Sukarno urges communist to support transfer of New Guinea; Mrs Lips-Odinot, interpreter of 'peaceful' Netherlands
Algemeen Handelsblad (1954-04-05): President Sukarno received participants of the Gerwani congress; Dutch communist MP Rie Lips-Odinot conveyed the sympathy of the 'peace-loving part of the Dutch people'. Sukarno replied that good relations require return of New Guinea, and she endorsed Indonesia's claim. The paper cal
Untruthful communist business: Gerwani congress in Jakarta
De Maasbode, 5 Apr 1954: Sukarno receives at the palace women attending the Gerwani congress in Jakarta (described as a continuation of the communist Gerwis). The Dutch communist MP Mrs Lips-Odinot conveys the 'peace-loving' Dutch people's support; Sukarno says New Guinea is the main barrier to good relations. Shows Ge
Sukarno addresses 'peace-loving Netherlands'
Leeuwarder Courant, 5 April 1954, p. 2: Dutch regional paper reports Sukarno receiving participants of Gerwani's Jakarta congress (Gerwani called a communist Gerwis continuation). Communist MP Rie Lips-Odinot voiced Dutch peace-lovers' sympathy; Sukarno said no good relations are possible until New Guinea is returned,
Communist MP spoke on New Guinea: reception with Sukarno
Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (5 Apr 1954): President Sukarno receives participants of a Gerwani congress (described as continuing the communist Gerwis). Dutch CPN MP Rie Lips-Odinot conveys sympathy of the 'peace-loving part of the Dutch people' for Indonesia's New Guinea claim; Sukarno answers that no good relationship i
Rie Lips in Indonesia: arrival for the second Gerwis congress
De Waarheid, 14 Apr 1954, p. 5: report on NVB chair Rie Lips and British writer Monica Felton arriving in Jakarta for the second Gerwis congress, warmly welcomed. Lips described Dutch women's protests against the colonial wars and support for conscientious objectors. The opening reception was attended by Jakarta mayor
Men and women must build the state together
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 14 Apr 1954, p. 3: President Sukarno receives Gerwani delegates after their five-day congress in Jakarta, saying women's problems are solved by a just state built by men and women together. Dutch MP Rie Lips-Odinot raises West Irian; WIDF vice-president Monica Felton lectures; Australia
Position of women discussed
Java-Bode, 23 April 1954, p. 2: Gerwani held a Wednesday-evening meeting at Adhuc Stat to welcome foreign women's delegates. Australian delegate Allison Diekei, Dutch delegate Rie Lips and Soviet delegate Alexandra Kholopova spoke on women's position in their countries; Kholopova also described study opportunities for
But what is the reality? Travel report on workers in Indonesia
De Waarheid, 1 May 1954, p. 4: travel report by Mak Meyer, a Dutch union delegate to the SOBSI conference, on Indonesian workers' misery: poverty, homelessness, factory conditions and wages, child labour, becak drivers, and figures such as 35,000 women dying in childbirth yearly. Portrays SOBSI and PKI as leaders and u
Harian Rakjat, 3 May 1954, p. 1 (May Day)
Harian Rakjat, 3 Mei 1954, hlm. 1 (Hari Buruh). May Day 1954 front page: 500,000 people at Lapangan Merdeka; guests include Rie Lips-Odinot, Dutch MP and women's movement leader; attacks on a PSI MP.
Impressive ceremony on the invasion beach (with item on Gerwani and the Union)
Het Vaderland front page (8 Jun 1954) opening with Dutch resistance veterans' wreath-laying at the Normandy invasion beaches, followed by Indonesian news. A short passage 'Indon. comm. women and the Union' says the Indonesian feminist movement Gerwani, recently hostess to delegations of communist women from Russia and
Latest news from Indonesia (June 1954)
Antara news roundup, Indische Courant voor Nederland, 16 Jun 1954, p. 4 (5-9 June). Relevant item: the Gerwani central board urges the government to abrogate the Netherlands-Indonesian Union unilaterally and pledges support. Other items cover foreigner registration, trade with Yugoslavia, oil wells, smuggling and the c
Joint declaration of thirty parties (abolition of the Netherlands-Indonesian Union)
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (24 Jun 1954, p.1): the Jakarta cooperation committee of about thirty parties and organisations, including PNI, PKI, Partai Buruh, Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, SOBSI, BTI and Wanita Rakjat, issued a joint declaration demanding immediate abolition of the Indonesian-Dutch Union, blaming Dutch imper
Indonesian parties: 'Declare Count Van Bylandt persona non grata'
Het Rotterdamsch Parool report (2 Jul 1954, p.3): the Jakarta committee of cooperating parties, 31 parties and organisations including PKI, PNI, Partai Buruh, NU, Perbepsi, Gerwani and SOBSI, urges the government to declare Dutch High Commissioner Count Van Bylandt persona non grata after his statement, and to recall t
Indonesian parties demand Van Bylandt be declared persona non grata
Nieuw Utrechtsch Dagblad, 2 July 1954, p. 3: a committee of 31 cooperating Indonesian parties and organisations, including PKI, PNI, Partai Buruh, NU, Sobsi and Gerwani, urges the government to declare Dutch High Commissioner Count Van Bylandt persona non grata over his statement, and to recall the Indonesian delegatio
Action against Netherlands High Commissioner
Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (2 Jul 1954): a committee of cooperating parties and organisations, including Gerwani with PKI, PNI, NU and SOBSI, urges the government to declare Netherlands High Commissioner Count van Bylandt persona non grata, recall the delegation from The Hague, end the Union and form a West Irian admini
Indonesian parties act against High Commissioner: committee asks unilateral end of Union
Ons Noorden (3 Jul 1954): a committee of 31 cooperating parties and organisations, Gerwani among them with PKI, PNI, NU and SOBSI, urges the government to declare Netherlands High Commissioner Count van Bylandt persona non grata, recall the delegation from The Hague, end the Netherlands–Indonesia Union and form a West
Indonesian parties act against High Commissioner: committee asks unilateral end of Union
Overijsselsch Dagblad (3 Jul 1954), truncated version of the Reuter/ANP item: a committee of 31 cooperating parties including Gerwani, PKI, PNI and SOBSI asks that Netherlands High Commissioner van Bylandt be declared persona non grata and the delegation recalled from The Hague. Text breaks off.
