The Indonesian parliament and Linggadjati: strengthened left wing supports Sjahrir cabinet
Long article in the Dutch communist daily De Waarheid (15 Jan 1947) by its "Indonesian collaborator" assessing support for the Linggarjati draft in the Indonesian provisional parliament: Masjumi and PNI divided or opposed, while the PKI, Partai Sosialis, Pesindo, Christian parties, Partai Buruh, Perwari and BTI back it
Balance sheet of Indonesian political parties
Nieuw Utrechtsch Dagblad, 17 January 1947, p. 2: list drawn up by the Republican paper De Patriot of Indonesian groups for and against the Linggadjati draft agreement. Perwari, PKI, Sobsi, BTI and the Partai Sosialis are listed for; Masjumi, PNI and Partai Wanita Rakjat against. Gerwani/Gerwis (founded later) does not
FBIS, 25 January 1951: Indonesia backs Peace Congress ideals (Warsaw)
FBIS-monitored Moscow Radio text (25 Jan 1951) of a speech by an Indonesian member of the World Peace Council (name garbled), chairing the Indonesian delegation to the Warsaw Peace Congress. Describes the Indonesian Peace Committee (Yogyakarta, June 1950), the Stockholm Appeal signatures, and urges non-democratic Indon
Delegation to Moscow International Economic Conference includes Kartinah (Gerwis) (Harian Rakjat, 2 April 1952)
Harian Rakjat, 2 Apr 1952, p.1: front page covers the new Wilopo cabinet and the Indonesian delegation to the international economic conference in Moscow, which lists Kartinah as Gerwis representative alongside delegates from Pemuda Rakyat, the peasant front and trade unions. The headline about 'equal spirit of women a
Joys and sorrows of Indonesia in the past year
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 7 Jan 1953, p. 3: year-in-review chronology for 1952 (selected entries translated). Mentions the August 1951 raids, the 17 October 1952 affair, release of East Java arrestees on 30 Oct, a goodwill mission to Kahar Muzakkar under Mrs Salawati (8 Apr), and Aidit and Njoto refused entry to
Latest news from Indonesia (4-7 May 1953)
Antara news roundup, Indische Courant voor Nederland, 13 May 1953, p. 4 (4-7 May). Relevant item: Setiati Surasto, Maasje Siwi and Kartinah left for the WIDF congress in Copenhagen. Rest covers the bank strike, the 17 October affair and the Wilopo cabinet's refusal to seek a confidence vote.
Manifesto on Tunisia: committee backs Tunisian independence struggle
De Nieuwsgier, 17 Sept 1953: the Committee to Support Tunisia issues a manifesto backing Tunisia's freedom struggle against French policy, signed by many party leaders and organisations. S.K. Trimurti signs on behalf of Gerwis, with Maria Ulfah Santoso for Kowani and others for PNI, Masjumi, PSI, Parkindo. Shows Gerwis
Meeting with Indonesian women: delegation returns from the Soviet Union
De Waarheid, 8 Sep 1954, p. 5: report on an Indonesian women's delegation passing through Amsterdam after five weeks in the USSR (three in Moscow). Members came from different organisations: Masjumi Islamic women (Samsudin), PM Ali Sastroamidjojo's sister, Partai Buruh, a ministry official, students, Wanita Taman Siswa
The Crescent and the Rising Sun: Indonesian Islam under the Japanese Occupation of Java 1942-45 (Benda, 1955)
Harry J. Benda, The Crescent and the Rising Sun: Indonesian Islam under the Japanese Occupation of Java, 1942-45 (PhD thesis, Cornell, June 1955), on Japanese policy towards Islam, Masjumi and the mass organisations Putera and Hokokai. Gerwani is not mentioned (it was founded after the thesis's period). The only women'
Djakarta postpones the evil day (The Observer, 16 January 1955)
The Observer, 16 Jan 1955, p.7, Rawle Knox, 'Djakarta Postpones the Evil Day': impressionistic report from Jakarta on a lively, disorderly capital, the Ali Sastroamidjojo government's dependence on Communist support, Sukarno's drift from impartiality, the delayed first election and anti-Dutch boycotts. A passing quote
Signature campaign against atomic war begins in Indonesia
De Waarheid, 9 Mar 1955, p. 2: Jakarta report on the start of a signature campaign against atomic war, signed by ministers, professors and Masjumi's Wiwoho. Gerwani called on all women to join, aiming for 10,000 signatures in 12 weeks. A Peace Committee delegation was received by Sukarno; wives of the Jakarta mayor and
CIA intelligence survey of the PKI's history, structure and front organisations, May 1955, before the September 1955 elections. Section III.E (report pp. 49-50) profiles Gerwani: founded 1950 as Gerwis, renamed Gerwani at the March 1954 congress, 25,000+ members, S.K. Trimurti general chairman and Umi Sardjono chairman
Pravda, 5 Aug 1955: government crisis in Indonesia; telegrams from Gerwani
Pravda, 5 August 1955, No. 217, page 6, supplied as a Claude machine translation of the Indonesia item. A TASS dispatch from Jakarta on the cabinet crisis (Harahap of Masjumi asked to form a government) says Harian Rakjat printed dozens of telegrams from SOBSI, BTI, the women's organisation Gerwani and Pemuda Rakjat in
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
Elections in Indonesia on Thursday
Arnhemsche Courant, 27 Sept 1955: preview of Indonesia's first general elections (29 Sept), expecting a communist-Masjumi contest and noting that women have emerged as a political force within existing parties. Gerwani is not named; useful context for the 1955 elections.
