Army plans to kill P.K.I. for ever (The Scotsman, 8 December 1965)
The Scotsman, 8 Dec 1965, Dennis Bloodworth, 'Army plans to kill PKI for ever': Suharto and Nasution press to destroy the PKI while Sukarno refuses to ban it; the article analyses the PKI's miscalculations. It repeats the slander that six generals were mutilated by 'doe-eyed girls' of the PKI's 'Gerwani' women's moveme
Dossier of the Indonesian Drama (Lucien Rey, New Left Review, 1966)
Article by Lucien Rey (New Left Review no. 36, March 1966) reconstructing the 1 October 1965 events as a plot by dissident Central Java officers, plus a translated Asahi Shimbun interview with PKI deputy chair Njoto. Says People's Youth and Gerwani auxiliaries trained at Halim took part in the generals' executions in r
Unrest in Jakarta, Untung in court: strike force included Gerwani members
De Volkskrant report (24 Feb 1966) on unrest in Jakarta and the opening of Untung's trial. The prosecutor said his strike force of 5,000 included 2,000 communists, "men and women, of the organisations Gerwani, Pemuda Rakjat and the BTI". No claims of torture or sexual misconduct appear in this item.
Students try to prevent swearing-in: trial of Untung begun
Gereformeerd Gezinsblad wire item (25 Feb 1966, p.1) on the opening of Colonel Untung's trial in Jakarta for treason and armed rebellion. The prosecutor claimed Untung gathered 5,000 people before the coup, including Tjakrabirawa troops, paratroops and 2,000 members of the PKI and its linked women's organisation Gerwan
Dossier of a slaughter
Tribune (Sydney), 29 Jun 1966, p. 5: editorial attacking Western press whitewashing of the Suharto regime plus a long reconstruction of 30 Sep-1 Oct 1965 taken from the British New Left Review, portraying the movement as junior officers' action. It mentions that Halim auxiliaries from Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani took par
Dossier of a slaughter
Tribune (Sydney), 29 Jun 1966, p. 5: editorial attacking Western press whitewashing of the Suharto regime plus a long reconstruction of 30 Sep-1 Oct 1965 taken from the British New Left Review, portraying the movement as junior officers' action. It mentions that Halim auxiliaries from Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani took par
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
The Politico-Military Role of the Indonesian Armed Forces, October 1965-1968 (Fox, 1968)
Edward J. Fox, University of Chicago MA dissertation (1968; the catalogue title says PhD) on the Indonesian armed forces' control programme and the pattern of violence from October 1965 to early 1968. Gerwani appears only in passing: a footnote cites 1.75 million members and notes its self-dissolution (p.32), and one u
The revolution passes Indonesia by: interview with Ernst Utrecht
Second half of a De Volkskrant interview (29 Aug 1970) with Prof. Ernst Utrecht on his book on Indonesia ahead of Suharto's Dutch visit. Utrecht says the Jakarta branches of Gerwani and Pemuda Rakyat "wanted to take part and did take part" in the 1965 coup, that the PKI leadership said these were independent organisati
Archive of the Event of 1965 in Indonesia (compilation incl. Anderson and McVey, Preliminary Analysis of the October 1,
Internet Archive compilation on the 1965 events whose main text is Anderson and McVey's Cornell 'Preliminary Analysis of the October 1, 1965 Coup' (1971), with source documents. It says Gerwani and Pemuda Rakjat trainees at Lubang Buaya were drawn into the killings (pp. 22-23) while stressing the army-fed 'orgy' storie
Archive of the Event of 1965 in Indonesia (compilation incl. Anderson and McVey, Preliminary Analysis of the October 1,
Internet Archive compilation on the 1965 events whose main text is Anderson and McVey's Cornell 'Preliminary Analysis of the October 1, 1965 Coup' (1971), with source documents. It says Gerwani and Pemuda Rakjat trainees at Lubang Buaya were drawn into the killings (pp. 22-23) while stressing the army-fed 'orgy' storie
Chinese Policy in Indonesia, 1949-1967 (Mozingo, 1973)
PhD dissertation (Political Science, UCLA, 1973) by David Paul Mozingo on Chinese policy toward Indonesia, 1949-1967, arguing it was an extension of united-front strategy and was undone by the 1965 coup. Its only reference to Gerwani is one sentence in the chapter on the coup (pp. 258-259): young men and women from the
