Straits Times, 25 Mar 1963: Java Reds in protest march (Purwokerto)
Straits Times, 25 Mar 1963 (lead only). 1,500 Communists demonstrated in Purwokerto, Central Java, against the high cost of living (Antara), involving PKI members and affiliates including Pemuda Rakyat; Gerwani likely among the affiliates though the lead is cut.
Poetry book banned (PKI member's book banned in the Federation), Berita Harian, 24 May 1963
Berita Harian (Singapore/Malaya), 24 May 1963: Kuala Lumpur report that the Federation government has banned 'Puisi Progresif Indonesia', a book written and translated by a PKI member, 'Bintang S...' (snippet cut off). The sweep guesses the author is Bintang Suradi, possibly the husband of Gerwani member Suwarti Bintan
Communists in Indonesia: isolated position despite five million followers
Algemeen Handelsblad analysis by a contributor (1963-06-01) on the PKI's isolated position despite about five million followers. It credits the PKI with 1 million members plus 1.5 million in 'the communist women's organisation Gerwani', and discusses food prices, the lifting of the state of siege, SOKSI's rise and West
Secretary of Aidit drowns (Bintang Suradi), The Straits Times, 26 June 1963
Straits Times item of 26 June 1963 reporting that Bintang Suradi, 40, private secretary to PKI chairman D.N. Aidit, drowned off Java's south coast the previous Saturday, per Antara. Only the lead snippet was available. Relevant as the death of the husband of Gerwani figure Suwarti Bintang Suradi (the husband link comes
Tribune (Sydney) p. 2: the Communist Party of Australia sends condolences to the PKI on the death of Bintang Suradi, a PKI Central Committee figure and private secretary to D.N. Aidit, who died on 22 June 1963 in a swimming accident while touring Indonesia with CPA's E. Bacon, aged 40. His wife Suwarti (Suwarti Bintang
Tribune (Sydney) p. 2: the Communist Party of Australia sends condolences to the PKI on the death of Bintang Suradi, a PKI Central Committee figure and private secretary to D.N. Aidit, who died on 22 June 1963 in a swimming accident while touring Indonesia with CPA's E. Bacon, aged 40. His wife Suwarti (Suwarti Bintang
Peking Review no. 29, 19 July 1963: Parjani Pradono (Gerwani) criticises WIDF at Peking women's meeting
Peking Review Vol. VI No. 29, 19 July 1963, a Chinese weekly. The item of interest is 'Peking Acclaims Women Delegates From Asia, Africa and Latin America' (p. 17): at a Peking meeting after the Moscow World Congress of Women, Mme Parjani Pradono, Central Committee member of the Indonesian women's movement (Gerwani) an
Gone to the farmer: communists in the Indonesian countryside
Friese Koerier travel/feature piece (12 Mar 1964, p.11) on how Indonesian communists won rural support via relief after Darul Islam raids, farming advice, theatre, wayang and badminton. It states the communists founded nominally non-communist organisations: BTI, Gerwani ('the Indonesian women's movement') and Pemuda Ra
Berita Harian, 5 Aug 1964: Gerwani wants USIS offices closed
Berita Harian, 5 Aug 1964 (Reuters, lead only). Gerwani, a left-wing Indonesian women's movement, cabled President Sukarno demanding the government close the US Information Service (USIS) offices and send home Peace Corps volunteers, as reported by the PKI paper Harian Rakyat.
Peking Review no. 41, 9 October 1964: National Day guests including Suharti of 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
Flourish, Flourish, Flourish PKI: Sukarno's Speech, 23 May 1965
PKI-press (Jajasan Pembaruan) pamphlet of Sukarno's speech at the 45th anniversary rally of the PKI (23 May 1965), prefaced by a list of his earlier public endorsements of the party. Context for Sukarno–PKI alignment shortly before 1965.
Pravda, 1 Aug 1965: PKI delegation in the Soviet Union
Pravda, 1 August 1965 (No. 213), pp. 1-2: TASS communique on the 7-31 July 1965 visit of a PKI delegation led by D.N. Aidit to the USSR, with talks with Brezhnev and Suslov, plus a notice of its departure. Umi Sardjono (Gerwani's leader) is listed as candidate member of the PKI Central Committee in the delegation. Gerw
Pravda, 1965: PKI delegation in the USSR, July 1965 (excerpt)
Pravda no. 213, 1965 (excerpt; issue likely 1 August). Official communique on a PKI delegation's stay in the USSR, 7-31 July 1965: Aidit (head), Karel Supit, Ruslan Kamaluddin, Nungtjik A.R., candidate CC member Umi Sardjono, and an Aliarcham Academy representative; visits to Uzbekistan and Moscow, talks with Brezhnev'
Pravda, 7 Oct 1965: events in Indonesia, demands to ban Gerwani
Pravda no. 280, 7 October 1965 (full issue). Page 3 TASS item 'On the events in Indonesia' (Jakarta, 6 Oct): Nahdlatul Ulama and other groups, via Angkatan Bersendjata, demand Sukarno ban the PKI, Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani, SOBSI; mass arrests of Communists; Sukarno urges calm ('saving the revolution is more important tha
Pravda, 7 Oct 1965: events in Indonesia, demands to ban Gerwani (excerpt)
Pravda no. 280, 7 October 1965 (excerpt of the page). Page 3 TASS item 'On the events in Indonesia' (Jakarta, 6 Oct): Nahdlatul Ulama and other groups, via Angkatan Bersendjata, demand Sukarno ban the PKI, Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani, SOBSI; mass arrests of Communists; Sukarno urges calm ('saving the revolution is more impo
