Tossed Down by the Rising Waves (Sudjinah, Prison Memoir)
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.
FBIS-monitored VNA Domestic Service text (6 Apr 1965) on tens of thousands of Korean, Indonesian, Venezuelan, Indian and Japanese volunteers for South Vietnam. Key Indonesian item: on 4 April about 100 women volunteers led by Mrs Umi Sardjono, president of the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani), went to the DRV Emba
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 24 April 1965: Aidit and Indonesian communism - on the springboard to power
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 24 April 1965, long analytical article 'Aidit and Indonesian Communism: on the springboard to power'. It reviews the Indonesian crisis, PKI history from 1920 through Madiun 1948, Aidit's rise and biography. Gerwani appears once, as a PKI front organisation with 1.5 million members, alongside SOBSI
Berita Yudha, 27 October 1965
Berita Yudha, 27 Oktober 1965. Demonstration of about 300,000 demands the dismissal of Tjugito and Nj. Umi Sardjono from Kotrar; three Gerwani-related items of central importance.
Suara Merdeka, 27 October 1965, p. 1: Yogyakarta demands dissolution of PKI and Gerwani; Umi Sardjono
Suara Merdeka (Semarang), 27 Oktober 1965, hlm. 1. Richest page for Gerwani in this set: state of war in Central Java; 55 Yogyakarta organisations demand dissolution of the PKI and Gerwani; a demand to dismiss Umi Sardjono from the Kotrar political bureau.
Women in prison: tears at Bukit Duri (photo story, Berita Harian, 1965)
Berita Harian, 9 December 1965, p. 4: UPI photographer Kurnipi visits Bukit Duri women's prison, Jakarta (about 110 detainees), among them Gerwani leaders and MPs Salawati Daud and Umi Sardjono, plus Emi binti Madali, 20, who 'confessed' to killing General Yani, and two small children jailed with their mothers. Women p
Sinar Harapan, 20 Apr 1966: PKI cadres in West Irian; one Gerwani figure still detained
Sinar Harapan, 20 Apr 1966, p. 1: Brig. Gen. Bintoro of Kodam Cendrawasih says PKI cadres posted to West Irian were easily 'secured', 93 prisoners sent to Java, and 'only one Gerwani figure named Rukinah' remained detained.
Still three wives
Brief Amigoe di Curaçao item, 17 Sept 1966, on Sukarno's wives. It states Hartini, his 42-year-old second wife, is a 'leading member' of Gerwani, which was banned after the failed coup. Also recalls Mochtar Lubis's 1957 imprisonment for criticising the marriage. Claim of Hartini's Gerwani leadership is made without evi
Sinar Harapan, 18 Nov 1966: Gerwani leader Suwarti to be tried by South Sumatra Mahmillub
Sinar Harapan, 18 November 1966. Antara report that Suwarti, a Gerwani leader and PKI Central Committee member arrested in Palembang in May 1966 forming a shadow regional committee, will be tried by the South Sumatra Mahmillub; the first woman 'Gestapu/PKI' figure before the court.
Berita Yudha, 20 December 1966: Aidit's wife seized by the Armed Forces
Berita Yudha, 20 Desember 1966: 'Istri Aidit dibekuk ABRI'. Banner lead on the arrest on 19 Dec 1966 of D.N. Aidit's wife, a physician and daughter of Mudigdio, in Cipete Udik, living under an alias.
Vancouver Sun, 20 Dec 1966: 'Family Captured' (wife and daughter of D.N. Aidit)
Reuters item on a Vancouver Sun 'Names in the News' page (20 December 1966): the wife and daughter of D.N. Aidit, former Indonesian Communist leader, 'have been captured' in Jakarta; Mrs Aidit, a doctor, is described as chairman of the Communist women's (movement, text cut off). The wife is Sutanti Aidit, presented as
Berita Harian, 21 Dec 1966: Aidit's wife arrested
Berita Harian, 21 Dec 1966 (UPI, lead only). Reports the arrest of D.N. Aidit's wife, described as a leader of the women's wing Gerwani, who had been under intelligence watch since the coup and was a very active communist.
Eastern Sun, 21 Dec 1966: Wife of Aidit captured
Eastern Sun, 21 Dec 1966 (UPI, lead only). Aidit's wife, a leader of Indonesia's communist women's organisation, was captured; intelligence agents had watched her since the coup and described her as a dedicated Communist.
Army seizes Aidit's wife (Berita Harian, 1966)
Berita Harian, 21 December 1966, p. 1, UPI: the wife of D.N. Aidit, described as a leader of the communist women's section (Gerwani), is arrested; per the paper 'Harian Perang' she had been watched since the coup and stayed very active as a fugitive. Short item; she is not named in the text.
Harian Kami, 5 July 1967: Sudisman's lawyers and witnesses
Harian Kami, 5 Juli 1967. List of Sudisman's three defence lawyers and 22 witnesses for his Mahmillub trial includes two Gerwani leaders with underground aliases, including Sulami (alias Siti Alfiah).
Harian Kami, 1 September 1967: arrest of Nyonya Djubaedah
Harian Kami, 1 September 1967. Arrest in Jakarta on 29 Aug 1967 of Nyonya Djubaedah, wife of Nun Tjik AR, called 'cashier of Gerwani' and 'G30S/PKI ringleader', after two years in hiding; includes her biography.
