Advertisement page: consumer contest prize winners
Newspaper advertisement page (1 Apr 1952) in De Vrije Pers listing prize winners of a consumer contest (Fiat 500, bicycles, radios and others) with long lists of names. No Gerwis/Gerwani content; an archive tag linking it to Sumiyarsi Siwirini Caropeboka rests only on a surname fragment in the list.
Impressive demonstrations throughout Indonesia (May Day 1952)
De Waarheid, 2 May 1952, p. 3: dispatch on May Day demonstrations across Indonesian cities by committees including SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat and the women's organisation Gerwis; Jakarta rally at Merdeka Square. Reports government attempts to prevent them, including bans in Surabaya on discussing germ warfare and carrying po
Analysis of Communist Propaganda in Indonesia (OIR 5714.7, 1952)
OSS/State Department report OIR 5714.7 (30 May 1952) analysing PKI propaganda: party structure, front organisations, relations with international communism and themes. Names Gerwis under Mrs Mudigdo as the communist vehicle competing with Kowani for women, and BTI under S. Sardjono; appendices cover publishing, films,
August detainees: SOBSI wants mass demonstration in Surabaya
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1952-08-28, p. 2): at a Surabaya press conference the committee for victims of the August 1951 raids, with SOBSI, plans a 7 September mass demonstration outside the governor's and Brawijaya commander's residences demanding release of all arrestees. Committee secretary Miss Sulami blames the RT
Parliamentary Proceedings 1953, Vol. II (Sittings 12-25)
Official record (Risalah Perundingan) of the Indonesian parliament (DPR RI), 1953, vol. II, sittings 12-25 (from 30 January 1953). It covers the debate on the election bill for the Konstituante and DPR, army and defence bills, emergency laws and private-land restitution. Gerwani is not discussed. The only direct trace
Progress of the women's movement in East Java: Gerwis growth figures
De Waarheid, 6 May 1953, p. 5: dispatch citing two Gerwis women, Su... and Warinah, on the growth of Gerwis in East Java: districts up from 19 (early 1952) to 37, 120 branches plus 50 forming, 7,016 members, mainly women workers, peasants and self-employed. Illiteracy is the main obstacle, countered by courses attended
Gerwis and the coming cabinet
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1953-06-16, p. 2): Gerwis issues a statement on cabinet formation urging a government that withdraws measures harming women and the people, with a programme of protection for working and pregnant women, anti-unemployment measures, more education budget, price control, farm tools, ending region
Gerwis position
Java-Bode, 16 June 1953, p. 1: Gerwis statement on the formation of a new cabinet. It demands withdrawal of measures harming women and the people, with a programme of protection for working and pregnant women, fighting unemployment, higher education budget, price control, repeal of regional measures violating democrati
Gerwis and the coming cabinet
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (17 Jun 1953, p.2): Gerwis issues a statement on the formation of a new cabinet, calling for one that repeals measures harming women and people. Its programme demands protection of working women (especially pregnant), curbing unemployment, a bigger education and culture budget, price control
The destruction of 'De Vrije Pers'
Arnhemsche Courant, 26 Aug 1953: a small item says thousands of students and pupils, backed by the left-wing union SOBSI and Gerwis, demonstrated in Surabaya during the trial of 42 students over the wrecking of the Dutch-language daily De Vrije Pers, demanding dismissal of the case and curbs on the Dutch press. Rest of
Other trade unions: Sarbupri strike and BTI congress solidarity
De Vrije Pers fragment (17 Sep 1953) on trade-union reactions to the Sarbupri plantation workers' strike. It notes that the BTI's second congress, attended by SOBSI, Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwis representatives, declared solidarity with the strike and instructed its branches to support strikers.
CIA information report, 6 November 1953: Financial problems of communist front organizations
CIA information report, 6 Nov 1953: 'Financial Problems of Communist Front Organizations' (Indonesia). Reports that the World Peace Committee sought Rp 50,000 from a Chinese organisation and that GERWIS has not paid its monthly Rp 2,500 to SOBSI since January 1953 and has also asked for aid. One page; a single paragrap
Gerwis conference in Bandung: new marriage law necessary
De Waarheid, 18 Nov 1953, p. 5: short report that the West Java branches of Gerwis ended a two-day conference in Bandung, adopting a resolution demanding that the government draft a new marriage law quickly and set minimum labour conditions for women workers. Same item notes a SARBUPRI strike of about 200 workers at th
Indonesia: Miss Darmini of Gerwis (WIDF, 1954)
WIDF 1954 profile of Miss Darmini of GERWIS, reporting to a WIDF meeting. Membership rose from 6,000 at the 1951 first congress to 37,000 by 1953 and about 600,000 prior to the March 1954 second congress (as printed); the Union of Railway Workers' Wives affiliated. She describes campaigns on women's rights, maternity l
Illustrations from Joop Wolff's book on Indonesia: review mentions Gerwis marriage-law struggle
De Waarheid, 23 Jan 1954, p. 6: Annie Averink's review of Joop Wolff's Pegasus book 'Uit het rijk der duizend eilanden', based on a trip to Indonesia after the SOBSI congress of late 1952, with colonial-contrast views of Jakarta and kampongs. It notes that Gerwis, which organises workers' and peasants' wives, leads wom
With the Gerwis congress in sight: Jakarta feature on preparations
De Waarheid, 27 Jan 1954, p. 5: correspondent's Jakarta feature ahead of Gerwis's second congress (opening 26 March 1954), describing its literacy courses, hygiene campaigns, defence of women under customary law, wage struggles (Sampurna cigarette factory Surabaya, Kaliklatak coffee estate) with SARBUPRI, and the mass
Soviet Woman, Feb 1954: Rantijem, 'Our Unity Is Growing Stronger'
Soviet Woman, 28 Feb 1954, p. 30: article by Rantijem (SOBSI National Council member), written after her Nov 1953 USSR tour with a trade union delegation, on Indonesian women's conditions. Describes legal bars to women's state and foreign-firm work, unequal pay (4.30 rupees/day vs 155.49 subsistence minimum), no matern
Indonesian women in the cigarette industry and the Gerwis congress (photo caption)
De Waarheid, 10 Mar 1954, p. 5: photo caption only, stating that Indonesian women work in the cigarette industry, often have to struggle for better working conditions, and that the Gerwis congress is also of great significance for them. Accompanies the NVB's pre-congress coverage; no further text.
