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
CIA intelligence memorandum, 6 October 1965: The upheaval in Indonesia
CIA intelligence memorandum, 6 October 1965, an early US assessment of the 30 September Movement; names Gerwani as reportedly involved and relays Suharto's 4 October claim that Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani volunteers trained near Halim. Early US echo of the Lubang Buaya narrative.
FO 371/180317: Attempted Coup against Sukarno [8] (2-9 Oct 1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180317 (2-9 Oct 1965): Jakarta embassy and Foreign Office telegrams on the 30 September coup, Suharto's takeover, Sukarno and Omar Dani, Soviet press silence, and a Singapore proposal for unattributable propaganda to blacken the PKI. Gerwani is named in Suharto's 4 Oct statement and a 6 Oc
FO 371/180320: Gilchrist Despatch of 8 October 1965 on the Coup and Counter-Coup
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180320 (Oct-Nov 1965): Gilchrist's despatch no. 13 of 8 Oct 1965 on the coup and counter-coup, plus telegrams, NATO and Commonwealth reports and Chinese/Soviet/Hanoi reactions. The despatch lists GERWANI among 'chief suspects' (p. 11) and says members of PKI youth and women's groups took p
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 371/180323: Attempted Coup against Sukarno [14] (Nov 1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180323 (c. 4-16 Nov 1965): Djakarta telegrams, Antara extracts and Foreign Office correspondence on the PKI's destruction, Subandrio, Nasution and Sukarno. Gerwani items: tel. 2480 (p. 39) reports a 8 Nov Jakarta rally of women's organisations demanding dissolution of the PKI and Gerwani;
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 371/180325: Attempted Coup against Sukarno [16] (1965-1966)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180325 (1965), 'Attempted coup against Sukarno [16]': letters and telegrams from Djakarta, NATO Paris, Washington and The Hague, late November 1965 to January 1966. It follows the regional bans of the PKI, Sukarno's Nasakom speeches, Aidit's fate and translated interrogations of Untung and
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
LBJ National Security File: Indonesia, Communists and Internal Politics (Oct-Nov 1965)
Compilation from the LBJ National Security File (ProQuest), Oct-Nov 1965: State Department memos, CIA intelligence memoranda and Indonesia Working Group situation reports on the 30 September Movement and army counter-moves. Gerwani appears only in passing: arrests of Gerwani and Pemuda Rakyat members (6 Oct), CIA claim
LBJ National Security File: Indonesian Military Coups, Oct-Nov 1965 (Airgram A-300 'The September 30 Affair')
Supplement to the LBJ National Security File (cables, Oct-Nov 1965), centred on the long Djakarta embassy airgram A-300 'The September 30 Affair' plus telegrams. A-300 repeats the Lubang Buaya account that the generals were 'taunted and humiliated' by Gerwani women before being killed, and says Gerwani members were pla
FBIS-monitored Jakarta radio text (5 Oct 1965) of the Nahdlatul Ulama executive board and affiliates' statement. It cites authorities' 'fact' that Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwani members were brought from afar to be trained at Lubang Buaya where the generals' bodies were found, and asks Sukarno to disband PKI, Pemuda Rakjat,
Berita Yudha, 7 October 1965
Berita Yudha, 7 Oktober 1965. Week after 30 September: Pemuda Rakyat members captured in Krukut allegedly took part in the Lubang Buaya killings; Sukarno's Bogor cabinet session condemns the killings; Gerwani mentioned on p. 2.
FBIS-monitored Jakarta radio item (7 Oct 1965): Gertasi, a Gasbiindo transport union and the Progressive Pioneer Youth called for dissolving PKI and its mass organisations. The transport union salutes ABRI for arresting 'members of the people's youth (Pemuda Rakjat) and the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani), both s
Short FBIS item (7 Oct 1965, Jakarta radio): Pemuda Pantjasila's executive board says Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwani 'obviously helped' the 30 September Movement, and asks Sukarno to disband the PKI, its mass organisations and affiliates, revoke permits for Harian Rakjat and Kebudajaan Baru, and purge those involved from st
FBIS item (7 Oct 1965, Jakarta radio): the Perti party's executive board denounces the 'gestapo-style' terror, backs NU and PSII demands that Sukarno dissolve the PKI and its affiliates, listing Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, SOBSI, CGMI, Lekra, and suspends three members, placing the party under Rusli Abdul Wahid. Another ea
More arrests, slaughter of civilians by Communists in Central Java (Straits Times, 1965)
The Straits Times, 7 October 1965, p. 1: Radio Jakarta says communists slaughtered civilians in Central Java; Yogyakarta retaken and Col. Katamso's family reportedly killed; fierce fighting at Klaten and Cirebon, where rebels included armed People's Youth Front and Gerwani members; 200 armed communists captured. Gerwan
Berita Yudha, 12 October 1965
Berita Yudha, 12 Oktober 1965. Front-page report that crowds in Yogyakarta (5–6 Oct 1965) put up placards 'Who killed the Heroes of the Revolution? Gerwani-PR' and destroyed PKI and IPPI offices; an early link of Gerwani to the killings.