Umi Sardjono at the WIDF 10th anniversary: women's rights in the Konstituante (Bintang Timur, 9 March 1956)
Front page (with pp. 2-4) of Bintang Timur, Jakarta, 9 Mar 1956. One column reports the 10th-anniversary celebration of the Women's International Democratic Federation (GWDS/WIDF) at the SBKA hall, Manggarai: Gerwani chair Umi Sardjono urges women's organisations to get women's rights written into the Konstituante, cit
Discussions and vote on Hungary resolutions in parliament
De Nieuwsgier parliamentary report (16 Nov 1956) on the debate over resolutions on Soviet "interference" in Hungary (Anwar Harjono) and an appeal to the UN (Adam Malik). Umi Sardjono (listed Pembangunan faction) spoke against the Anwar resolution; it passed 102 to 29, the Malik motion 71 to 0.
Parliament regrets Soviet interference in Hungary
De Nieuwsgier report (16 Nov 1956) on parliament adopting the Anwar Harjono resolution regretting Soviet interference in Hungary (102 for, 29 against, PKI etc.) and an amended Adam Malik motion (71 for) on UN troop withdrawals. Umi Sardjono is listed among the Malik motion's co-submitters (Pembangunan).
Woman and the Changing Marriage Pattern of Indonesia (van der Kroef, 1957)
Journal article by Justus M. van der Kroef (American Catholic Sociological Review, June 1957) on women's status and marriage in Indonesia: adat versus Islamic law, polygamy, divorce rates, colonial and revolutionary change. Surveys women's organisations (Perwari, Kowani) and notes Kowani's early left turn and WIDF cont
Surabaya Post, 21 January 1957, p. 2: Sujoso's lecture on a visit to Moscow
Surabaya Post p. 2, 21 January 1957: Malang report on Masyumi MP A.W. Sujoso's lecture on the parliamentary mission to Moscow, mocking Soviet life and saying Indonesian women, 'surely also Gerwani', would reject Soviet views on free unions. Gerwani appears only as a foil in anti-communist rhetoric.
US Embassy Despatches on PKI Tactics and the SOBSI Women's Labour Seminar, May 1961
US Embassy Djakarta despatches to the State Department, May 1961. One reports conservative views (Mohammad Roem) that the PKI won a limited victory by gaining legal recognition. The other reports the SOBSI National Seminar on Labouring Women (Jakarta, 11-14 May 1961), attended by Djuanda and Gerwani central board membe
Record of Mao Zedong and Jiang Qing's Reception of Hartini Sukarno, 29 Sep 1962
Chinese Foreign Ministry record (not reviewed by Mao) of Mao Zedong and Jiang Qing receiving Hartini Sukarno in Beijing, 29 Sept 1962, with Deng Yingchao, Wang Guangmei, Chen Yi and Ambassador Sukarni present (Wilson Center; trans. David Cowhig). Topics: assassination attempts on Sukarno, West Irian settlement, Nasakom
FBIS, 4 June 1963: Indonesian women condemn Java riots (Gerwani letter)
FBIS-monitored Xinhua item (4 Jun 1963): the National Women's Federation of China received a letter from the Central Council of the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani) condemning the May 1963 anti-Chinese 'racist counterrevolutionary' riots, blaming ex-Masjumi, PSI and other elements with foreign subversive agents ai
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
Issue of New Age, weekly organ of the Communist Party of India, 21 November 1965 (Vol. XIII No. 47; OCR very rough). Mainly Indian politics (Shastri, US food blackmail, Indo-Soviet friendship, Bangalore peace conference). It reports the WIDF Council session in Salzburg (24-27 Oct 1965, 20th anniversary), where a Chines
Conversation between Khrushchev and Sukarno, 9 June 1961
Soviet record (top secret) of Khrushchev's 9 June 1961 conversation with Sukarno, translated by Angela Greenfield (Wilson Center). Khrushchev warns of US intelligence ties to rebels and army officers; Sukarno discusses banned parties, Nasakom, his backing for the PKI and consultation with Aidit, and distrust of Subandr
The Rise and Fall of the Djakarta-Peking Axis, 1949-1966 (Ju, 1967)
PhD dissertation (Mississippi State, 1967) by Woo Jung Ju on Sino-Indonesian relations, 1949-1966, from Bandung to the collapse of the Jakarta-Peking axis. It follows the PKI's resurgence under Aidit, Guided Democracy, the Malaysia Confrontation and the planned second Afro-Asian Conference, largely from Western press a
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