to the congress due 24-31 March; the People's Republic of China reportedly said it could not send a delegation.
We need their friendship: 80 million Indonesians
Tribune (Sydney), 12 May 1954, p. 11: Allison Dickie, Union of Australian Women delegate, reports on the 1954 Indonesian women's congress. She describes Gerwis, the league of women 'more politically awake', whose work helped hundreds of thousands become literate and from which Gerwani developed; the six-day Gerwani Nat
We need their friendship: 80 million Indonesians
Tribune (Sydney), 12 May 1954, p. 11: Allison Dickie, Union of Australian Women delegate, reports on the 1954 Indonesian women's congress. She describes Gerwis, the league of women 'more politically awake', whose work helped hundreds of thousands become literate and from which Gerwani developed; the six-day Gerwani Nat
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
Geeta Mukherjee, 'About the Movement of Indonesian Women' (WIDF Circular Attachment, 21 April 1958)
Report by Indian MP Geeta Mukherjee on Gerwani, attached to a WIDF circular of 21 April 1958, based on talks with her neighbour Suwarti Bintang Suradi, WIDF Secretariat member and Gerwani organisation chair. It covers Gerwis's 1950 origin and renaming, the Third Congress, membership growth (to 460,000 by August 1957),
Birth and Growth of the Indonesian Women's Movement, Part III (Sulami, 1959)
Part III of Sulami's 1959 history: KOWANI conflicts and 1948 Solo congress, founding of Gerwis at Semarang (4 June 1950), its 1954 renaming as Gerwani, structure with six commissions, membership growth (6,000 Java 1951; 642,460 in January 1957; 700,000 at the Third Congress, Solo, Dec 1957), 1955 election results (5 MP
Biographic Data on Members of the Gotong Royong Parliament (US Embassy despatch, July 1960)
US State Department Central Files despatch from Embassy Djakarta (July 1960, chargé Rolland Buchner): biographic data, with alphabetical index, on about 110 former members of parliament appointed to the Gotong Royong parliament, grouped by party. Biographies of women MPs include Gerwani figures. Mrs Mudigdio (Gerwis/Ge