National Seminar on Peasant Women, 17-20 January 1961 (DPP Gerwani)
Gerwani national leadership (DPP) brochure of the National Seminar on Peasant Women, Jakarta, 17-20 January 1961 (published 1962). Contains the DPP keynote on peasant-women's emancipation against imperialism and feudal remnants, speeches by BTI, ministers and D.N. Aidit, regional delegates' land-tenure reports, a Mudig
Pravda, c. 27 Oct 1965: The Situation in Indonesia
Pravda, c. 27 October 1965 (No. 300), 'The Situation in Indonesia': two short TASS dispatches from Jakarta dated 26 October. They report Sukarno and Subandrio on the 30 September Movement and ongoing repression of the PKI. Gerwani is mentioned once, among organisations banned by military authorities in North Sulawesi a
CIA, The Indonesian Situation, report 61, 14 November 1965
CIA 'Indonesian Situation' report no. 61, 14 November 1965: continuing anti-communist action and mass killings, Aidit's presumed whereabouts, and 1,000 women demonstrating in Jakarta for permanent dissolution of the PKI women's auxiliary. Records an early anti-Gerwani mobilisation.
FO 371/180312: Internal Political Situation, Attempted Coup against Sukarno [3] (1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180312 (1965), 'Internal political situation, Attempted coup against Sukarno [3]', a volume of Embassy letters and telegrams from Djakarta (Ambassador Gilchrist, S.J.G. Cambridge), February to April 1965. It includes Gilchrist's character notes on Subandrio, Aidit and the generals, the tak
Mass arrests by Indonesian army: Communist offices burned (The Irish Times, 11 October 1965)
The Irish Times, 11 Oct 1965, p.66 (Reuter and AP): mass arrests of Communists in Jakarta (about 1,500 detained) after PKI headquarters were burned; Muslims and army organise processions demanding Aidit be hanged. Those arrested include Gerwani members, some alleged to have tortured the six generals, and a crowd of Mus
Mass arrests in Jakarta: anti-Communist drive (The Times, 11 October 1965)
The Times, 11 Oct 1965, p.9, whole page scan; only the first article, 'Mass arrests in Jakarta: anti-Communist drive', concerns Indonesia (other items cover Aden, Cuba, Bulgaria, etc.). It reports 1,500 detained, the burning of PKI headquarters, Muslim demands that Aidit be hanged, and that arrested Communists include
Evening Post (Wellington), 11 Oct 1965, AAP-Reuter/AP/NZPA report: mass arrests of Communists in Jakarta (about 1,500 detained in a week, 2,000 in Java) and fears of a Communist counter-terror. A Muslim mob ransacked a suburban Gerwani office, destroying files and furniture. Saura Islam alleges Communist women tried to
Fears of a New Surge of Red Terror in Indonesia (Evening Post, 11 October 1965), headline clipping
Headline-only clipping 'Fears of a New Surge of Red Terror in Indonesia' from the Evening Post of 11 Oct 1965; no further text.
Fears of a New Surge of Red Terror in Indonesia (Evening Post, 11 October 1965), opening clipping
Opening clipping of the Evening Post article of 11 Oct 1965: mass arrests of Communists continued in Jakarta, with fears of a retaliatory terror campaign; unofficial estimates of 1,500 detained in a week and 2,000 captured in Java. Gerwani is not mentioned in this fragment.
Fears of a New Surge of Red Terror in Indonesia (Evening Post, 11 October 1965), opening clipping (duplicate)
Opening clipping of the Evening Post article of 11 Oct 1965: mass arrests of Communists continued in Jakarta, with fears of a retaliatory terror campaign; unofficial estimates of 1,500 detained in a week and 2,000 captured in Java. Gerwani is not mentioned in this fragment.
Fears of a New Surge of Red Terror in Indonesia (Evening Post, 11 October 1965), clipping on Gerwani office raid
Clipping from the Evening Post, 11 Oct 1965: a Muslim mob ransacked a suburban Gerwani office, destroying files and burning furniture, after PKI headquarters was burned; Sukarno reportedly gave the Army 'full power'; PNI backs the Army; Saura Islam claims Communist women tried to kidnap Muslim women.