The 1965 Coup in Indonesia: The CIA's Version (van der Kroef, 1976)
Critical review by Justus M. van der Kroef (Asian Affairs, Nov 1976) of the CIA's declassified 1968 report 'Indonesia-1965: The Coup That Backfired'. Takes issue with the CIA's claim that Lubang Buaya victims were not mutilated and that Gerwani/Pemuda Rakyat confessions were Army-contrived, quoting Gerwani member Djami
The 30 September Movement: a political movement of the armed forces or an intelligence operation? (Holtzappel, 1979)
Journal article by Coen Holtzappel (Journal of Contemporary Asia, 1979) analysing the Untung and Njono trial records to argue the 30 September Movement was steered by Air Force and Army intelligence, with Sjam's Pringgodani group deliberately compromising the PKI and Aidit. Gerwani is mentioned only once, in a footnote
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
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
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
Pravda, 30 Oct 1990: 'Indonesia: strokes to a tragedy of 35 years ago' (V. Shurygin)
Pravda, 30 October 1990 (No. 303), p. 5: V. Shurygin's retrospective 'Indonesia: strokes to a tragedy of 35 years ago' on the 1965 coup, Suharto's rise and the destruction of the PKI by a Pravda correspondent who was in Indonesia. Gerwani appears once, listed as the PKI's women's organisation alongside SOBSI, BTI, Pemu
Pravda, 1990: Shurygin, 'Indonesia: strokes to a tragedy of 35 years ago' (excerpt)
Pravda (Nov/Dec 1990, No. 303) archive.org OCR excerpt of V. Shurygin's retrospective 'Indonesia: strokes to a tragedy of 35 years ago'. Lists Gerwani among PKI-affiliated mass organisations, cites up to 500,000 killed, notes slander turned opinion against communists, and says ~50,000 of 1.4 million ex-prisoners may vo
Pravda, 30 Oct 1990, p. 5: Shurygin, 'Indonesia: strokes to a tragedy of 35 years ago' (full page)
Pravda, 30 Oct 1990, p. 5: full page with V. Shurygin's (Pravda-TASS) article 'Indonesia: strokes to a tragedy of 35 years ago', a Soviet correspondent's retrospective on the 1965 coup, Sukarno's choice at Halim, up to 500,000 communists killed, and slander-driven anti-communist propaganda. Gerwani appears once, listed
The Forgotten Years: Mass Slaughter in Jombang-Kediri 1965-1966 (Sulistyo, 1997)
Hermawan Sulistyo's 1997 Arizona State history PhD, 'The Forgotten Years', studies the 1965-66 killings in Jombang-Kediri, East Java, from interviews and documents, finding no single national pattern and stressing local conflict and military-backed operations. Gerwani appears in passing: its claimed 1.75 million member
Communism in Indonesia, Vol. IV: The G30S/PKI Rebellion and its Suppression (1960-1965), Pusjarah TNI, 2009
Official Army history (Pusjarah TNI, Jakarta 2009), vol. IV of 'Komunisme di Indonesia', presenting Gerwani as a PKI mass organisation in the 1960-65 build-up and the G30S. It reports Gerwani's Nov-Dec 1964 housewives' seminar (p. 70), 'unilateral actions' (p. 122), the 27 Sept 1965 Surabaya governor's-office raid unde
Communism in Indonesia, Vol. IV: The G30S/PKI Rebellion and its Suppression (1960-1965), Pusjarah TNI, 2009
Official Army history (Pusjarah TNI, Jakarta 2009), vol. IV of 'Komunisme di Indonesia', presenting Gerwani as a PKI mass organisation in the 1960-65 build-up and the G30S. It reports Gerwani's Nov-Dec 1964 housewives' seminar (p. 70), 'unilateral actions' (p. 122), the 27 Sept 1965 Surabaya governor's-office raid unde
The Cold War in the City of Heroes: US-Indonesian Relations and Anti-Communist Operations in Surabaya (Setiyawan, 2014)
PhD dissertation in History (UCLA, 2014) by Dahlia Gratia Setiyawan on U.S. anti-communist operations and the 1965-66 purge in Surabaya. Gerwani appears in context: as the PKI's women's affiliate (ch. 1), through the Surabaya women's coalition GOWS in the 27 September 1965 Grahadi demonstration (ch. 4), and in the Army
Years of Dressing Dangerously: Modern Women, National Identity and Moral Crisis in Sukarno's Indonesia (Sullivan, 2020)
Charles P. Sullivan's PhD dissertation (History, University of Michigan, 2020) reads Indonesian women's magazines (Wanita, Puspa Wanita, Varia) from 1945-66 to argue that the Lubang Buaya narrative about Gerwani worked as a 'post-text' of long-running anxieties over modernity, moral crisis and the 'Mother of the Nation