FO 371/180333: Bilateral Relations with China (1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180333 (Jan-Dec 1965): Peking, Djakarta and Hanoi telegrams on Sino-Indonesian relations: Subandrio's visit, delegations, PKI-China links, then the post-coup anti-Chinese wave, attacks on Chinese premises and Medan riots. Only Gerwani mention: Angkatan Bersendjata (29 Oct, p. 82) says the
FO 371/181556: Joint Malaysia-Indonesia Department, Propaganda [1] (1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/181556 (Joint Malaysia-Indonesia Department, 1965): minutes, letters and telegrams on countering Indonesian propaganda during Konfrontasi (crashed-aircraft evidence, guidance telegram no. 36, Afro-Asian posts). It has nothing on Gerwani in the official papers. Filed within it is a printed
Renmin Ribao, 13 Jan 1965: Indonesian bodies condemn US over UN flag; Sukarno on UN withdrawal (Gerwani cable)
People's Daily page 3, 13 January 1965 (search excerpt only): Indonesian organisations back Sukarno's decision to leave the United Nations. The excerpt says the Indonesian Women's Movement Association (Gerwani) cabled the President that the UN should be reorganised because imperialism controls it. Shows Gerwani's role
Renmin Ribao, 13 Jan 1965: Indonesian bodies condemn US over UN flag; Sukarno on UN withdrawal (Gerwani cable)
People's Daily page 3, 13 January 1965 (search excerpt only): Indonesian organisations back Sukarno's decision to leave the United Nations. The excerpt says the Indonesian Women's Movement Association (Gerwani) cabled the President that the UN should be reorganised because imperialism controls it. Shows Gerwani's role
Subandrio praises Indonesia-China joint statement (snippet)
Snippet-only Renmin Ribao extract (7 Feb 1965, p. 3) on Indonesian reactions to the Sino-Indonesian joint statement and Subandrio's China visit. Gerwani is said to have telegraphed Subandrio hailing the statement. Truncated; full text is GA-01958.
Subandrio praises the Indonesia-China joint statement; organisations acclaim it
Xinhua dispatches in Renmin Ribao (7 Feb 1965, p. 3): Subandrio calls the Indonesia-China joint statement 'a big hammer striking imperialism', and National Front, youth, student groups and Gerwani acclaim it. Gerwani is mentioned only in the last sentence, as having telegraphed Subandrio. Illustrates Gerwani's place in
Sukarno chairs KOTI; organisations hail death of Kahar Muzakkar (snippet)
Snippet-only Renmin Ribao extract (8 Feb 1965, p. 4): after KOTI met under Sukarno, parties and organisations, including Gerwani, are said to hail the killing of Darul Islam rebel leader Kahar Muzakkar in South Sulawesi. Truncated; full text is GA-01960.
Sukarno chairs KOTI; organisations hail killing of Darul Islam leader Kahar Muzakkar
Xinhua dispatches in Renmin Ribao (8 Feb 1965, p. 4): Sukarno chairs KOTI, hears Subandrio's China report and news that the army killed Darul Islam leader Kahar Muzakkar; PNI, IPKI, SOBSI (3.5 million), youth groups and Gerwani acclaim the killing, with Bintang Timur and Harian Rakjat editorials on US/British threats.
