Production Photographs of Torture-House Diorama Figures, Lubang Buaya
Thirty-one production photographs from Edhi Sunarso's studio of life-size figures for the Lubang Buaya 'torture house' diorama, showing generals, bound captives and assailants in fatigues. Shows how the Lubang Buaya scene was physically fabricated.
Indonesia (column with report on the Masamba band)
Emmer Courant 'Indonesië' news column (7 Nov 1949, p.3): Dutch troops to evacuate Solo and Madiun; standing law in Wonosobo; and the murder of Farokafabrieken inspector Th. Pluyter by a band in the Masamba area, 'seems to have been led by' Makassar councillor Salawati Daoed (Salawati Daud), who drove there in a municip
Terrorism in South Celebes: does Mrs Salawati Daud's role mean 'unmasked'?
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra, reprint from De Java-bode (11 Nov 1949, p.3): a lead-in to a chauffeur's account after the arrest of Makassar councillor Salawati Daud, described as leader of a terrorist band south of Masamba responsible for Th. Pluyter's murder; she was found in a cave 8 km from Masamba. The chauffeur's s
South Celebes remains turbulent
Short Algemeen Handelsblad item (1949-11-19) citing Keng Po from Makassar: although Salawati Daud, leader of the gang that murdered the Faroka representative, has been arrested, Masamba remains tense with armed bands in the forests, two companies of Dutch hunters deployed; the bands pose as TNI units.
PSII men (arrests; detention of Salawati Daud)
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (13 Mar 1950, p.3): the Sultan (Hamengkubuwono IX) explains arrests of PSII men Abikusno and Anwar Tjokroaminoto over APRA contacts and Zakaria in Kalimantan; on the detention of Mrs Salawati Daud, the defence ministry has contacted the NIT government but has had no reply. He reaffirms a nat
Talks (Salawati Daud in Jakarta on the guerrilla problem)
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (28 Aug 1950, p.2): Mrs Salawati Daud, delegate of the South Sulawesi council, arrives in Jakarta to meet Sukarno and the defence minister over the guerrilla problem, presenting a motion of the Dewan Pemerintah Sulawesi Selatan. The motion argues guerrillas and APRI share ideals and asks for
President Sukarno asked to decide
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 30 Aug 1950, p. 3: South Sulawesi guerrilla question. MP Andi Lolo says no local solution remains; Salawati Daud arrives in Jakarta as delegate of the South Sulawesi council to ask Sukarno and the defence minister to incorporate the guerrillas into the APRI as 'Brigade Hasanuddin'.
FBIS, 26 October 1950: Salawati arrest
FBIS item (26 Oct 1950): political parties and organisations in Makassar, sponsors of the Good Services Committee on the South Celebes guerrilla issue, protested the army's arrest of Mrs Salawati (since 21 Oct) while she tried to contact guerrilla leaders; protest backed by delegates from 29 parties and organisations.
Talks (Salawati Daud and the CTN battalions, August 1951)
Short Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra item (20 Aug 1951, p.1): Governor Sudiro of Celebes invites party leaders to discuss the failed transfer of CTN battalions in South Sulawesi into the APRI. According to Pedoman Rakjat, Mrs Salawati Daud has gone inland to try to resolve the difficulties.
Vanished guerrilla fighters blew up a bridge
Provinciale Drentsche en Asser Courant (21 Aug 1951): about 4,000 ex-guerrillas vanished from Makassar on 16 Aug, blowing up a bridge; government announces strict measures. Salawati Daud, credited with an important role in solving the guerrilla problem, has gone to the fugitives' hideouts to mediate. Also notes ex-RMS
The ex-guerrillas of South Celebes
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (22 Aug 1951, p.2): a defence ministry spokesman says the report of Mrs Salawati Daud visiting South Sulawesi's interior to contact Kahar Muzakar should not suggest renewed negotiations; Kahar acted for his own benefit. A mass meeting of parties at the governor's residence in Makassar leaves
The government did everything in its power
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 29 Aug 1951, p. 1: South Sulawesi guerrilla question after failure to install the CTN as APRI units. Mass meeting backs the government; Ministry of Defence comments on Salawati Daud's reported trip into the interior to contact Kahar Muzakkar and rejects further negotiation with him.
Angkatan Bersendjata, 1 October 1966 (First Hari Kesaktian Pancasila Edition)
Angkatan Bersendjata, 1 Oktober 1966 (edisi Hari Kesaktian Pancasila pertama). First-anniversary issue and the richest Gerwani source in the batch: prints the official 'Risalah singkat tragedi nasional' claiming officers were tortured 'beyond humanity by members of Pemuda Rakyat and GERWANI', plus 'Bung Piket' retrospe
Angkatan Bersendjata, 2 October 1966 (Weekly Edition)
Angkatan Bersendjata, 2 Oktober 1966 (edisi Mingguan). Sunday weekly edition continuing the army's 'Risalah singkat tragedi nasional' (p. 3), repeating that four officers were tortured 'by members of Pemuda Rakjat and GERWANI' before being thrown into the Lubang Buaya well.
