Women's delegation at the palace: uproar over Sukarno's new marriage
Leeuwarder Courant, 21 September 1954, p. 3: Dutch roundup of the uproar over Sukarno's marriage to Hartini. A four-woman delegation led by Perwari chair Mrs Kartowijono visited the palace; Indonesian, Chinese and Malayan-region papers are quoted, some warning that the fuss helps the PKI, Indonesia Raya calling it a bl
Uproar over Sukarno's marriage not yet calmed: women's delegation received by the president
Provinciale Drentsche en Asser Courant (21 Sep 1954): uproar over Sukarno's marriage to Mrs Suwondo (Hartini). A four-woman delegation led by Perwari chair Mrs Kartowijono spent an hour at the palace. Indonesian papers divide; Keng Po fears PKI advantage, Indonesia Raya calls the marriage 'a great blow to the women's m
Sukarno's second marriage: Indonesian press deplores president's decision
Provinciale Overijsselsche en Zwolsche Courant (21 Sep 1954) survey of Indonesian press reaction to Sukarno's second marriage (to Mrs Suwondo): attacks on the 'palace clique', Keng Po's fear it will favour the PKI, Suara Rakyat and Pikiran Rakyat lamenting a presidential crisis. A Perwari-led women's delegation visited
Communist crowd welcomes the president at Kemayoran airport
De Nieuwsgier report (19 Mar 1956) on Sukarno's return to Kemajoran airport, where PKI supporters, communist veterans and the "communist women's organisation Gerwani" demanded PKI inclusion in Ali Sastroamidjojo's cabinet. Sukarno urged calm; Gerwani appears only among the crowd with banners.
Harian Rakjat, 8 March 1957: Setiati Surasto on menstrual leave
Harian Rakjat issue of 8 March 1957 (International Women's Day), noisy OCR. Page 3 carries Setiati Surasto's women's-day article defending menstrual leave (cuti haid) for women workers under Labour Law 1951/1948. Elsewhere: a Gerwani branch (Blitar) reported gaining members, a Gerwani public lecture is announced, and t
Harian Rakjat, 9 March 1957: Umi Sardjono at the Women's Day exhibition
Harian Rakjat issue of 9 March 1957, very noisy OCR. Page 1 reports the International Women's Day exhibition (handicrafts, cooking, costumes, foreign stalls) in Jakarta, where Umi Sardjono (Gerwani leader) is among women leaders present alongside Fatmawati; the committee of ten women's organisations is chaired by Yahya
Sukarno, the arch-intriguer
Nieuwe Haarlemsche Courant, 6 February 1958, p. 5: long profile of Sukarno by former correspondent C.H. Schaap, calling him an 'arch-intriguer' bent on absolute power, tracing his career to the 1957 cabinet. It mentions that his October 1954 second marriage to Hartini caused general indignation among Indonesian women,
Sukarno, the master intriguer
Profile of President Sukarno in the Curaçao weekly Amigoe di Curaçao (18 Feb 1958, p. 4), portraying him as a charming but ruthless 'master intriguer' and authoritarian. It narrates his career and notes women's indignation at his 1954 marriage to Hartini despite his book Sarinah. Gerwani is not mentioned.
Sukarno, the master intriguer [duplicate]
Second copy (different Delpher ID) of the Amigoe di Curaçao profile of Sukarno, 18 Feb 1958: an unflattering account of him as authoritarian master intriguer, from 1920s nationalism to the 1957 cabinet. Mentions the general women's indignation at his marriage to Hartini despite writing Sarinah. Gerwani is not named.
Page 564 of the US State Department's Monthly Indonesian Press Survey (nos. 33-44, 1958), summarising the 25 Sept 1958 Nusantara. Suwardiningsih, PKI East Java committee and Constituent Assembly member, entered Kalisosok prison, Surabaya, on 22 Sept to serve a month (cut from six) for remarks about Hatta in 1953; thous
The Communist Party of Indonesia 1951-1961: A Decade of the Aidit Leadership (Hindley, 1961)
Donald Hindley's 1961 ANU PhD thesis on the Indonesian Communist Party under the Aidit leadership, 1951-1961, covering PKI strategy, party-building, finances, mass organisations and elections. Section 'Women' (pp. 422-448, esp. 'Gerwani', pp. 428-441) traces Gerwis from its founding on 4 June 1950 (about 500 members) t
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
LBJ National Security File: Indonesia, Communist Parties and Internal Politics (Sept 1964-Feb 1965)
LBJ Library National Security File, Indonesia (Sept 1964-Feb 1965): White House/State memoranda, Djakarta cables and CIA OCI reports on Sukarno's leftward drift, 'Sukarnoism' anti-PKI movement, succession, Malaysia and the USIS library crisis. Includes the CIA 'Sukarno and the Communists' report, listing Women's Front
FO 371/180312: Internal Political Situation, Attempted Coup against Sukarno [3] (1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180312 (1965), 'Internal political situation, Attempted coup against Sukarno [3]', a volume of Embassy letters and telegrams from Djakarta (Ambassador Gilchrist, S.J.G. Cambridge), February to April 1965. It includes Gilchrist's character notes on Subandrio, Aidit and the generals, the tak
FO 371/180322: Attempted Coup against Sukarno [13] (28 Oct-5 Nov 1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180322 (28 Oct-5 Nov 1965): Djakarta telegrams quoting Antara on the post-coup purge, Sukarno versus the generals, Medan and Central Java. Gerwani items: tel. 2418 (2 Nov, p. 52) reports a Kowani/women's congress move to expel Gerwani members; tel. 2421 (p. 57) quotes Suharto naming 'Pemud
FO 371/180324: Attempted Coup against Sukarno [15] (Nov 1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180324 (1965), 'Attempted coup against Sukarno [15]': telegrams and letters from Djakarta, Washington and Peking, November 1965, plus appended US and Canadian reports. It records Sukarno's Heroes Day speech, Adam Malik's view of the Sukarno-generals stalemate and accounts of 30 September.