Berita Yudha, 5 January 1968
Berita Yudha, 5 Januari 1968. Antara report on the arrest of lawyer Yap Thiam Hien, singling out Trees Sunito, defence counsel of Njono, as 'HSI figure and Gerwani leader' as proof of PKI front organisations' infiltration.
Arrest of Suharti Suwarto, Gerwani Deputy Chairman, and Husband Subarto (FBIS, 29 Mar 1968)
HathiTrust FBIS Daily Report extract (29 Mar 1968). It reports the arrest on 22-23 March of Mrs Suharti Suwarto, called Gerwani deputy chairman and head of the PKI women's division, and her husband Subarto, alleged to have posed as a religious teacher among Muslims. It places them in 'Operation Kalong', with about 300
Berita Yudha, 23 August 1968: The romantic PKI woman journalist
Berita Yudha, 23 Agustus 1968: 'Wartawan Wanita PKI jg romantis'. Feature on Sri Sukatno, 'ex-chair of Gerwani Jakarta', journalist and wife of a Pemuda Rakyat leader, after Operasi Trisula; sensational, romanticised gendered portrayal.
Angkatan Bersendjata, 24 August 1968
Angkatan Bersendjata, 24 Agustus 1968. Part XIII of the 'Blitar Selatan' serial tells the story of Sri Liestyowati (Lies) Sukatno, a 'PKI/Gerwani figure' and wife of a Pemuda Rakyat leader, with gendered and sensational claims about her beauty and demands in the forest.
Berita Yudha, 27 August 1968
Berita Yudha, 27 Agustus 1968. First instalment of 'Mengungkap petualangan P.K.I. Gaja Baru di Djatim' with a photo captioned 'Gerwani members of East Java hit by Operasi Trisula', naming Nj. Kartini as East Java Gerwani chair.
Mrs Hartini not under arrest
Amigoe di Curaçao, 9 Oct 1968: presidential secretary Colonel Soetikno denies that Hartini, Sukarno's second wife, has been imprisoned or recently questioned; she was last interrogated a year and a half earlier on suspicion of membership of the banned Gerwani.
Sukarno's role: an exile at home (New York Times, 27 October 1968)
New York Times, 27 Oct 1968, p.5, Terence Smith from Jakarta: Sukarno lives under house arrest at Bogor and was interrogated in Sept-Oct 1968 about clandestine contacts with former associates, after Communists captured in the Blitar operations (2,000 killed or captured, including PKI chairman Oloan Hutapea) implicated
Sukarno, founder of Indonesia
Algemeen Handelsblad obituary-profile of Sukarno (1970-06-22), covering his life, Guided Democracy, Nasakom, and the 30 September 1965 events, which it blames on palace guards and communist groups, followed by an anti-communist reaction costing 'tens of thousands' of lives. A photo caption states General Yani was murde
TAPOL Bulletin No. 3, Jan 1974: case notes on Mrs Siti Mudigdio, Member of Parliament
TAPOL Bulletin No. 3 (January 1974) of the British Campaign for the Release of Indonesian Political Prisoners, with campaign news, prison conditions and torture reports. Its 'Case Notes' profile Mrs Siti Mudigdio, a Communist MP and vice-chair of Gerwani, once also a WIDF vice-chair, whose husband was killed in 1948. O
Women, mothers (what Suharto's envoys kept silent about)
De Waarheid, 20 Sep 1975, p. 3: article asking what the Indonesian parliamentary delegation did not mention: Plantungan women's camp in Central Java (386 women), Bukit Duri and Semarang prisons, and named women prisoners: Umi Sardjono, chair of the underground Gerwani, vice-chairs Salawati Daud and Mudigdio, Maasje Siw
Recruitment and Factional Patterns of the Indonesian Political Elite (Gregory, 1976)
Ann Gregory's Columbia PhD thesis (1976) on the recruitment, career patterns and factions of the Indonesian political elite under Guided Democracy and the New Order, based on elite biographies, with chapters on military and civilian factions. It is a quantitative study of Javanese dominance and clientelism. Gerwani is
[MORE] Jan 1976: Writers in Prison (Barbara Sproul), with entry on Sudjinah
Issue of the New York media magazine [MORE] (January 1976) with Barbara Sproul's Amnesty-linked article on writers jailed by repressive regimes. Its Indonesia list describes Sudjinah as a writer who contributed short stories to Harian Rakjat and worked on the editorial staff of Api Kartini, journal of Gerwani; arrested
[MORE] Jan 1976: Writers in Prison (Barbara Sproul), with entry on Sudjinah
Issue of the New York media magazine [MORE] (January 1976) with Barbara Sproul's Amnesty-linked article on writers jailed by repressive regimes. Its Indonesia list describes Sudjinah as a writer who contributed short stories to Harian Rakjat and worked on the editorial staff of Api Kartini, journal of Gerwani; arrested
Jawa Pos, 29 November 1977: two PKI figures, Ir. Moedjani and Ny. Kartini, tried
Jawa Pos, 29 Nov 1977: Tulungagung subversion trial of Ir. Moedjani and Ny. Kartini alias Widji, 'chair of Gerwani East Java' and former Surabaya teacher, captured in the 1968 South Blitar (Trisula) operation.