Indonesian workers greet Piet van Staveren: telegrams on his release
De Waarheid, 6 Aug 1954, p. 3: report of congratulatory telegrams from Indonesia on Piet van Staveren's release from Dutch prison, including from SOBSI, SBPP, Pemuda Rakjat (200,000 members), Sarbupri and the World Federation of Trade Unions. A telegram signed GERWANI, from 'Indonesian women and mothers', thanks him fo
Mass demonstration in Jakarta demands incorporation of West Irian
De Locomotief, 6 Dec 1954: tens of thousands rally on Merdeka Square, Jakarta, organised by the West Irian liberation committee with women's associations. Speakers include Umi Sardjono of Gerwani, who read out the resolution demanding unilateral incorporation of West Irian, severing relations with the Netherlands and a
Mass demonstration in Jakarta demands incorporation of West Irian (duplicate copy)
Second copy of the De Locomotief report of 6 Dec 1954 on the Merdeka Square mass meeting for West Irian. Umi Sardjono of Gerwani spoke and read the resolution demanding unilateral incorporation, severing of Dutch relations and abrogation of the agreements; text differs slightly in wording ('colonial Dutch government').
Mass demonstration on Medan Merdeka for West Irian
De Nieuwsgier front-page report (6 Dec 1954) on a mass demonstration at Medan Merdeka, Jakarta, organised by the West Irian liberation committee with women's organisations, demanding incorporation of Irian and rupture with the Netherlands. Speakers included Mrs. Sudarman Hadikusumo, Mrs. Kartowijono (Perwari) and Mrs.
Mass demonstration in Jakarta for incorporation of West Irian
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 15 Dec 1954, p. 3: Jakarta mass rally of tens of thousands for the incorporation of West Irian, organised by the liberation committee with the women's organisations' central body. Umi Sardjono of Gerwani reads the resolution demanding severance of relations with the Netherlands; Kartowi
Indonesian Mother's Day: reader's contribution on the 1928 women's congress
Reader's contribution in the Surinamese De Surinamer (22 Dec 1954) on Indonesian Mother's Day, commemorating the 1928 women's congress, Kartini, and women ministers Maria Ulfa Santoso and S.K. Trimurti; contrasts past seclusion with present rights and compares Indonesian women's social work with Paramaribo. Gerwani is
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.
Sukarno's 'find'
Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 15 November 1955, p. 1: hostile Dutch editorial on Sukarno's Heroes' Day speech alleging a foreign plot. Among causes of his declining popularity it lists 'the indignation of the organised Indonesian women, who do not appreciate the marriage escapades of their president'. Gerwani is not name
West Irian soon a province: liberation committee letter to Dutch parliament
De Nieuwsgier item (7 Mar 1956): after Dutch parliamentary reports on making West Irian a Dutch territory, the West Irian Liberation Action Committee, in a letter signed by Mrs. Sudarman, Umi Sardjono and Mrs. Sutedjo, urged the Volkskongres to press for a provincial administration for West Irian and handed over Rp 1,3
Sukarno: with two billion people's support Indonesia will win; West Irian (Renmin Ribao, 23 December 1957)
Renmin Ribao, 23 Dec 1957, p. 6 (Xinhua, Jakarta): Sukarno receives WIDF vice-president Maria Maddalena Rossi, invited to Gerwani's Third National Congress, and says two billion people back Indonesia on West Irian; second item reports Djuanda placing the West Irian struggle under the National Security Council and the D
Sukarno: with two billion people's support Indonesia will win; West Irian (Renmin Ribao, 23 December 1957)
Renmin Ribao, 23 Dec 1957, p. 6 (Xinhua, Jakarta): Sukarno receives WIDF vice-president Maria Maddalena Rossi, invited to Gerwani's Third National Congress, and says two billion people back Indonesia on West Irian; second item reports Djuanda placing the West Irian struggle under the National Security Council and the D
Captain Cook with strangely quiet children: the Dutch house, a cold deserted harbour
Nieuwe Haarlemsche Courant, 20 January 1958, p. 3: reporter's account of the arrival at IJmuiden of the Captain Cook with about a thousand Dutch and Indo-Dutch evacuees expelled from Indonesia after the December 1957 takeover of Dutch enterprises. It records broken families, fears and a claim that communist union cars
Sukarno, the master intriguer
Profile of President Sukarno in the Curaçao weekly Amigoe di Curaçao (18 Feb 1958, p. 4), portraying him as a charming but ruthless 'master intriguer' and authoritarian. It narrates his career and notes women's indignation at his 1954 marriage to Hartini despite his book Sarinah. Gerwani is not mentioned.