US Embassy Djakarta Airgram A-300, 22 October 1965: The September 30 Affair - history and interpretation of the attempte
US Embassy Djakarta airgram A-300 (22 Oct 1965, Edward Masters), a 46-page analysis of the 30 September Movement, the PKI, Sukarno, Air Force and army prospects. Gerwani appears only twice: as members of PKI paramilitary TIK units trained at Halim, and as PKI women said to have taunted and humiliated the generals at Lu
Seven Political Parties Issue Joint Statement (FBIS, 23 Oct 1965)
FBIS-monitored ANTARA report (23 Oct 1965): seven parties (PSII, Catholic Party, IPKI, Perti, NU, a functional group and Muhammadiyah) issued a joint statement of 21 October that the PKI and its mass organisations, naming Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, SOBSI, HSI, Lekra, CGMI and others, were clearly involved in the 30 Septem
Letter from CINCPAC to Marshall Green, 23 October 1965
Secret letter, 23 October 1965, from CINCPAC political adviser Norman Hannah to Ambassador Marshall Green asking for contingency thinking on US covert or material help if the Army fought the PKI. Shows early US planning for support to the anti-PKI campaign.
Airgram A-298: The Situation in Indonesia after the Coup Attempt, 23 Oct 1965
US Embassy airgram A-298, 23 Oct 1965, on 'political moderates' helping the Army destroy the PKI, based on talks with a civilian columnist urging organisations to cleanse themselves of 30 September supporters. Shows civilian momentum for the purge.
Telegram 1168 to Secretary of State, 23 Oct 1965
US Embassy telegram 1168, 23 Oct 1965: anti-communist unions demand dissolution of the PKI and SOBSI from Labour Minister Sutomo, who hesitates; Army liaison approached. Labour-front context; no Gerwani content.
CIA Bi-Weekly Propaganda Guidance, 25 October 1965: WIDF 20th anniversary, Gerwani and the 30 September Movement
CIA Bi-Weekly Propaganda Guidance, 25 Oct 1965, calendar and background on the 30 September coup. It notes WIDF's 20th anniversary (26 Nov), lists GERWANI among PKI women's fronts (p.21), and repeats that about 3,000 PKI youth and women's group cadres were trained at Halim air base in September, with Gerwani and Pemuda
Secret meeting
Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 26 October 1965, p. 5: citing Karya Bakti, reports a secret PKI meeting on 19 October led by M.H. Lukman, attended by economist J. Piry and 'Aidit's mother-in-law, Mrs Moedigdio' [Mudigdio], amid attempts to set up revolutionary councils in Cirebon and Bali. The text is partly garbled.
Jakarta expects Subandrio's role will soon be played out
Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (26 Oct 1965), Leffelaar from Jakarta: Subandrio's role expected to end; successors speculated. Reports Karya Bhakti's claim of a secret PKI meeting under Lukman attended by Mrs Mudigdio, Aidit's mother-in-law, and economist J. Piry. Army raids continue, Onrust island used as an internment cam
FBIS-monitored ANTARA report (26 Oct 1965): the Jakarta PWI chapter suspended 77 more journalists of banned papers (Warta Bhakti, Bintang Timur and others) after suspending 40 from Harian Rakjat, Kebudajaan Baru and Antara; regional PWI chapters did likewise. Yogyakarta authorities banned the PKI-affiliated Ariwarti Wa
Berita Yudha, 27 October 1965
Berita Yudha, 27 Oktober 1965. Demonstration of about 300,000 demands the dismissal of Tjugito and Nj. Umi Sardjono from Kotrar; three Gerwani-related items of central importance.
Seven Student Organizations Establish Front (FBIS, 27 Oct 1965)
FBIS-monitored ANTARA report (27 Oct 1965): seven student and pupil organisations formed a Student Front and called on Sukarno to dissolve the PKI and mass organisations 'such as Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, CGMI, IPPI, SOBSI, HSI', and backed the education minister's suspension of PKI-linked bodies in the ministry. Another
FBIS-monitored ANTARA report (27 Oct 1965) on a demonstration by the Action Coordinating Body to Crush the 30 September Movement at the Foreign and Home Affairs departments, demanding dissolution of the PKI and sister organisations, purges of subdistricts and the Labour Ministry, and regretting China's attitude on the
CIA, Press information relating to insurgency and counterinsurgency: South and East Asia (217), 28 October 1965
CIA Foreign Documents Division compilation of Indonesian, Malaysian, Burmese and Cambodian press, 28 Oct 1965. Djakarta's Angkatan Bersendjata (early Oct) is quoted on the 30 September Movement and the Lubang Buaya killings: bodies found near a bivouac of Gerwani and Pemuda Rakjat volunteers, Suharto's remark about a G
LBJ National Security File: Indonesia, Communist Parties and Internal Politics, Nov 1965-May 1966
LBJ Library National Security File, Indonesia country file (vol. VI): US Embassy Jakarta cables and withdrawal sheets, mainly December 1965 to May 1966, on the army's moves against the PKI, Sukarno's speeches, student demonstrations and Suharto's rise. Gerwani appears twice. Embtel 2077 (17 Jan 1966) reports Bogor wall
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
Sukarno: my life is in danger
Trouw (3 Nov 1965), wire report: Sukarno tells ministers his life is in danger; demonstrations in Medan demand Subandrio's removal; a Muslim leader urges dissolving the PKI. Reports that Gerwani was expelled from the women's congress Kowani, chaired by Mrs Subandrio. Early evidence of Gerwani's isolation weeks after 30
Sukarno: my life is in danger
Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (3 Nov 1965): Sukarno tells cabinet his life is in danger; 100,000 demonstrate at the Chinese consulate in Medan demanding Subandrio's dismissal; army purge in Central Java hampered by unreliable troops; Gerwani expelled from the women's congress Kowani, chaired by Mrs Subandrio; soldiers kill
Straits Budget, 3 Nov 1965: army says wholesale slaughter of civilians in east Java
Straits Budget, 3 Nov 1965 (lead only). Reports a state of war declared in central Java, with the army saying Communists massacred civilians and Communists and Muslims fighting, citing Radio Jakarta. Typical army-sourced framing of the killings; matched on Gerwani.
