Again numerous arrests in Indonesia
Het Vaderland front-page report (20 Aug 1951) on the escalating arrests of communists across Indonesia: 26 in East Java including Java Post editor Go Tjing Hok, the local PKI chair and SOBSI leaders, and Mrs Parjani Ilham, chair of the women's organisation 'Gerwis'; 50 in Bandung with SOBSI offices sealed; 175 in East
Various arrests also made in East Java
Nijmeegsch Dagblad (20 Aug 1951) on the August 1951 arrests in East Java: 26 detained including journalists, the local PKI chairman and SOBSI unionists. Among them is Gerwis chairwoman Mrs Parjani Ilham of Surabaya. Officials deny a group is targeted; press control is to be tightened.
Dozens more arrests in East and West Java: Sobsi offices occupied in Bandung
Trouw (20 Aug 1951) on the August 1951 arrests: 26 detained in East Java including journalists, the PKI branch chairman, SOBSI unionists and Gerwis chairwoman Mrs Parjani Ilham; 50 communists arrested in Bandung and SOBSI offices sealed. Attorney General warns of tighter press control; 17 August passed quietly.
Delegation of Bandung demonstrators to the president
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (17 Jul 1953, p.2): a delegation of PPDI, Partai Buruh, PNI, PKI, PRIM, Gerwis and Permai, after a large Bandung demonstration, met Sukarno to present an open letter asking for a decree declaring DI and other bands enemies of the state to be eradicated by force. Sukarno agreed personally but
Public Masyumi meeting: 'Quran doctrines must be basis of our state'
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1954-03-29, p. 2): report of a public Masyumi meeting in Bandung. Mrs. Ijom Suleiman argues Islam gives women equal rights and duties; Masyumi West Java secretary Rusjad Nurdin rejects PKI claims that Masyumi are American compradors and urges Muslims never to join the PKI or organisations it i
Masjumi public meeting in Bandung
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (31 Mar 1954, p.2): report of a Masjumi open-air meeting in Bandung where West Java secretary-general M. Rusjad Nurdin rebuts PKI claims that Masjumi members are American 'compradors' and calls on Muslims never to join the PKI 'or organisations influenced by the PKI, such as SOBSI, Gerwis et
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
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
Umi Sardjono joins the Development faction in the new DPR (Bintang Timur, 4 April 1956)
Front page (with pp. 2-4) of Bintang Timur, Jakarta, 4 Apr 1956. A short item on the new DPR's factions lists Umi Sardjono (Gerwani chair) among the members of the 'Pembangunan' (Development) faction, with Suprapto, Abulhayat, Runturambi, Supardi and Sujono. Headline news: government to seek full KMB abrogation and tak
PKI Politburo member Sakirman abducted by armed men (Renmin Ribao, 20 July 1960)
Renmin Ribao, 20 Jul 1960, p. 6 (Xinhua, Jakarta): the PKI Central Committee secretariat announces that Politburo member Sakirman was taken from his Bandung home on 16 July by men in military uniform. The secretariat sent DPR-GR members Mrs Mudigdio and Mrs Sundari to question the Attorney General. Gerwani is not named
PKI Politburo member Sakirman abducted by armed men (Renmin Ribao, 20 July 1960)
Renmin Ribao, 20 Jul 1960, p. 6 (Xinhua, Jakarta): the PKI Central Committee secretariat announces that Politburo member Sakirman was taken from his Bandung home on 16 July by men in military uniform. The secretariat sent DPR-GR members Mrs Mudigdio and Mrs Sundari to question the Attorney General. Gerwani is not named
Indonesian parties and organisations demand severe punishment of rioters (Renmin Ribao, 21 May 1963)
Renmin Ribao, 21 May 1963, p. 3 (Xinhua, Jakarta): Indonesian parties and mass organisations condemn the May 1963 anti-Chinese riots in Cirebon, Tegal, Bandung and Bogor as counter-revolutionary and link them to Malaysia and the US Peace Corps. Gerwani's Central Committee calls the Bandung incidents despicable acts vio
Indonesian parties and organisations demand severe punishment of rioters (Renmin Ribao, 21 May 1963)
Renmin Ribao, 21 May 1963, p. 3 (Xinhua, Jakarta): Indonesian parties and mass organisations condemn the May 1963 anti-Chinese riots in Cirebon, Tegal, Bandung and Bogor as counter-revolutionary and link them to Malaysia and the US Peace Corps. Gerwani's Central Committee calls the Bandung incidents despicable acts vio
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 371/180337: 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
ANP news report, 11 October 1965 (Indonesia: Gerwani headquarters burned in Aceh)
ANP radio bulletin, 11 Oct 1965: the army arrests all PKI board members in Bandung, and in Aceh demonstrators burned down the headquarters of Gerwani. Also notes the evacuation of American embassy families from Jakarta. Early evidence of anti-Gerwani violence outside Java.