Sovetskaya Kirgiziya, 16 Mar 1965: world protest over the Vietnam war (Gerwani statement)
Sovetskaia Kirgiziia, 16 Mar 1965, p. 3: page of TASS items on Vietnam war protests. Quotes a Gerwani statement, said to speak for over 2 million members, condemning US bombing of the DRV as 'a crime against humanity'. Also reports Indonesia withdrawing from the New York World's Fair over US support for Malaysia. Other
Renmin Ribao, 1 Apr 1965: Indonesian organisations support South Vietnam NLF (Gerwani offers women volunteers)
Renmin Ribao (People's Daily) page 4, 1 April 1965: a composite report on support for the South Vietnam National Liberation Front. The excerpt says the Indonesian Women's Movement Association (Gerwani), in a telegram to South Vietnamese women's organisations, was ready to send women volunteers to support the struggle a
Renmin Ribao, 1 Apr 1965: Indonesian organisations support South Vietnam NLF (Gerwani offers women volunteers)
Renmin Ribao (People's Daily) page 4, 1 April 1965: a composite report on support for the South Vietnam National Liberation Front. The excerpt says the Indonesian Women's Movement Association (Gerwani), in a telegram to South Vietnamese women's organisations, was ready to send women volunteers to support the struggle a
FBIS-monitored VNA report (2 Apr 1965) on volunteers in socialist and other countries offering to fight in Vietnam, citing letters from the USSR, China, DPRK, Cuba and Hungary. The final sentence says workers', peasants' and women's organisations in Indonesia called on members to enrol as volunteers and the Indonesian
Bandung tenth anniversary in Jakarta; BTI and Gerwani welcome Zhou Enlai's visit
Xinhua dispatches in Renmin Ribao (17 Apr 1965, p. 5) on the Bandung Conference tenth-anniversary celebration in Jakarta: Ganis Harsono announces 37 attending countries, delegations arrive, and BTI (8.5 million) and Gerwani welcome Zhou Enlai's visit. The Gerwani Central Council, speaking for 'three million members', s
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 24 April 1965: Aidit and Indonesian communism - on the springboard to power
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 24 April 1965, long analytical article 'Aidit and Indonesian Communism: on the springboard to power'. It reviews the Indonesian crisis, PKI history from 1920 through Madiun 1948, Aidit's rise and biography. Gerwani appears once, as a PKI front organisation with 1.5 million members, alongside SOBSI
Soviet Woman, 30 Apr 1965: 'Till We Meet Again', KOWANI delegation in the USSR (Nina Voronina)
Soviet Woman, 30 Apr 1965, p. 18: Nina Voronina's 'Till we meet again', on a three-week USSR tour (Moscow, Riga, Leningrad, Dushanbe) by a five-woman KOWANI delegation: Basariah Simorangkir, Sidi Moehammad (WANI), Ani Boesiri, Ratjih Natawidjaja, Mimi Soeparmi, with Hurustiati Subandrio in Moscow. Left a message in the
Soviet Woman, 30 Apr 1965: 'We Have Seen...' (Basariah Simorangkir, KOWANI delegation)
Soviet Woman, 30 Apr 1965, pp. 18-21: Basariah Simorangkir (KOWANI Presidium) 'We Have Seen...' on the January 1965 KOWANI delegation's USSR tour, after Nina Voronina's 'Till we meet again'; delegates incl. Ratjih Natawidjaja (Wanita Marhaenis) and Mimi Soeparmi. Then unrelated anti-Nazi statute-of-limitation statement
Communists against the 'Murba party'
Short ANP wire item in Amigoe di Curaçao, 20 May 1965: Gerwani urges President Sukarno to ban the Murba party for good, calling it 'anti-Sukarno, anti-communist and anti-Nasakom'. Murba had been provisionally banned in January 1965. Shows Gerwani as a PKI-aligned political voice in the Nasakom polarisation.
Berita Harian, 8 Jun 1965: warning against women's organisation movements (Sudibjo)
Berita Harian, 8 Jun 1965 (Reuters, lead only). Sudibjo, secretary-general of the National Front, warned Indonesians to be vigilant against subversive movements of domestic women's organisations, speaking at a political rally of Gerwani.