Berita Yudha, 20 December 1966: Aidit's wife seized by the Armed Forces
Berita Yudha, 20 Desember 1966: 'Istri Aidit dibekuk ABRI'. Banner lead on the arrest on 19 Dec 1966 of D.N. Aidit's wife, a physician and daughter of Mudigdio, in Cipete Udik, living under an alias.
Women round the World: Indonesian Women (Kinesis, June 1977)
Kinesis (Vancouver feminist paper), June 1977, p.10, 'Women round the World': a section on Indonesian women. It says Gerwani, the largest women's organisation (over one million members), was banned for alleged complicity in the 1965 coup and blamed for atrocities; many members suffered torture and sexual abuse in inter
TAPOL Bulletin no. 83 (London, Oct 1987) on East Timor at the UN, Kedung Ombo, labour unrest, Muslim trials and transmigration. A boxed item 'Serving 26 years for a 20-year sentence' profiles Siti Sundari, 66, a founding member of Gerwis and Gerwani, PKI candidate in 1955 and 1964 central committee candidate, jailed si
Army Spokesman on Release of Gerwani Ex-Chairwoman Sundari Abdulrahman (FBIS, 23 Aug 1989)
FBIS item (ANTARA, 23 Aug 1989): armed forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Nurhadi Purwosaputro said the release of Sundari Abdulrahman, 68, former chairwoman of Gerwani, followed completion of her term and presidential remission. She had been sentenced to life in 1976 in Tanjungkarang and held in Tangerang Women's Prison. He
Sukitman's story of G30S/PKI (part 2)
Akcaya (Pontianak), 10 Nov 1991, p. 7: concluding part of a retelling of police officer Sukitman's 1965 story, with the paper glossing the 'volunteers' as '(Gerwani - red)', reproducing the New Order slander.
Drakeley's 2007 article analysing the army's Oct-Dec 1965 psywar 'Lubang Buaya horror story' as a misogynist attack on Gerwani and a driver of the killings, tracing escalating claims in Angkatan Bersendjata, Antara and others, including the 'confessions' of Djamilah, Sujati and Saina. Core analysis of the slander.
Tempo.co, 9 May 2010: Defending Gerwani from New Order slander (Wieringa book)
Tempo.co book notice (9 May 2010) on Saskia Wieringa's Indonesian edition of 'Penghancuran Gerakan Perempuan' (Galangpress 2010, transl. Harsutejo). Recounts the military propaganda of naked dancing, razor-cutting and castration at Lubang Buaya, Wieringa's rebuttal from 1982-85 interviews and autopsy results, and Siti
Tempo.co, 17 May 2010: Defending Gerwani from New Order slander (Wieringa book, second version)
Tempo.co book notice (17 May 2010) (second Tempo.co version, with a lead on the penis-cutting allegation) on Saskia Wieringa's Indonesian edition of 'Penghancuran Gerakan Perempuan' (Galangpress 2010, transl. Harsutejo). Recounts the military propaganda of naked dancing, razor-cutting and castration at Lubang Buaya, Wi
Wieringa's 2011 article condensing her research: the army's sexual slander of Gerwani was the spark without which the genocide would not have happened; reconstructs the Lubang Buaya night (about 70 women and girls, mostly Pemuda Rakyat volunteers) and reads the monument mural. Programmatic synthesis.
Kedaulatan Rakyat, 31 July 2017: Menwa must stay consistent with the values of struggle
Kedaulatan Rakyat, 31 July 2017: at an IARMI Central Java reunion in Semarang a veteran of the student regiment recalls joining ABRI's post-G30S security operation, guarding Gerwani detainees and helping interrogate.
Jess Melvin's 2018 monograph arguing the 1965-66 killings were a genocide planned and coordinated by the army, based on about 3,000 pages of Aceh military records and interviews. Key evidence on army responsibility.
Tempo.co, 28 December 2018: A look inside the Gerwani book seized by the TNI as 'PKI'
Tempo.co report (28 Dec 2018) on the seizure by TNI and police in Kediri of 19 books from a bookshop owner, including Amurwani Dwi Lestariningsih's 'Gerwani: Kisah Tapol Wanita dari Kamp Plantungan' (Gramedia 2011), which describes torture and sexual violence against women prisoners. The owner says the books are mainst
Feminism as a Class Question, Part II (Ita Fatia Nadia, 2020)
Part II of Nadia's essay (südostasien 3/2020): how the army and paramilitaries used sexualised violence to destroy Gerwani after Oct 1965, the Lubang Buaya slander and film, 1966 tattoo 'searches', and New Order redefinition of women's roles. In German.
Buried Histories: The Anticommunist Massacres of 1965-1966 in Indonesia (Roosa, 2020)
John Roosa's 2020 book, from nearly 400 interviews, arguing the typical 1965-66 killing was army execution of detainees (hence mass disappearance); dissects army propaganda including how Gen. Sugandhi sexualised Lubang Buaya from 9 Oct 1965. Key scholarship.
The Women and the Generals: Unraveling a Myth of Sexual Perversion (Wieringa, 2020)
Wieringa's five-page review (Archipel 99, 2020) of Maj Wechselmann's documentary The Women and the Generals, which shows the army fabricated the story that Gerwani seduced and castrated the generals at Lubang Buaya as the core of the propaganda campaign. Film review.
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