Evening Post (Wellington), 12 Oct 1965, NZPA-Reuter report: Communists flee into Central Java hills from an Army dragnet; branch officials detained; US embassy dependants withdrawn. Mobs ransacked Communist youth, women's and trade-union offices in Jakarta; per Radio Malaysia quoting Radio Jakarta, a crowd burned the G
Armed Java Reds Flee to Hills to Escape Dragnet (Evening Post, 12 October 1965), headline clipping
Headline-only clipping 'Armed Java Reds Flee to Hills to Escape Dragnet' from the Evening Post of 12 Oct 1965; the Gerwani passage is not in this fragment.
Armed Java Reds Flee to Hills to Escape Dragnet (Evening Post, 12 October 1965), opening clipping
Opening clipping of the Evening Post article of 12 Oct 1965: tension in Central Java, where thousands of Communists, some armed, have fled into the hills from an Army dragnet. Gerwani is not mentioned in this fragment.
Armed Java Reds Flee to Hills to Escape Dragnet (Evening Post, 12 October 1965), clipping on arrests and Aceh office
Clipping from the Evening Post of 12 Oct 1965: US embassy dependants withdrawn; hundreds of Communist branch officials detained, Bandung committee arrested in Yogyakarta; Jakarta curfew eased. Communist youth, women's and trade-union offices ransacked in Jakarta, and a crowd burned the Gerwani office in Aceh, north Sum
Walliser Volksfreund, 13 October 1965: The hunt for communists in Indonesia
Walliser Volksfreund (13 Oct 1965) running the Reuter report on the hunt for Communists: flight into Central Java mountains, Muslim attacks on PKI offices in Bandung, and an angry crowd burning down Gerwani premises in Aceh per Radio Djakarta. Includes a photo caption of the burned PKI headquarters.
FBIS-monitored ANTARA report (21 Oct 1965): at Madjalengka Square, Bandung (West Java) region, before thousands and the local commandant, PKI sectional committee members and affiliates declared themselves out of the PKI and dissolved the branches, renewing allegiance to Sukarno. The statement lists nine signatories, in
Words and deeds of the Indonesian army: Suharto's Bandung speech (snippet)
Snippet-only Renmin Ribao extract (7 Nov 1965, p. 5) from Suharto's 30 October Bandung speech: the September 30th Movement as a play with Untung and some officers in the lead, Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani members in supporting roles, and the PKI as staff; truncated. Full text is GA-01990.
Words and deeds of the Indonesian army: Nasution and Suharto statements reprinted
Renmin Ribao (7 Nov 1965, p. 5) reprints Indonesian army statements from radio and Antara: Nasution's 25 October speech on 'slander' and purges, Suharto's 30 October Bandung speech calling the PKI the 'protagonist' and Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani members 'supporting roles' of the movement, an army information chief's int
Girl admits role in coup (South China Morning Post, 20 November 1965)
South China Morning Post, 20 Nov 1965, p.20 (Jakarta, 19 Nov; UPI/AP via Antara): a girl captured near Bandung admitted taking part in the killing of the six generals at Lubang Buaya and among those who shot the Army commander, and admitted membership of Gerwani, the Communist women's auxiliary. The item also reports a
Berita Yudha, 30 November 1965. Antara story that 'executioners of Lubang Buaya' interrogated in Bandung, including 19-year-old Sujati alias Jossy, 'confessed' Aidit promised a 'Golden Horse Star' for killing the generals.
Angkatan Bersendjata, 11 January 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 11 Jan 1966. NTB military order (31 Dec 1965) dissolving the PKI and affiliates including Gerwani, BTI, SOBSI, Lekra, Baperki and Universitas Rakyat (UNRA), confiscating their property; about 66,000 detainees in Central Java.
Soldiers look on: schoolchildren in Jakarta attack again
Algemeen Handelsblad (1966-03-09, pp. 1 and 11): student and schoolchildren demonstrations in Jakarta, tanks outside ministries, a student demand to ban the PKI, and Siliwangi troops beating the Cakrabirawa guard to the university. Sukarno told a meeting of Indonesian women (unnamed) to amend a resolution to condemn Am