FO 371/180337: Bilateral Relations with the US [3] (1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180337 (Mar-Nov 1965): telegrams and letters on US-Indonesian relations: Bunker mission, Peace Corps withdrawal, anti-American demonstrations, Ambassador Green, Palmer affair, then Anglo-American talks on aid to the generals after 1 October. No mention of Gerwani; 'women' appear only among
Evening Post (Wellington), 11 Oct 1965, AAP-Reuter/AP/NZPA report: mass arrests of Communists in Jakarta (about 1,500 detained in a week, 2,000 in Java) and fears of a Communist counter-terror. A Muslim mob ransacked a suburban Gerwani office, destroying files and furniture. Saura Islam alleges Communist women tried to
Fears of a New Surge of Red Terror in Indonesia (Evening Post, 11 October 1965), headline clipping
Headline-only clipping 'Fears of a New Surge of Red Terror in Indonesia' from the Evening Post of 11 Oct 1965; no further text.
Fears of a New Surge of Red Terror in Indonesia (Evening Post, 11 October 1965), opening clipping
Opening clipping of the Evening Post article of 11 Oct 1965: mass arrests of Communists continued in Jakarta, with fears of a retaliatory terror campaign; unofficial estimates of 1,500 detained in a week and 2,000 captured in Java. Gerwani is not mentioned in this fragment.
Fears of a New Surge of Red Terror in Indonesia (Evening Post, 11 October 1965), opening clipping (duplicate)
Opening clipping of the Evening Post article of 11 Oct 1965: mass arrests of Communists continued in Jakarta, with fears of a retaliatory terror campaign; unofficial estimates of 1,500 detained in a week and 2,000 captured in Java. Gerwani is not mentioned in this fragment.
Fears of a New Surge of Red Terror in Indonesia (Evening Post, 11 October 1965), clipping on Gerwani office raid
Clipping from the Evening Post, 11 Oct 1965: a Muslim mob ransacked a suburban Gerwani office, destroying files and burning furniture, after PKI headquarters was burned; Sukarno reportedly gave the Army 'full power'; PNI backs the Army; Saura Islam claims Communist women tried to kidnap Muslim women.
Jakarta expects Subandrio's role will soon be played out
Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (26 Oct 1965), Leffelaar from Jakarta: Subandrio's role expected to end; successors speculated. Reports Karya Bhakti's claim of a secret PKI meeting under Lukman attended by Mrs Mudigdio, Aidit's mother-in-law, and economist J. Piry. Army raids continue, Onrust island used as an internment cam
LBJ National Security File: Indonesia, Communist Parties and Internal Politics, Nov 1965-May 1966
LBJ Library National Security File, Indonesia country file (vol. VI): US Embassy Jakarta cables and withdrawal sheets, mainly December 1965 to May 1966, on the army's moves against the PKI, Sukarno's speeches, student demonstrations and Suharto's rise. Gerwani appears twice. Embtel 2077 (17 Jan 1966) reports Bogor wall
US Embassy Djakarta, Joint Sitrep No. 68, Telegram 1842 (22 December 1965)
US Embassy Djakarta telegram 1842, Joint Sitrep No. 68 (22 Dec 1965, Secret, sanitized, OCR rough). Reports Sukarno's speeches defending the PKI, including a Mother's Day gathering where he defended the PKI's women's affiliate (Gerwani), Nasution's 'basic guide' for crushing the PKI, the PNI purge, anti-Chinese violenc
Peking Review no. 18, 29 April 1966: 'white terror' in Indonesia, women and children killed
Peking Review Vol. 9 No. 18, 29 April 1966, a Chinese weekly. Besides Cultural Revolution and Afro-Asian Journalists' Association material, it carries Chinese protests against Indonesian anti-China outrages and a Renmin Ribao commentary, 'Right-Wing Reactionaries Plunge Indonesia into a Bloodbath' (p. 25), quoting New
After 12 Years Freedom (Post-Courier, 19 January 1978)
Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, 19 January 1978, p. 5, feature by George Oliver on the release of 10,000 political prisoners held since the 1965 coup, with PKI members forced to swear loyalty. It describes the Category A, B, C system, the 1965-66 massacres (estimates up to half a million killed), Amnesty International's
After 12 Years Freedom (Post-Courier, 19 January 1978), clean OCR
Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, 19 January 1978, p. 5, clean OCR of George Oliver's feature on the release of 10,000 political prisoners held since the 1965 coup (same article as GA-00267). It covers the official and alternative accounts of 30 September, killings of perhaps half a million, half to three-quarters of a mi
Issue no. 71 (September 1985) of TAPOL Bulletin, the British campaign for Indonesian political prisoners. It carries an anonymous ex-prisoner's article on the 'G30S/PKI' symbol, reports on death-row prisoners, the Gatot defence statement, harassment of ex-prisoners and military reorganisation. Gerwani appears only once
Losing a Revolution: The PKI versus the Army in Indonesia, 1949-1965 (Sutley, 1988)
Stewart K. Sutley's MA thesis (Political Science, McGill, 1988) applies Tilly and Aya's 'political conflict' model to the PKI-Army struggle of 1949-65, arguing the PKI's state-within-a-state depended on Sukarno and was destroyed after the army struck at the president. Gerwani is treated only as the PKI's 'women's front