Women of Indonesia prepare their congress: Umi Sardjono excerpts from Harian Rakjat
De Waarheid, 10 Mar 1954, p. 5: excerpts from an article by Umi (Sardjono), Gerwis board member, in Harian Rakjat preparing Gerwis's second congress. She lists invitations to women's groups in the USSR, China, Netherlands, India and WIDF, and stresses plantation and factory women, mass dismissals driving women into pro
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
On the plantations: Rie Lips tells about Indonesia
De Waarheid, 12 May 1954, p. 5: Rie Lips's account of her Java trip: plantation workers' wages (about 3 rupiah per day), child labour on tea and rubber estates, and volunteer village schools. Quotes the Gerwani congress appeal that those who can read should teach others; Soviet delegate Alexandra Kolopowa speaks; photo
Mistakes of the past (on SOBSI and Gerwis)
Het Vrije Volk opinion piece 'Fouten van vroeger' (14 May 1954, p.15) on Indonesian labour relations: SOBSI has profited from foreign employers' past neglect, the government chooses political over economic paths, and when strike leaders are prosecuted SOBSI and the communist women's association Gerwis appear in court w
Advertising: Mrs Dickie on the Indonesian Women's Congress, Townsville
Townsville Daily Bulletin classified-advertising page, 22 May 1954, p. 7: mostly unrelated ads. A Building Workers' Industrial Union notice invites members and families to a film display and address on Monday 24 May by Mrs Dickie, wife of Rev. Dickie, 'just returned from the Indonesian Women's Congress'. Also a politic
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
For democratic marriage laws in Indonesia: protest against PP-19
De Waarheid, 27 Oct 1954, p. 5: report on the draft marriage regulation PP-19, which would allow polygamy for men and which tens of thousands of Indonesian women protested. Quotes Umi Sardjono, Gerwani chair, in Harian Rakjat urging mass action, mobilising all women's groups and unions (PP-19 also risks mass dismissals
Child labour on plantations: Pariani's Harian Rakjat article summarised
De Waarheid, 15 Dec 1954, p. 5: summary of an article by Pariani, Gerwani board member, in Harian Rakjat on child labour on Indonesian plantations. She notes laws banning it and unequal pay are not applied in practice; Dutch rubber estates use a quota system so families must bring wives and children to work. She urges
Enthusiastic welcome for Soviet trade union delegation in Semarang
De Locomotief, 2 Feb 1955: a Russian trade union delegation, a WFTU representative and SOBSI leaders are welcomed in Semarang by hundreds of SOBSI members, including Gerwani, forming guards of honour along the railway track. A lecture by the Russian guests is planned at the Gedung Kesenian.
Solidarity with strikers at Public Works
Brief Algemeen Indisch Dagblad item (1955-08-13, p. 2): during the Public Works workers' strike, the women's organisation Gerwani declared solidarity with the strikers, as did the metalworkers' union SBIM and the SOBSI branch in Bandung.
Pravda, 1956: working people of Indonesia respond to the 20th CPSU Congress
Pravda, No. 59, 1956 (c. 28 Feb), p. 3: Jakarta dispatch 'The working people of Indonesia speak' among foreign responses to the 20th CPSU Congress. SOBSI leaders (Sumandi, Sudoyo, Sudadi) praise the Congress; Gerwani leader Suharti says she followed it via newspapers and Moscow radio in Indonesian and is 'amazed' at So
Pravda, 1956: interview with Gerwani leader Suharti (excerpt)
Keyword-hit excerpt of Pravda, No. 59, 1956 (Jakarta dispatch of 27 Feb) on Indonesian reactions to the 20th CPSU Congress: SOBSI Jakarta secretary Sudadi and Suharti, 'leader of the women's organization Gerwani', who says she followed the Congress and admires Soviet progress toward communism. Followed by an unrelated