Pravda, c. 27 Oct 1965: The Situation in Indonesia
Pravda, c. 27 October 1965 (No. 300), 'The Situation in Indonesia': two short TASS dispatches from Jakarta dated 26 October. They report Sukarno and Subandrio on the 30 September Movement and ongoing repression of the PKI. Gerwani is mentioned once, among organisations banned by military authorities in North Sulawesi a
Pravda, 1965: bans on the PKI and Gerwani in the regions (excerpt)
Pravda no. 300, 1965 (excerpt; TASS dispatch dated Jakarta, 26 Oct). Reports Sukarno ordering police and army to fire on those destroying Communist property, and military bans on the PKI, SOBSI and BTI in East Java and East Sulawesi; in North Sulawesi the ban also covers Gerwani. Rest is unrelated (OAU, Rhodesia, econo
Pravda, 23 Nov 1965: the situation in Indonesia, mass arrests
Pravda no. 327, 23 November 1965 (full issue). Page 1 TASS item 'The situation in Indonesia' (Jakarta, 22 Nov): arrests of 1,600 in South Kalimantan; in Central Java 1,630 (Wonogiri), 820 (Sragen), 711 (Boyolali), over 2,200 (Klaten), said by ANTARA to be members of PKI, Gerwani, Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, Partindo; Subandrio
Pravda, 23 Nov 1965: the situation in Indonesia, mass arrests (excerpt)
Pravda no. 327, 23 November 1965 (excerpt of the page). Page 1 TASS item 'The situation in Indonesia' (Jakarta, 22 Nov): arrests of 1,600 in South Kalimantan; in Central Java 1,630 (Wonogiri), 820 (Sragen), 711 (Boyolali), over 2,200 (Klaten), said by ANTARA to be members of PKI, Gerwani, Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, Partindo;
CIA, The Indonesian Situation, report 61, 14 November 1965
CIA 'Indonesian Situation' report no. 61, 14 November 1965: continuing anti-communist action and mass killings, Aidit's presumed whereabouts, and 1,000 women demonstrating in Jakarta for permanent dissolution of the PKI women's auxiliary. Records an early anti-Gerwani mobilisation.
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
Communists against the 'Murba party'
Short ANP wire item in Amigoe di Curaçao, 20 May 1965: Gerwani urges President Sukarno to ban the Murba party for good, calling it 'anti-Sukarno, anti-communist and anti-Nasakom'. Murba had been provisionally banned in January 1965. Shows Gerwani as a PKI-aligned political voice in the Nasakom polarisation.
Peng Zhen's Speech at the Aliarcham Academy, Indonesia (PKI 45th Anniversary), 25 May 1965
Full text of Peng Zhen's speech at the PKI's Aliarcham Academy of Social Sciences, 25 May 1965, during the PKI 45th anniversary celebrations. Peng Zhen argues Asia, Africa and Latin America hold the principal contradiction against US imperialism, that US imperialism can be defeated, and attacks Khrushchev and his succe
Telegram 509, US Consulate Medan, June 1965
US Consulate Medan telegram 509, 7-8 June 1965: the military used Dwikora authority to overrule the governor over banning the newspaper Tjahaja, called a clear Army win. Pre-coup Army-PKI rivalry in North Sumatra; no Gerwani content.
Scinteia, 18 Jul 1965: PKI delegation arrives for 4th Congress of the Romanian Workers' Party
Scinteia (Bucharest), 18 Jul 1965, p. 1: report on arrival of the PKI delegation for the 4th Congress of the Romanian Workers' Party. Delegation: D.N. Aidit (head), Karel Supit, Umi Sardjono (PKI CC alternate member, Gerwani chair) and Anwar Dharma of Harian Rakjat; met by Ceausescu. Setiati Surasto, named in the metad
Protest in Jakarta against high prices
Short ANP item in Het Vrije Volk (23 Sep 1965, p.9), one week before the coup attempt: thousands of Indonesian women demonstrated at the Ministry of Trade in Jakarta against rising prices of necessities, as reported by PKI paper Harian Rakjat. They demanded strong action against capitalists, bureaucrats, swindlers and
Short and small (women's price demonstration)
'Kort en klein' column, Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (23 Sep 1965). One Indonesia item: thousands of women demonstrated before the trade ministry against high prices, per PKI paper Harian Rakjat, urging action against capitalists and bureaucrats. Organisers not named, Gerwani not mentioned. Other items unrelated.
Short and small (women's price demonstration, duplicate)
'Kort en klein' column, Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (23 Sep 1965), duplicate of the previous item. Thousands of women demonstrated before the trade ministry against high prices, per Harian Rakjat, urging action against capitalists and bureaucrats. Organisers not named, Gerwani not mentioned.
FRUS 1964-68 vol. XXVI, doc. 149: Intelligence memorandum, The Upheaval in Indonesia (6 October 1965)
FRUS 1964-68 vol. XXVI, doc. 149: CIA/OCI Intelligence Memorandum 'The Upheaval in Indonesia' (6 Oct 1965). Describes the 30 September Movement, Suharto's takeover and Sukarno's manoeuvres, and says GERWANI (the 'Communist women's front group') was reportedly involved. Quotes Suharto's 4 Oct statement that an area near
Berita Yudha, 7 October 1965
Berita Yudha, 7 Oktober 1965. Week after 30 September: Pemuda Rakyat members captured in Krukut allegedly took part in the Lubang Buaya killings; Sukarno's Bogor cabinet session condemns the killings; Gerwani mentioned on p. 2.