The Indonesian parliament and Linggadjati: strengthened left wing supports Sjahrir cabinet
Long article in the Dutch communist daily De Waarheid (15 Jan 1947) by its "Indonesian collaborator" assessing support for the Linggarjati draft in the Indonesian provisional parliament: Masjumi and PNI divided or opposed, while the PKI, Partai Sosialis, Pesindo, Christian parties, Partai Buruh, Perwari and BTI back it
Indonesian delegate: victory in China inspiring (Lillah Suripno)
De Waarheid item (10 Feb 1950) quoting Indonesian delegate Lillah Suripno at the Asian Women's Conference in Peking: guerrillas fight oppressors, Indonesian women's task is a free democratic state, the Chinese revolution is an example, and victory needs a democratic front under the Communist Party. Photo shows her besi
The arrests in Indonesia: PKI calls for struggle against fascism
De Waarheid, 31 Aug 1951, p. 3: near-verbatim PKI Central Committee statement on the Sukiman government's August 1951 mass arrests, calling them a drift to fascism and a staged 'coup' pretext. It lists Gerwis among organisations whose members were arrested or searched, demands release of all detainees and urges an anti
But what is the reality? Travel report on workers in Indonesia
De Waarheid, 1 May 1954, p. 4: travel report by Mak Meyer, a Dutch union delegate to the SOBSI conference, on Indonesian workers' misery: poverty, homelessness, factory conditions and wages, child labour, becak drivers, and figures such as 35,000 women dying in childbirth yearly. Portrays SOBSI and PKI as leaders and u
Elections with symbols: preparations for Indonesia's first general election
De Waarheid, 22 Jan 1955, p. 5: feature on preparations for Indonesia's first general elections, with voter registration, party symbols for illiterate voters, the PKI-and-independents list and attacks on it from Masjumi and PSI. It names independent candidates, among them Salawati (Daud), described as a guerrilla leade
Ten years of the Republic (Cor Geugjes)
De Waarheid, 17 Aug 1955, p. 3: Cor Geugjes's article for the Republic's tenth anniversary, covering Dutch colonial violence, the Bandung Conference, the Ali Sastroamidjojo government's fall and replacement by a Masjumi-PSI cabinet under Harahap, and the PKI's election platform. It lists Gerwani only as 'the strong wom
Grand PKI election campaign: Aidit speaks to 700,000 in Yogyakarta
De Waarheid, 21 Sep 1955, p. 5: air-mail report on the PKI's 1955 election campaign: Aidit speaking to 700,000 in Yogyakarta, 550,000 in Semarang, Njoto and Lukman elsewhere. In Jakarta, Umi Sardjono, chair of Gerwani, explained why she stands as a non-party candidate on the PKI list, saying its programme matches the d
Events in Indonesia (conclusion): Harahap government and mass organisations
De Waarheid, 8 Oct 1955, p. 3: final part of Cor Geugjes's series on events in Indonesia, arguing the Harahap government (which replaced Ali Sastroamidjojo) is resisted: elections could not be postponed, New Guinea was raised at the UN, and preliminary results defeat Masjumi and PSI. Cites PKI (500,000), SOBSI (3 milli
PKI has one million members: Aidit interview with Ogonyok
De Waarheid, 23 Mar 1956, p. 2: Moscow dispatch that the PKI has one million members, per Aidit in an interview with the Soviet magazine Ogonyok; SOBSI has 2.6 million, the peasant union BTI 2.5 million, Pemuda Rakjat 700,000 and Gerwani about 500,000. Useful as a contemporary membership figure for Gerwani.
PKI delegation to Moscow for the 21st CPSU Congress
De Waarheid, 22 Jan 1959, p. 1: brief report that a PKI delegation led by D.N. Aidit left for Moscow for the 21st CPSU Congress; members include Nursuhud, K. Supit, B.O. Hutapea (editor of Bintang Merah) and Suharti Suwarto, head of the PKI women's bureau. Shows Suharti Suwarto's PKI role.
