251 dead in Central Java; women demonstrate against the PKI
Leeuwarder Courant, 9 November 1965, p. 5: report that about 10,000 housewives, schoolgirls and actresses marched in Jakarta to the National Front office demanding dissolution of Gerwani and state control of communist-run schools, while over a million demanded the PKI's dissolution. Governor Mokhtar says 251 were kille
Women Denounce Reds (Sunraysia Daily, 10 November 1965)
Sunraysia Daily (Mildura), 10 November 1965, p. 14, AAP/UPI report from Jakarta that 10,000 women (housewives, students, actresses) denounced Gerwani as 'a disgrace to Indonesian womanhood' and demanded its dissolution. They marched from Suharto's headquarters to the National Front with bands and batons and handed a pe
Women Denounce Reds (Sunraysia Daily, 10 November 1965), duplicate
Sunraysia Daily (Mildura), 10 November 1965, p. 14, AAP/UPI report from Jakarta that 10,000 women (housewives, students, actresses) denounced Gerwani as 'a disgrace to Indonesian womanhood' and demanded its dissolution. They marched from Suharto's headquarters to the National Front with bands and batons and handed a pe
Berita Yudha, 10 November 1965. Heroes' Day issue: the humour column 'Soal silet' treats the razor-blade mutilation story as common knowledge ('barbaric deeds of Gerwani who slashed our generals with razor blades').
Peking Review no. 46, 12 November 1965: anti-communist and anti-China activities of Indonesian right-wing forces
Peking Review Vol. VIII No. 46, 12 November 1965, a Chinese weekly. Contents: October Revolution anniversary, the Wang Chieh campaign, the Renmin Ribao/Hongqi refutation of the CPSU 'united action', and Indonesia reports on the anti-China current, a Chinese protest to Jakarta and 'rabid anti-communist' activities of ri
Telegram 1425: Joint Situation Report no. 51, 12 Nov 1965
US Embassy Joint Situation Report no. 51, 12 Nov 1965: Army-Sukarno contest plus a security section on riots in Makassar, a massacre of 200 PKI prisoners in Bone and arrests in Jakarta. No Gerwani mention; shows how killings were framed as a 'security' item.
Indonesia: KOTI Overhaul Could Show Where Power Is (Canberra Times, 15 November 1965)
Canberra Times, 15 Nov 1965, p. 5 (AAP): Suharto says Sukarno's KOTI command will be overhauled; analysis of the Sukarno-Army power struggle and Subandrio's fate. Reports that 1,000 women marched on government offices backing the anti-Communist purge and presented a National Front resolution announcing suspension of Ge
Indonesia: KOTI Overhaul Could Show Where Power Is (Canberra Times, 15 November 1965), duplicate
Canberra Times, 15 Nov 1965, p. 5 (AAP): Suharto says Sukarno's KOTI command will be overhauled; analysis of the Sukarno-Army power struggle and Subandrio's fate. Reports that 1,000 women marched on government offices backing the anti-Communist purge and presented a National Front resolution announcing suspension of Ge
Berita Harian, 15 Nov 1965: communist woman detained in North Sumatra
Berita Harian, 15 Nov 1965 (UPI/Antara, lead only). North Sumatra authorities detained a woman, said to be a Gerwani member, accused of attempting a murder and bearing a 'secret mark' on her thigh. The 'secret mark' trope echoes slander about Gerwani women.
Berita Yudha, 16 November 1965. Puspen AD report that the PKI in Ambon dissolved itself and its former Maluku head Umar Lestaluhu instructed PKI, PR, Gerwani, SOBSI, Lekra, IPPI, CGMI and BTI to follow.
Pravda, 17 Nov 1965: The Situation in Indonesia
Pravda, 17 November 1965 (No. 321), 'The Situation in Indonesia': TASS dispatches of 16 November on the removal of 62 MPs, a purge operation in Jepara (315 arrests), a curfew in Makassar and a planned army purge. Gerwani is named once, among left-wing organisations (with SOBSI and BTI) banned in the Moluccas by Brig. G
Pravda, 16 Nov 1965: Indonesia, Gerwani banned in the Moluccas (excerpt)
Pravda no. 321, 16 November 1965 (excerpt). TASS dispatch from Jakarta: 62 MPs (about 25 per cent) removed for alleged involvement in the 30 September Movement; the Moluccas commander Brig. Gen. Busiri temporarily bans the PKI, SOBSI, Gerwani and BTI; 315 arrested near Jepara; curfew in Makassar; planned army purge. Ot
Indonesia: slap for Omar Dhani
Algemeen Handelsblad column (1965-11-18) on post-coup Indonesia: Suharto slaps Omar Dhani, rumours of poisoning, false communist accusations, and an RPKAD anecdote. Reports that Mrs. Subandrio, chair of Kowani, announced Gerwani had been expelled from the federation; Berita Yudha mocked her, and Mrs. Nasution reportedl
Armed Forces Information Centre, Intisari Berita, 18 November 1965: arrests in Central Java and 'self-dissolution' of...