Berita Yudha, 14 October 1965
Berita Yudha, 14 Oktober 1965. Regional items: 105 organisations of South Kalimantan demand dissolution of the PKI and affiliates including Gerwani; Aceh demands; Gerwani listed among organisations to be banned.
Suara Merdeka, 15 October 1965, p. 2: Paseh PKI and Gerwani self-dissolution
Suara Merdeka (Semarang), 15 Oktober 1965, hlm. 2. Report that on 8 October 1965 the PKI sub-district committee of Paseh (West Java) and its mass organisations including Gerwani declared self-dissolution, condemning G30S; an early ritualised self-dissolution.
Developments in Indonesia (editorial, Berita Harian, 1965)
Berita Harian editorial, 16 October 1965, p. 4, assessing the aftermath of the 30 September Movement: Untung's arrest crushes the armed army opposition, but 'opposition from cadres of Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani as well as SOBSI' continues, probably as guerrilla action; speculates on a Sukarno-Nasution compromise over th
Jakarta generals clamp down on Communists (Daily Mail, 19 October 1965)
Daily Mail (London), 19 Oct 1965, p.2, by Arthur Cook from Singapore: Indonesia's ruling generals banned the Communist Party in Jakarta and its surrounding region; Radio Jakarta listed the organisations (People's Youth Front, Gerwani 'the Communist women's organisation', the peasants' and scientists' associations, stud
La Tribune de Genève, 19 October 1965: Ban on the Indonesian Communist Party - Sukarno's policy defeated by the army
La Tribune de Genève, 19 Oct 1965, AP report from Singapore: the PKI and all affiliated organisations, including Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani and SOBSI, were banned by order of the Jakarta regional commander, nationwide, as 'organisations that took part in the failed coup'. Also banned: Peasants' Front, scholars' assembly an
FBIS-monitored Makassar radio text (19 Oct 1965): the commandant of the 14th South-Southeast Sulawesi military command, as regional Dwikora authority, temporarily prohibited activities of PKI, Gerwani, SOBSI and affiliated unions, Pemuda Rakjat, CGMI, Perhimi, Lekra and HSI, effective 18 October, in line with Koti inst
Suara Merdeka, 20 October 1965, p. 1: Suharto order of the day and suspension of PKI organisations
Suara Merdeka (Semarang), 20 Oktober 1965, hlm. 1. Front page with Suharto's first order of the day and the RRI report of the Pepelrada Jakarta decree suspending PKI, Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani, BTI, CGMI, Lekra and others; one of the first formal measures against Gerwani.
FBIS-monitored Manado radio text (20 Oct 1965): the commandant of the 13th Regional Military Command, as regional Dwikora authority, temporarily suspended the PKI and its affiliates in North Sulawesi: Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, BTI, CGMI, Perhimi, IPPI, HSI, Lekra and SOBSI (Pepelrada decision 029/1965). Regional ban nami
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
Suara Merdeka, 22 October 1965, pp. 2-3: Semarang mass action, Majalengka dissolution, student demands
Suara Merdeka (Semarang), 22 Oktober 1965, hlm. 2–3. Editorials on Col. Katamso and the Semarang mass action, self-dissolution in Majalengka co-signed by a Gerwani representative, and UI students demanding dissolution of PKI, Gerwani and others.
Seven Political Parties Issue Joint Statement (FBIS, 23 Oct 1965)
FBIS-monitored ANTARA report (23 Oct 1965): seven parties (PSII, Catholic Party, IPKI, Perti, NU, a functional group and Muhammadiyah) issued a joint statement of 21 October that the PKI and its mass organisations, naming Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, SOBSI, HSI, Lekra, CGMI and others, were clearly involved in the 30 Septem
Suara Merdeka, 25 October 1965, p. 1: Sukabumi PKI organisations self-dissolve
Suara Merdeka (Semarang), 25 Oktober 1965, hlm. 1. Antara: on 15 Oct the PKI leaderships of Sukabumi with SOBSI, Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani declared self-dissolution after consulting the local Pantja Tunggal.