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.
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.
Suara Merdeka, 27 October 1965, p. 2: Gerwani Semarang chair Soetjiran says her house was attacked
Suara Merdeka (Semarang), 27 Oktober 1965, hlm. 2. Two key items: at a Kodim 0733 Semarang meeting a freezing decree was read; Soetjiran, chair of Gerwani Semarang, said her house was attacked, members panicked and Gerwani Semarang 'knew nothing' of the events.
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
Angkatan Bersendjata, 11 March 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 11 Mar 1966 (Supersemar day). Regional column reports Pasaman husbands divorcing wives who are Gerwani, and release of 37 ex-detainees in Pati including six ex-Gerwani; PGRI petition to dissolve the PKI.
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.
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.
Harian Kami, 27 October 1967: Pemuda Pancasila wall newspapers protest detainee releases
Harian Kami, 27 Oktober 1967. Antara brief from Pangkalpinang: wall newspapers by Pemuda Pancasila protest the release of category C detainees with slogans 'Ganyang PKI' and 'Ganyang Gerwani'; police did not intervene.
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.
Angkatan Bersendjata, 24 February 1968
Angkatan Bersendjata, 24 Februari 1968. Padang report: Kodim 0306 orders monthly head-shaving of all Gestapu/PKI category A, B and C members (at least 7,000) 'to foster awareness', 'except Gerwani members'.
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
Indonesia and the Wertheim Committee: Nijmegen congress and Dutch aid to Suharto
Long De Tijd opinion piece by Arie Kuiper (24 Apr 1969) on the Nijmegen student congress and the Wertheim Indonesia Committee's call to halt Dutch aid to Suharto's regime. It acknowledges hundreds of thousands killed and many political prisoners but blames Muslim hatred and defends Suharto; it repeats that generals wer
Angkatan Bersendjata, 8 May 1969
Angkatan Bersendjata, 8 Mei 1969. Antara: a military court in Tanjungkarang sentenced warrant officer Fauzi Totong, Natar (Lampung) officer, to seven years for rape and adultery against detained Gerwani women; evidence of sexual violence against detainees.
Indonesian Girl's Ordeal: Victim of 'Classic Conspiracy Case' (Canberra Times, 2 January 1971)
Canberra Times, 2 Jan 1971, p. 8 (Hugh Mabbett): reports the Sum Kuning case in Yogyakarta, where a 17-year-old egg seller was raped, then tortured by police and charged with a false report. Police tried to tar her with an accusation that in 1965, aged about 12, she was a Gerwani member; the court exposed the fabricati
Indonesian Girl's Ordeal: Victim of 'Classic Conspiracy Case' (Canberra Times, 2 January 1971), duplicate
Canberra Times, 2 Jan 1971, p. 8 (Hugh Mabbett): reports the Sum Kuning case in Yogyakarta, where a 17-year-old egg seller was raped, then tortured by police and charged with a false report. Police tried to tar her with an accusation that in 1965, aged about 12, she was a Gerwani member; the court exposed the fabricati
FCO 24/1701: Political Detainees in Indonesia (1973)
UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office file FCO 24/1701 (1973), a TNA volume on political detainees in Indonesia. It holds briefing notes, minutes and parliamentary questions on the 1973 State Visit, the Budiardjo case and Amnesty International's campaign, plus a bound copy of Amnesty's 1973 'Indonesia Special'. In that re
FCO 15/1941: Political Detainees in Indonesia (1974-75)
British Foreign and Commonwealth Office file FCO 15/1941 (1974-75), 'Political detainees in Indonesia': ministerial letters on the National Peace Council and TAPOL campaigns, Research Department notes on Carmel Budiardjo, UN human-rights briefing, ICRC/Buru material and TAPOL Bulletin extracts. Gerwani features in the