Straits Times, 3 Nov 1965: Subandrio's wife expels women Reds
Straits Times, 3 Nov 1965 (lead only). The Indonesian Women's Congress (Kowani), headed by Foreign Minister Subandrio's wife Hurustiati Subandrio, expelled the PKI women's auxiliary (Gerwani), per Antara; a consultative board statement addressed to President Sukarno. Shows Gerwani's isolation after the coup.
Neue Berner Zeitung, 3 November 1965: Anti-communist demonstration in Sumatra; Kowani expels Gerwani
Neue Berner Zeitung, 3 Nov 1965 (UPI/AFP): anti-communist demonstration in Sumatra; Sukarno tells ministers to act 'bravely'; 100,000 demonstrators at the Chinese embassy in Medan; gold and silver mines nationalised; 57 PKI parliamentarians removed. Key for Gerwani research: the Indonesian women's congress (Kowani, OCR
Indonesian Army says wholesale slaughter of civilians in east Java (Straits Budget, 1965)
The Straits Budget (Singapore), 3 November 1965, p. 15, UPI/Antara: the army declares a state of war in Central Java and gives figures for civilians it says communists massacred (e.g. 62 bodies in three mass graves at Banyuwangi, 104 killed), while observers note the incidents all occurred after the coup. Nothing on Ge
Izvestiia, 4 Nov 1965: In Indonesia (Kowani expels Gerwani)
Izvestiia, 4 Nov 1965, p. 2, international commentary: Antara reports the Congress of Indonesian Women (Kowani) expelled the CPI's women's organisation Gerwani; also Supreme Court dismissals, 57 PKI deputies suspended (Lukman, Njoto), about 3,000 arrested near Yogyakarta, and books of 'implicated' authors removed from
CIA, Press information relating to insurgency and counterinsurgency: South and East Asia (Summary 6897), 4 November 1965
CIA Foreign Documents Division weekly digest (Summary No. 6897, 4 Nov 1965) of press on insurgency in South and East Asia. Its Indonesia section reproduces Army-controlled press (Angkatan Bersendjata, Duta Masjarakat) on the 30 September Movement, including claims that Gerwani volunteers trained at Lubang Buaja and moc
Neue Berner Zeitung, 5 November 1965: How the Indonesian Communist Party wanted to seize power - mass murders planned
Neue Berner Zeitung, 5 Nov 1965, DPA report 'How the Communist Party of Indonesia wanted to seize power: mass murders were planned'. Citing army-held 'captured plans', it claims the PKI intended to kill 10,000+ officers and officials, and to arm one million peasants and workers as a militia built from Pemuda Rakyat, BT
Neue Zürcher Nachrichten, 5 November 1965: Was Sukarno himself involved in the coup?
Neue Zürcher Nachrichten, 5 Nov 1965, 'Was Sukarno himself involved in the coup?' (dpa). Same DPA account: army-held plans allegedly show the PKI intended to murder 10,000+ officers and arm one million peasants and workers as a people's militia from Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, SOBSI and Gerwani cadres; the coup failed in 18 ho
Walliser Bote, 5 November 1965: The greatest riddle of the Indonesian coup - Sukarno's conduct
Walliser Bote (5 Nov 1965) running a DPA report on the coup, repeating army-sourced claims of a PKI plan to murder 10,000+ officials and build a people's militia from Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, SOBSI and Gerwani cadres on the Peking model. Also puzzles over Sukarno's presence at Halim.
Statement published: young communists took part in the killing
Leeuwarder Courant, 6 November 1965, p. 3: relays an armed-forces bulletin story by 'Djamilah', a 15-year-old Pemuda Rakjat member, who says she was ordered to Halim for training and that about 100 Gerwani women were given knives and razor blades and mutilated and stabbed a blindfolded man at dawn on 1 October. The pap
Gruesome story of a communist woman: Indonesian general slaughtered with razors
Nieuwe Haarlemsche Courant, 6 November 1965, p. 3: UPI report (headline 'PKI women's section the culprit') relaying the armed-forces bulletin story of 'Djamilah', a pregnant 15-year-old Pemuda Rakjat member, who describes training at Halim and about 100 Gerwani women handed knives and razors who mutilated and stabbed a
The Economist, 6 Nov 1965, p.594, 'Rings on a tree trunk', from a special correspondent in Jakarta: the army-inspired anti-communist campaign has gained its own momentum, with raids on PKI offices, arrests, 26 Antara correspondents detained, Aidit in hiding, Sukarno declaring Central Java in a 'state of war'. Wall graf
Berner Tagwacht, 6 November 1965: The greatest riddle of the Indonesian coup - Sukarno's conduct
Berner Tagwacht (Bern), 6 Nov 1965, DPA-based report on the Indonesian coup. Citing army-compiled 'captured plans', it claims the PKI planned to murder 10,000+ officers in five days and arm one million peasants and workers via Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, SOBSI and Gerwani cadres as a militia on the Peking model. It calls Sukar