Demonstration against Subandrio
Leeuwarder Courant, 19 October 1965, p. 3: per Radio Jakarta the garrison commander Umar Wirahadikusumah temporarily banned the PKI in Jakarta and its allied organisations, including Sobsi and Gerwani, the latter accused of taking part in the torture and murder of six generals. Army 'cleansing operations' continue; Sub
L'Impartial, 22 October 1965: The purge continues in Indonesia
L'Impartial (La Chaux-de-Fonds), 22 Oct 1965, 'The purge continues in Indonesia' (UPI). Purges in army, public services, education and unions; the Tjakrabirawa guard is nearly cleansed. The military governor of Yogyakarta banned the PKI and affiliated organisations, including the youth front, the women's organisation G
The Anti-Communist Campaign in Indonesia: A Chronology (USIA R-158-65), Nov 1965
USIA Research and Reference Service report R-158-65 (November 1965), a chronology of the anti-Communist campaign in Indonesia, 1-20 October 1965, built on Indonesian and foreign radio and press. Gerwani entries: Suharto's 4 Oct TV statement linking the generals' murders to Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwani training grounds; NU
The masses did not rise (The Hindustan Times, 8 December 1965)
The Hindustan Times, 8 Dec 1965, Dennis Bloodworth (Singapore), 'PKI Debacle I: The Masses Did Not Rise': analysis of why the PKI collapsed after the 1 Oct coup: overrated membership, reliance on Sukarno and on army and air force penetration, no general strike, SOBSI dissolving. It reports Untung's alleged claim that m
Army plans to kill P.K.I. for ever (The Scotsman, 8 December 1965)
The Scotsman, 8 Dec 1965, Dennis Bloodworth, 'Army plans to kill PKI for ever': Suharto and Nasution press to destroy the PKI while Sukarno refuses to ban it; the article analyses the PKI's miscalculations. It repeats the slander that six generals were mutilated by 'doe-eyed girls' of the PKI's 'Gerwani' women's moveme
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), standfirst clipping
Standfirst clipping of the Evening Post article of 10 Dec 1965: the Indonesian Communists, 'almost overlords yesterday, almost outlaws today', miscalculated their moment, strength and strategy and the determination of the military and Muslims to wipe them out. Gerwani is not named in this fragment.
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
Sukarno the Key to Any Revolution in Indonesia (Evening Post, 10 December 1965), closing clipping
Closing clipping of the Evening Post article of 10 Dec 1965: Nasution's escape over his garden wall and the murder of his five-year-old daughter; alleged PKI plans for arson and famine; the party's 'patriotic' image destroyed; Sukarno forced to appoint Suharto army chief while the Army mops up Communists in Central and
Dossier of the Indonesian Drama (Lucien Rey, New Left Review, 1966)
Article by Lucien Rey (New Left Review no. 36, March 1966) reconstructing the 1 October 1965 events as a plot by dissident Central Java officers, plus a translated Asahi Shimbun interview with PKI deputy chair Njoto. Says People's Youth and Gerwani auxiliaries trained at Halim took part in the generals' executions in r
Not the old Subandrio (The Scotsman, 29 October 1966)
The Scotsman, 29 Oct 1966, 'Not the old Subandrio': profile of Sukarno's former foreign minister, condemned to death by a military tribunal for treason and bearing 'heavy responsibility for the rise of the PKI'. It traces his career and notes he is a scapegoat the Suharto regime can blame while Sukarno is retained for
Arrest of Suharti Suwarto, Gerwani Deputy Chairman, and Husband Subarto (FBIS, 29 Mar 1968)
HathiTrust FBIS Daily Report extract (29 Mar 1968). It reports the arrest on 22-23 March of Mrs Suharti Suwarto, called Gerwani deputy chairman and head of the PKI women's division, and her husband Subarto, alleged to have posed as a religious teacher among Muslims. It places them in 'Operation Kalong', with about 300
FBIS Daily Report, 24 Jul 1968: Woman communist leader captured (Madame Sri Sukatno, South Blitar)
FBIS Daily Report (24 Jul 1968) relaying Antara: Madame Sri Sukatno, described as a woman communist leader, was arrested at Pasiraman, South Blitar, in a mopping-up operation, per the army paper Angkatan Bersendjata. She is called a Politburo member, head of the Central Committee section on armed peasants and a Pemuda
Izvestiia, 15 Aug 1968: arrests of communists in East Java
Izvestiia, 15 Aug 1968, p. 2, TASS citing Antara: about 850 members of the banned PKI arrested in East Java, including six Central Committee members; the chairwoman of Gerwani has also been arrested. A fragment 'Sukatno' follows the sentence but cannot reliably be attached to her.
RAND memorandum RM-5753-PR (Feb 1969), Guy J. Pauker, 'The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Indonesia'. Argues, from trial records, that Aidit planned the 30 September action against the generals and traces PKI strategy, the Chinese turn, the agrarian 'unilateral actions' and the killings (up to 300,000), and th
Youth and the Wane of Soekarno's Government (Paget, 1970)
Roger Paget's 1970 Cornell PhD thesis on how student and youth action groups, culminating in KAMI, emerged after 1 October 1965 and helped undermine Sukarno. Gerwani appears in several passages: action fronts demanded its banning (p. 44) and its offices were ransacked (p. 63); Herlina denounced it for not fighting Mala
Social Conditions Leading to Military Dominance: the case of Indonesia (Kahane, 1974)
Journal article by Reuven Kahane (Contributions to Asian Studies, vol. 5, 1974) giving a structural-sociological explanation of the 1965 coup and army dominance in Indonesia: religious-class polarisation, failing Sukarno-era control mechanisms, and the army's rise. Gerwani appears only in a footnote listing PKI-affilia
The 30 September Movement: a political movement of the armed forces or an intelligence operation? (Holtzappel, 1979)
Journal article by Coen Holtzappel (Journal of Contemporary Asia, 1979) analysing the Untung and Njono trial records to argue the 30 September Movement was steered by Air Force and Army intelligence, with Sjam's Pringgodani group deliberately compromising the PKI and Aidit. Gerwani is mentioned only once, in a footnote