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
Communist Campaign in Indonesia (OIR report, July 1956)
State Department intelligence report (17 July 1956) on the Soviet and Chinese communist campaign in Indonesia after the 1956 visits, with a chronology of Indonesia-China exchanges. Gerwani features only in the chronology: a May 1956 Gerwani protest against US H-bomb tests, plus Indonesian delegations to the WIDF meetin
CIA Current Intelligence Weekly Summary, 12 November 1959
CIA Current Intelligence Weekly Summary, 12 Nov 1959, a long multi-topic report; the Indonesia part (pp.23-27) assesses PKI strength (Aidit's claim of 1.5 million members, Java as base, army and Sukarno restrictions, Aidit's 1959 Moscow and Peking trip). It names GERWANI as the PKI's women's front, alongside Pemuda Rak
Indonesian Defense Affairs: Biographical Profiles, April 1960
Compilation of US embassy Djakarta despatches (April 1960) giving biographical profiles of members of the Supreme Advisory Council and other leaders. Gerwani appears in the profile of PSII chairman Arudji Kartawinata, whose wife was a Gerwani member (1954) and praised China after a Nov 1959 Beijing visit; women members
Dilemmas of Indonesian Communism (van der Kroef, 1962)
Article by Justus M. van der Kroef (Pacific Affairs, summer 1962) on the PKI's dilemmas under Guided Democracy: dependence on Sukarno, the July 1960 'Evaluation' clash with the army, and the party's use of mass fronts. Gerwani is named as the PKI's women's front: its organ was aggressive without censure in 1961, and in
Chairman Aidit leads delegation to the Soviet Union and China (Renmin Ribao, 21 July 1963)
Renmin Ribao/Xinhua report (21 July 1963, p. 3) on PKI chairman Aidit's delegation leaving Jakarta for Moscow, Beijing and Cuba, with his airport statements on the Sino-Soviet dispute, Nasakom and 'Malaysia'. Gerwani appears once, its head among mass-organisation leaders at the send-off. Useful for Gerwani's place in P
D.N. Aidit, 'Some problems of the Indonesian revolution and the PKI': Beijing report, 4 September 1963
Full Renmin Ribao text (5 Sept 1963, p. 3) of D.N. Aidit's 4 September Beijing rally report on the Indonesian revolution and PKI: semi-colonial, semi-feudal analysis, national united front, Nasakom, state power's 'two aspects', and party building. Gerwani appears only once, in a membership tally (1.5 million, alongside
Foreign guests from eighty countries at China's National Day celebrations
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao (1 Oct 1963, p. 3) on 1,800+ foreign guests at China's 14th National Day. The translation covers only Indonesia and women's items: M.H. Lukman's DPR-GR delegation, Lekra, SOBSI, BTI and other groups, and an Indonesian women's delegation with Kartinah Kurdi of Gerwani; also Cuban, Ghanaian,
Foreign guests from over eighty countries celebrate China's National Day
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao (1 Oct 1964, p. 6) on 2,600+ foreign guests at China's 15th National Day. Translation retains only Indonesian items: the PKI delegation under Yusuf Adjitorop, Harian Rakjat, SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat, Kowani delegations and Mrs Juswati as Gerwani's representative. Gerwani is a single name
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 371/180326: Political Parties and Communism (Feb-Aug 1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180326 (Feb-Aug 1965): embassy telegrams, letters and Antara extracts on the PKI's growth before the coup: its 45th anniversary, Aidit's speeches, Mao's greeting, Sino-Soviet positions and Sukarno's leftward drift. Gerwani items: Antara of 9 June reports Sukarno addressing Gerwani, chaired
FO 371/180333: Bilateral Relations with China (1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180333 (Jan-Dec 1965): Peking, Djakarta and Hanoi telegrams on Sino-Indonesian relations: Subandrio's visit, delegations, PKI-China links, then the post-coup anti-Chinese wave, attacks on Chinese premises and Medan riots. Only Gerwani mention: Angkatan Bersendjata (29 Oct, p. 82) says the