Armed Forces Information Centre bulletin, 18 November 1965. Round-up from Central Java reports 1,636 arrests 'including 16 Gerwani members' and 'self-dissolution' of the PKI and mass organisations in several towns; a second Gerwani item names a woman.
Telegram 1485 to Secretary of State, 18 Nov 1965
US Embassy telegram, 18 Nov 1965, commenting that the Action Committee to Crush the 30 September Movement (KAP-Gestapu) is a loose coordinating organ working with the Army. Political-structure context; no Gerwani content.
And shame (Solo, November 1965)
Limburgsch Dagblad, 20 November 1965, p. 5: correspondent's column from Solo. Paratroopers daily parade 'enemies of the people', yesterday three Gerwani members, described as involved in the massacres 'in the most dissolute manner', forced to lie face down on hot asphalt before a passive crowd. It also describes ex-may
Telegram 1516 to Secretary of State, 20 Nov 1965
US Embassy telegram 1516, 20 Nov 1965, relaying Yugoslav and Australian secondhand accounts that PKI activists relied on Sukarno, claimed no foreknowledge of the 30 September Movement and expected the party to vanish for years. Context on PKI grassroots confusion.
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
Armed Forces Information Centre, Intisari Berita, 22 November 1965: arrest of Ny. Suning and 'self-dissolution' of Ge...
Armed Forces Information Centre bulletin, 22 November 1965. Arrest in Tebet of Ny. Suning, chair of Gerwani's Jakarta Raya DPD, under an alias; Puspen AD report on the 'self-dissolution' of Gerwani, Baperki, IPPI and Partindo in Purwodadi.
Berita Yudha, 23 November 1965. Front page: Maluku Pepelrada dissolves the PKI and its mass organisations and detains 279 on Ambon in religious language denying the 'godless' PKI the right to live; Gerwani item on p. 2.
Berita Yudha, 24 November 1965. Antara: police and army officer at Harau (Payakumbuh), assisted by villagers, seize 38 Gerwani and 39 PKI members and 'green clothing' and an Aidit book.
Berita Yudha, 26 November 1965. Humour box 'Lagi-lagi soal silet': a lecturer asks 'is there a Gerwani here? why is there a razor blade?', showing the Lubang Buaya razor-blade slander as a classroom joke.
US Consulate Surabaya Joint Sitrep 17, 24-26 November 1965: the PKI 'being slaughtered by Ansor' across East Java, bodies in rivers, Ludruk actors killed and a 'Holy War' coloration. Graphic contemporary evidence of the East Java killings.
Armed Forces Information Centre, Intisari Berita, 27 November 1965: Klaten training claims and 'razored Heroes' allusion
Armed Forces Information Centre bulletin, 27 November 1965. Serial 'Mengikuti Operasi RPKAD' says the PKI in Klaten held training for Gerwani, PR and BTI, and insists its claims are as true as 'the Gerwani who razored our Heroes of the Revolution'.
Armed Forces Information Centre, Intisari Berita, 28 November 1965 (weekly edition): 1 October attributed to PKI mass...
Armed Forces Information Centre bulletin, 28 November 1965 (edisi mingguan). Lead 'Militer' feature attributes 1 October to the PKI and to its mass organisations, 'especially Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani', as perpetrators, and insists on crushing Gestapu 'to the roots'.
Indonesia: golden time
Algemeen Handelsblad column 'Golden time' (1965-11-29) on post-coup Indonesia: loyalty advertisements in newspapers, frozen bank accounts for suspected persons, price rises and Conefo stamps, a quarrel in a Malang court. A final item, 'Gerwani, kill her', describes villagers near Tasikmalaya chasing 'Gerwani' with kniv
Armed Forces Information Centre, Intisari Berita, 29 November 1965: Gerwani dissolutions in South Sumatra and Klaten...
Armed Forces Information Centre bulletin, 29 November 1965. Gerwani appears three times: 300 Gerwani members among 1,300 'spontaneously' dissolving in South Sumatra, Gerwani ranting dissolved in Muara Enim, and a Klaten claim that the PKI 'ordered Gerwani to strip naked' while dancing before armoured cars.
Berita Yudha, 30 November 1965. Antara story that 'executioners of Lubang Buaya' interrogated in Bandung, including 19-year-old Sujati alias Jossy, 'confessed' Aidit promised a 'Golden Horse Star' for killing the generals.
Airgram A-353: Joint Weeka no. 45, 30 Nov 1965
US Embassy Joint Weeka no. 45 (airgram A-353), 30 Nov 1965: Nasution says repression of the PKI has reached 'mass executions' in several provinces; Army-Sukarno contest. Note: Gerwani not specifically named in the excerpt; high-level context.
Telegram 1025A (1591) to Secretary of State, 30 Nov 1965
US Embassy telegram, 30 Nov 1965, recording a Polish diplomat's claim that a PKI Central Committee member was 'elated' on 1 October and that only an Aidit-led 'special group' knew of the plot. Secondhand diplomatic evidence on PKI involvement.