Protest in Jakarta against high prices
Short ANP item in Het Vrije Volk (23 Sep 1965, p.9), one week before the coup attempt: thousands of Indonesian women demonstrated at the Ministry of Trade in Jakarta against rising prices of necessities, as reported by PKI paper Harian Rakjat. They demanded strong action against capitalists, bureaucrats, swindlers and
LBJ National Security File: Indonesia, Communists and Internal Politics (Oct-Nov 1965)
Compilation from the LBJ National Security File (ProQuest), Oct-Nov 1965: State Department memos, CIA intelligence memoranda and Indonesia Working Group situation reports on the 30 September Movement and army counter-moves. Gerwani appears only in passing: arrests of Gerwani and Pemuda Rakyat members (6 Oct), CIA claim
LBJ National Security File: Indonesian Military Coups, Oct-Nov 1965 (Airgram A-300 'The September 30 Affair')
Supplement to the LBJ National Security File (cables, Oct-Nov 1965), centred on the long Djakarta embassy airgram A-300 'The September 30 Affair' plus telegrams. A-300 repeats the Lubang Buaya account that the generals were 'taunted and humiliated' by Gerwani women before being killed, and says Gerwani members were pla
FBIS-monitored Jakarta radio text (5 Oct 1965) of the Nahdlatul Ulama executive board and affiliates' statement. It cites authorities' 'fact' that Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwani members were brought from afar to be trained at Lubang Buaya where the generals' bodies were found, and asks Sukarno to disband PKI, Pemuda Rakjat,
Suara Merdeka, 6 Oct 1965, p. 1: Lubang Buaya well and Kalibata burial
Suara Merdeka (Semarang), 6 Oktober 1965, hlm. 1. Front page after discovery of the officers' bodies: Suharto's RRI announcement of the Lubang Buaya well and Kalibata burial; his reply mentions an AURI-run training centre for 'sukarelawan/sukarelawati'. No Gerwani or mutilation mentioned.
Berita Yudha, 7 October 1965
Berita Yudha, 7 Oktober 1965. Week after 30 September: Pemuda Rakyat members captured in Krukut allegedly took part in the Lubang Buaya killings; Sukarno's Bogor cabinet session condemns the killings; Gerwani mentioned on p. 2.
FBIS-monitored Jakarta radio item (7 Oct 1965): Gertasi, a Gasbiindo transport union and the Progressive Pioneer Youth called for dissolving PKI and its mass organisations. The transport union salutes ABRI for arresting 'members of the people's youth (Pemuda Rakjat) and the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani), both s
Short FBIS item (7 Oct 1965, Jakarta radio): Pemuda Pantjasila's executive board says Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwani 'obviously helped' the 30 September Movement, and asks Sukarno to disband the PKI, its mass organisations and affiliates, revoke permits for Harian Rakjat and Kebudajaan Baru, and purge those involved from st
FBIS item (7 Oct 1965, Jakarta radio): the Perti party's executive board denounces the 'gestapo-style' terror, backs NU and PSII demands that Sukarno dissolve the PKI and its affiliates, listing Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, SOBSI, CGMI, Lekra, and suspends three members, placing the party under Rusli Abdul Wahid. Another ea
Communists slaughter family of Yogyakarta army commander (Berita Harian, 1965)
Berita Harian, 7 October 1965, p. 1: Radio Yogyakarta claims Col. Katamso's family was slaughtered; fighting at Klaten and Cirebon, where rebels included armed communist youth and Gerwani members; army paper's account of the seven officers' deaths (Yani, Suprapto, Haryono, Parman, Panjaitan, Sutoyo, Tendean) at Lubang
More arrests, slaughter of civilians by Communists in Central Java (Straits Times, 1965)
The Straits Times, 7 October 1965, p. 1: Radio Jakarta says communists slaughtered civilians in Central Java; Yogyakarta retaken and Col. Katamso's family reportedly killed; fierce fighting at Klaten and Cirebon, where rebels included armed People's Youth Front and Gerwani members; 200 armed communists captured. Gerwan
Berita Yudha, 8 October 1965
Berita Yudha, 8 Oktober 1965. First issue using 'Gestapu': Gerwani appears five times as an organisation to be dissolved, including Perti, PMKRI and Sarbumusi backing the NU-PSII demand to dissolve 'PKI, PR, Gerwani, CGMI, Lekra'.