After PKI protests: Sukarno withdraws election bills
De Waarheid, 8 May 1962, p. 2: report that Sukarno withdrew four bills on representative bodies (under which only one-third of the People's Congress, parliament and regional councils would be elected, the rest appointed) after protests first from the PKI, SOBSI, women's movement Gerwani and Pemuda Rakjat, later PNI and
Lively discussion: twenty years of the Dutch Women's Movement
De Waarheid, 7 Nov 1966, p. 3: report on the NVB's 20th-anniversary congress and gathering in Amsterdam. Chair Heiltje de Vos recalls NVB solidarity with Indonesia and proudly notes that first NVB chair Trees Sunito-Heyligers recently defended PKI leader Njono before the generals' military tribunal in Jakarta. Greeting
Indonesian protests abroad against stance of Soviet leaders
De Waarheid, 4 Nov 1967, p. 3: report that Indonesian representatives abroad of SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwani protested Soviet leaders' stance towards the Suharto regime. SOBSI secretary Setiati Surasto condemned a Soviet union delegation's January 1967 visit; Gerwani rejected a 'hypocritical' WIDF resolution in Eas
New victims of Suharto: life sentence demanded for secretary of Indonesian women's movement
De Waarheid, 23 Apr 1975, p. 4: report that life imprisonment was demanded in Jakarta against Sulami, secretary of Gerwani, and twenty years for three other women, on charges of undermining authority, raising money for families of imprisoned or killed patriots, and involvement in preparing the PKI's 1965 'uprising'. Th
Women - life imprisonment (Joop Morrien on the trial of Gerwani and PKI women)
De Waarheid, 25 Apr 1975, article by Joop Morrien on nearly ten years of Suharto's dictatorship. It reports the military tribunal trial of Gerwani and PKI women Sulami, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar Rukmiati and Suharti Harsono, who went underground after 1965 and were arrested in late 1966; life is demanded for Sulami and 20 ye
Trial (four Gerwani women in Jakarta)
De Waarheid, 21 Jun 1975, p. 5: boxed text on the Jakarta trial of four Gerwani women: life demanded against Gerwani secretary Sulami (aged 50) for helping reorganise the PKI after 1965; with Suharti Harsono, Sri Ambar Rukmijati and Sudjinah accused of typing and passing on pamphlets, forging ID papers and aiding priso
Berkhouwer (also for socialists) goes too far
De Waarheid, 11 Jul 1975, p. 1: report that the four women tried in Jakarta (aged 50-60, arrested 1966, nine years' detention not deducted) rejected all charges; Sri Ambar had earlier refused to testify at the 1967 trial of PKI leader Sudisman unless she could show her torture injuries. The verdict notes no sign of rem
Berkhouwer (also for socialists) goes too far (reprint 12 Jul 1975)
De Waarheid, 12 Jul 1975, p. 1: report that the four women tried in Jakarta (aged 50-60, arrested 1966, nine years' detention not deducted) rejected all charges; Sri Ambar had earlier refused to testify at the 1967 trial of PKI leader Sudisman unless she could show her torture injuries. The verdict notes no sign of rem
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
Trial against Tanti Aidit
De Waarheid, 25 Jul 1978, p. 2: report that the army paper Berita Yudha says a charge has been drawn up against Tanti (Soetanti) Aidit, physician and widow of PKI chair D.N. Aidit, arrested after 1965; she will be tried on allegations that as a board member of Gerwani she was involved in the '30 September Movement'. Th
Clinic (Gerwani polyclinic 1958, Tanti Aidit)
De Waarheid, 24 Mar 1979, p. 8: sidebar on the clinic Gerwani opened on International Women's Day, 8 March 1958, a polyclinic and advice bureau for women in its building (destroyed in 1965), run by Tanti Aidit, now 12 years in pre-trial detention. Annie van Ommeren recalls the 1975 trial of Sulami (life), Suharti Harso
Lubis' Land under the Rainbow: history with sloppiness, errors and bias
Joop Morriën's critical review in De Waarheid (6 June 1979, p.5) of Mochtar Lubis's illustrated history 'Het land onder de regenboog'. He faults its errors and 'virulent anti-communism', says it adopts Suharto's version of 1965, and notes the Madiun 1948 and 1965 killings of communists and Lekra artists' imprisonment.
The moving indictment of Mohammad Munir
De Waarheid (30 Sep 1985, p.5) excerpts the 1973 defence plea of PKI/union leader Mohammad Munir, executed in May 1985, before a military tribunal. He describes the post-October 1965 hate campaign aimed at PKI, Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani, the mass killings and camps; an editorial note says the generals' deaths were used
Not guilty (close of Mohammad Munir's plea)
Continuation of De Waarheid's excerpt of Mohammad Munir's 1973 defence plea (30 Sep 1985, p.5). He denies the PKI attempted a coup, criticises Suharto's economic policy, and demands release of all 30 September prisoners including those in Buru, Nusakambangan and the women's camp Plantungan. A footnote glosses Gerwani a
Ties (Joop Morrien on ties between CPN and PKI)
De Waarheid profile (11 Nov 1985, p.15) of CPN's Joop Morriën, who spent eight months in Indonesia in 1954 (Java tour, Yogyakarta artists' colony, meetings with unionists and Gerwani members) and planned Dutch-language book publication. He recalls being treated as PKI representative on the Prague journal 'Problems of P
For a free Indonesia (founding of the Wertheim Foundation)
De Waarheid report (30 Nov 1987, p.4) on the launch of the Wertheim Foundation, where W.F. Wertheim praised a Hendra painting of a male and female guerrilla. He argued that the Suharto regime rests on mass murder and falsified history, and that one task is to write the real history of Gerwani, Lekra, SOBSI and the PKI.