Women in prison: tears at Bukit Duri (photo story, Berita Harian, 1965)
Berita Harian, 9 December 1965, p. 4: UPI photographer Kurnipi visits Bukit Duri women's prison, Jakarta (about 110 detainees), among them Gerwani leaders and MPs Salawati Daud and Umi Sardjono, plus Emi binti Madali, 20, who 'confessed' to killing General Yani, and two small children jailed with their mothers. Women p
Evening Post (Wellington), 10 Dec 1965, commentary on the Indonesian Communists after the 30 September coup. It repeats the Lubang Buaya atrocity claim that six generals were 'horribly mutilated by doe-eyed girls' of the PKI's 'Gerwani' women's movement and thrown into a well, with Communist youth dancing at Halim; als
Sukarno the Key to Any Revolution in Indonesia (Evening Post, 10 December 1965), headline clipping
Headline-only clipping 'Sukarno the Key to Any Revolution in Indonesia' from the Evening Post of 10 Dec 1965; no further text. The full article repeats the Gerwani Lubang Buaya claim.
Sukarno the Key to Any Revolution in Indonesia (Evening Post, 10 December 1965), clipping on Gerwani claim
Clipping from the Evening Post of 10 Dec 1965: says Sukarno could not back the coup because of its brutality, and that six generals were 'horribly mutilated by doe-eyed girls' of the PKI's 'Gerwani' women's movement and thrown into a well, while Communist youth danced at Halim. This is the Lubang Buaya sexual-atrocity
Armed Forces Information Centre, Intisari Berita, 10 December 1965: Chaerul Saleh condemns Lubang Buaya terror, Perwa...
Armed Forces Information Centre bulletin, 10 Desember 1965. Arrest round-up with 'a Gerwani'; Chaerul Saleh condemns the 'terror of Lubang Buaya in which Gerwani took an important part' and announces expulsion of Perwari members also in Gerwani.
Indonesia, a new Vietnam (Drammens Tidende og Buskeruds Blad, 13 December 1965)
Drammens Tidende og Buskeruds Blad (Norway), 13 Dec 1965, p. 4 (page image): Albert Henrik Mohn's Jakarta report 'Indonesia - a new Vietnam', surveying the PKI's history from 1920 and Aidit's leadership. It lists PKI mass organisations, including SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat and the women's organisation 'Gerwani' with rou
Indonesia, a new Vietnam (Drammens Tidende og Buskeruds Blad, 13 December 1965), OCR text
Drammens Tidende og Buskeruds Blad (Norway), 13 Dec 1965, p. 4 (OCR text): Albert Henrik Mohn's Jakarta report 'Indonesia - a new Vietnam', surveying the PKI's history from 1920 and Aidit's leadership. It lists PKI mass organisations, including SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat and the women's organisation 'Gerwani' with rough
Armed Forces Information Centre, Intisari Berita, 14 December 1965: Sukarno rejects stories of mutilation at Lubang B...
Armed Forces Information Centre bulletin, 14 Desember 1965. Reports Sukarno's address (13 Dec) rejecting press stories of genital mutilation and eye-gouging at Lubang Buaya; 18 Gerwani among 228 detained in Wonosobo; a Gerwani leader beaten by her own members.
Armed Forces Information Centre, Intisari Berita, 15 December 1965: arrest roundup and four 'shot dead for fleeing'
Armed Forces Information Centre bulletin, 15 Desember 1965. Arrest round-up noting 'a Gerwani' among 61 arrested by Kodam Diponegoro and among 10 by Kodam Brawijaya, with four 'shot dead for fleeing'.
Indonesia, a new Vietnam? (Haugesunds Avis, 17 December 1965)
Haugesunds Avis (Norway), 17 Dec 1965, p. 8 (page image): Albert Henrik Mohn's Jakarta article 'Indonesia, a new Vietnam?' on PKI history, Aidit's rise and party growth to 3 million. It names PKI mass organisations (SOBSI, peasant front, Pemuda Rakyat, and the women's organisation Gerwani with about 1.5 million members
Indonesia, a new Vietnam? (Haugesunds Avis, 17 December 1965), OCR text
Haugesunds Avis (Norway), 17 Dec 1965, p. 8 (OCR text): Albert Henrik Mohn's Jakarta article 'Indonesia, a new Vietnam?' on PKI history, Aidit's rise and party growth to 3 million. It names PKI mass organisations (SOBSI, peasant front, Pemuda Rakyat, and the women's organisation Gerwani with about 1.5 million members)
Airgram A-398: List of PKI Leaders and Their Whereabouts, 17 Dec 1965
US Embassy airgram A-398, 17 Dec 1965, listing PKI leadership bodies after May 1965 and fugitive leaders' whereabouts. Places Suharti (Gerwani chair, head of the PKI women's department), Umi Sardjono, Setiati Surasto and Mudjiatun in PKI organs; no women in the whereabouts list.
Armed Forces Information Centre, Intisari Berita, 18 December 1965: KKO tour of Cilacap and fleeing villagers
Armed Forces Information Centre bulletin, 18 Desember 1965. Last instalment of a KKO tour of Cilacap: fleeing 'PKI/Gestapu, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani' are driven by warning fire and a young woman cries 'I'm not Gerwani, I'm a Marhaen woman', told as a 'touching joke'.