Guests from eighty countries celebrate China's National Day on the eve of the 1965 coup
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao (1 Oct 1965, p. 3) on 2,000+ guests at China's 16th National Day, dated the eve of the 1965 coup. Only Indonesian items are translated: MPRS and economic delegations, a PKI delegation under Sidik Kertapati, SOBSI, Harian Rakjat and a Gerwani puppet-art study delegation (leader's name uncer
CIA, Press information relating to insurgency and counterinsurgency: South and East Asia (Summary 6897), 4 November 1965
CIA Foreign Documents Division weekly digest (Summary No. 6897, 4 Nov 1965) of press on insurgency in South and East Asia. Its Indonesia section reproduces Army-controlled press (Angkatan Bersendjata, Duta Masjarakat) on the 30 September Movement, including claims that Gerwani volunteers trained at Lubang Buaja and moc
CIA Bi-Weekly Propaganda Guidance, 8 November 1965 (WFTU Congress, AAPSO, Setiati Surasto)
CIA Bi-Weekly Propaganda Guidance of 8 Nov 1965 on Communist fronts (commentary 13-26 Oct 1965, WFTU Warsaw Congress, AAPSO Havana conference, Chinese foreign policy). Setiati Surasto appears only in a list of newly elected WFTU officials (Indonesia); the document notes the WIDF 20th anniversary and Indonesian delegate
Hysni Kapo to the Chinese Ambassador on Aid to Indonesian Comrades and Students, 16 Dec 1965
Record of Hysni Kapo (Albanian Party of Labour) to the Chinese ambassador, 16 Dec 1965 (Albanian original, scanned; only this item is in the file). After reporting on Polish Marxist-Leninists, Kapo says Indonesian comrades asked about Indonesian students in 'revisionist' countries; Albania offers to host communist stud
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
FCO 15/155: Indonesia, Arrests and Trials (1967-1968)
UK Foreign Office file FCO 15/155 (Feb 1967 to June 1968) of Jakarta embassy letters, press cables and an air attache's report on the Mahmilub trials of Supardjo and Omar Dani, plus a June 1968 note on a Soviet protest over PKI prisoners. Gerwani appears only in the Omar Dani report, as female youth trained at Lubang B
Angkatan Bersendjata, 12 July 1967
Angkatan Bersendjata, 12 Juli 1967. Report on the 11th session of Sudisman's Mahmillub trial (witnesses Karel Supit and Sardjono); Gerwani mentioned on p. 3 as the court was to hear further witnesses.
Angkatan Bersendjata, 20 September 1968. Introduction to W.W. Tjokro's memoir series 'Mengungkap 30 September '65' claims Chinese ships delivered weapons 'to PR, Gerwani and SOBSI' before the coup.
The Aidit family: after that night of horror (Tempo, 1 Oct 2007)
Tempo special (1 October 2007) on what happened to D.N. Aidit's family after 30 September 1965. It recounts the fates of his father, siblings and children, and of his wife Dr Soetanti Aidit, who fled, lived in disguise, was arrested, held in Kodim 66 and Bukit Duri until about 1980, and died in 1991. Her Gerwani member
The WIDF: History, Main Agenda, and Contributions, 1945-1991 (de Haan, c.2012)
Overview essay by Francisca de Haan (Women and Social Movements International database, c. 2012) on WIDF's origins, agenda, UN role and Cold War marginalisation, 1945-1991. Gerwani is listed once as a large, influential WIDF member organisation (with footnotes to Wieringa and to McGregor on Indonesian women and WIDF);
Tempo, 17 September 2023: Why 1965 exiles will not return home
Tempo report (17 Sep 2023, Raymundus Rikang and Stefanus Pramono) on 1965 exiles who decline to return despite visa and residence facilities offered by ministers Mahfud Md. and Yasonna Laoly in Amsterdam and Prague. Sri Budiarti (Aachen, ex-student in Budapest) demands truth and an apology and removal of the stigma tha
Tempo, 15 December 2024: Francisca Fanggidaej's story of exile in China and the Netherlands
Tempo magazine profile (15 Dec 2024, archivist Rika Theo and Iwan Kurniawan) of Francisca Fanggidaej: Pesindo leader, survivor of Madiun 1948, in Chile during 30 Sept 1965, passport revoked 1967, 20 years in Beijing with the Afro-Asian journalists' organisation, then exile in the Netherlands from 1985. She joined the K