Armed Forces Information Centre, Intisari Berita, 22 December 1965 (Hari Ibu): four more Gerwani girls arrested
Armed Forces Information Centre bulletin, 22 Desember 1965 (Hari Ibu). 'Komdak VII Djaya ringkus 4 Gerwani lagi': four Gerwani girls aged 14–27 whose 'confession' describes recruitment by a neighbourhood head, firearms training at Lubang Buaya in July 1965, a public-kitchen night and witnessing the torture of bound peo
Appeal for Solidarity with Gerwani and the Women of Indonesia (WIDF Bureau, June 1966)
WIDF Bureau appeal (Berlin, 2-5 June 1966), German original with English translation and notes by Faye Chan (2015). It states that tens of thousands of Indonesian women were murdered or are held and tortured, that Gerwani's leaders and several thousand members were arrested, and that Gerwani and other women's organisat
Angkatan Bersendjata, 4 January 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 4 Jan 1966. Reports the arrest in Tangerang of Sariningsih, called a 'Gerwani Lubang Buaya' fugitive, and a joke on Gerwani 'savagery'; also 1,204 detainees (83 women) in South Jakarta.
Worries of the Indonesian housewife
Algemeen Handelsblad feature from Surabaya (1966-01-04) on housewives and domestic servants at Lebaran and rising prices. A key passage repeats the Lubang Buaya claim that Gerwani members had military training and, per arrested women's confessions, took part in the generals' murders, and alleges Gerwani members worked
Angkatan Bersendjata, 6 January 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 6 Jan 1966. Antara claims PKI leaders 'admitted' Gerwani and Pemuda Rakyat were physically trained in North Sumatra before 1 October; two Pekalongan women 'known as Gerwani' forced to recite the shahada; Soetiman's 'confession'.
Angkatan Bersendjata, 10 January 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 10 Jan 1966. Padang report that PKI leader Muin 'confessed' the party's self-dissolution was a tactic and was arrested with two Pemuda Rakyat members and 'a Gerwani chairwoman'; dismissals at Gadjah Mada.
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.
Angkatan Bersendjata, 14 January 1966: 'Half-Hour Battle at Lubang Buaya'
Angkatan Bersendjata, 14 Jan 1966. Feature from Soetiman's 17 Dec 1965 statement: Gerwani and Pemuda Rakyat 'warmly welcomed' Yani's body and fought a half-hour battle on 2 October. Gerwani militarised but no mutilation or sexual element yet.
Angkatan Bersendjata, 15 January 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 15 Jan 1966. Veterans' Legion denounces a rival delegation at the Havana Tricontinental of 'PKI/Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani, SOBSI elements'; Siliwangi bans all writings of the PKI and its affiliates.
Angkatan Bersendjata (Weekly), 30 January 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata Sunday edition, 30 Jan 1966. Includes the soldiers' joke 'Gerwani Phobi' equating Gerwani with a kuntilanak who 'snatches' genitals, an early instance of the sexual slander; plus Nasution's daughter posed with an RPKAD rifle.
Berita Yudha, 30 January 1966 (Sunday edition)
Berita Yudha, 30 Januari 1966 (edisi Minggu). Wayang-based moral column 'Tepa-Palupi (60): Bhatari Durga' retells the cursing of Uma into the demon Durga; Gerwani is invoked implicitly through the female-demon figure.
Angkatan Bersendjata, 31 January 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 31 Jan 1966. The 'Pos Piket' column jokes about 'kuntilanak GERWANI'; also a 'confession' by Partindo official Waridjan and railway police seizure of 'a suitcase of human hair'.
Angkatan Bersendjata, 7 February 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 7 Feb 1966. Yogyakarta report that BTI member Suradijo, called an 'executioner of Lubang Buaya', was shot 'fleeing'; his reported confession says Gerwani members tortured and stabbed the generals while singing.
Berita Yudha, 7 February 1966
Berita Yudha, 7 Februari 1966. Boxed Antara report: BTI member Suradijo, called an 'executioner of Lubang Buaya', shot dead while 'escaping'; his reported confession involves Gerwani members stabbing the generals.
Subandrio asks China for 'mutual respect'
Gereformeerd Gezinsblad roundup (8 Feb 1966, p.3) of Indonesia-China tension (Subandrio, student protest at Chinese embassy) and Indonesian-Japanese trade talks. One paragraph reports that communist Suradijo, shot while escaping, had tortured General Parman with a bamboo spear 'in front of a group of screaming women an
Swiss press, 15 Feb 1966: PKI leader Njono on trial in Jakarta (defence counsel Trees Soenito)
La Suisse, 15 Feb 1966, UPI/AFP wire from Singapore on the opening of the first coup trial in Jakarta. Defendant Njono, PKI Central Committee member, denies plotting against Sukarno. His only lawyer is Mrs Trees Soenito, aged 50, daughter of a former Dutch official in Indonesia and wife of a left-wing Indonesian leader
Angkatan Bersendjata, 11 March 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 11 Mar 1966 (Supersemar day). Regional column reports Pasaman husbands divorcing wives who are Gerwani, and release of 37 ex-detainees in Pati including six ex-Gerwani; PGRI petition to dissolve the PKI.