TAPOL Bulletin No. 37, January 1980: Indonesia's Political Trials
TAPOL Bulletin no. 37 (London, January 1980): editorial on the end of KOPKAMTIB's release plan, plus Julie Southwood's long study of 1,014 political trials since 1966. It notes the 1965 Lubang Buaya claim that communist women castrated the generals, and the 1975 subversion trial of Gerwani's Sulami and Sudjinah, with S
Released from detention (Sutanti Aidit), Tempo, 5 Jan 1980
Short Tempo item, 5 January 1980, on the release of Dr Soetanti Aidit, 57, widow of PKI chairman D.N. Aidit, from detention on 20 December 1979. Held from 1966 in Bukit Duri women's prison and never moved, she was separated from her five children for 13 years, declines to talk about the past and hopes to practise medic
Harian Rakjat, Daily Newspaper of the Communist Party of Indonesia (Groves, 1983)
Kerry Groves's ANU MA thesis (1983) on Harian Rakjat, the PKI daily: its stance on press freedom, administration, polemics (e.g. with Merdeka, 1964), content and treatment of leaders, drawing on Indonesian sources and interviews with ex-prisoners. Gerwani appears in Chapter VI (pp.142-149) on the paper's women's column
Issue no. 71 (September 1985) of TAPOL Bulletin, the British campaign for Indonesian political prisoners. It carries an anonymous ex-prisoner's article on the 'G30S/PKI' symbol, reports on death-row prisoners, the Gatot defence statement, harassment of ex-prisoners and military reorganisation. Gerwani appears only once
Losing a Revolution: The PKI versus the Army in Indonesia, 1949-1965 (Sutley, 1988)
Stewart K. Sutley's MA thesis (Political Science, McGill, 1988) applies Tilly and Aya's 'political conflict' model to the PKI-Army struggle of 1949-65, arguing the PKI's state-within-a-state depended on Sukarno and was destroyed after the army struck at the president. Gerwani is treated only as the PKI's 'women's front
Harian Neraca serial 'Siapa menabur angin akan menuai badai' (20): PKI in 1954-55
Harian Neraca, 24 Jan 1989, p. 10: instalment 20 of Soegiarso Soerojo's anti-communist history on the PKI in 1954–55 (Fifth Congress, Bandung Conference); Gerwani mentioned in passing.
Harian Neraca serial 'Siapa menabur angin akan menuai badai' (64): arrests in Bekasi and Njono's confession
Harian Neraca, 17 Mar 1989, p. 10: instalment 64 saying 'hundreds' of Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani members were arrested in Bekasi, and listing 'Gerakan Wanita Indonesia' among organisations Aidit planned to deploy per Njono's confession.
Harian Neraca serial 'Siapa menabur angin akan menuai badai' (65): Njono's confession and Untung as 'puppet'
Harian Neraca, 18 Maret 1989, p. 10: instalment 65 of Soegiarso Soerojo's serial. Covers Njono's confession on training at Lubang Buaya and opens a chapter on Untung as 'puppet'; names Mudigdio, mother of Aidit's wife, as a Gerwani figure.
Harian Neraca serial 'Siapa menabur angin akan menuai badai' (67): Aidit's capture and alleged confession
Harian Neraca, 21 Maret 1989, p. 10: instalment 67 of Soegiarso Soerojo's serial. Aidit's capture in Solo on 22 Nov 1965 and extracts of his alleged confession (Asahi Evening News) that Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani units were assembled from July 1965.
Harian Neraca serial 'Siapa menabur angin akan menuai badai' (102): Mahmilub testimony on planning G30S
Harian Neraca, 1 Mei 1989, p. 10: instalment 102 of Soegiarso Soerojo's serial. Summarises Mahmilub testimony on planning of G30S (Biro Khusus, 'Yon Sukarelawan Dwikora', Pasopati, Bima Sakti) and Sjam's statement; Gerwani mentioned.
Harian Neraca serial 'Siapa menabur angin akan menuai badai' (104): Biro Khusus, the Gilchrist document and PRC aid
Harian Neraca, 3 Mei 1989, p. 10: instalment 104 of Soegiarso Soerojo's serial. Author's commentary on the Biro Khusus, the Gilchrist document as forgery and PRC aid, with Mahmilub testimony; Gerwani mentioned.
Murders (Suharto and the mass killings of 1965-66)
De Waarheid piece (2 Sep 1989, p.16) criticising Suharto's silence on the 1965-66 massacres, quoting Stanley Karnow and C.L. Sulzberger on the killings and estimates of 300,000 to one million dead. It notes mass arrests without trial of hundreds of thousands, including members of SOBSI, Gerwani and Pemuda Rakjat, and t
The Guardian (Weekend Guardian), 8 Sept 1990, p.A4, John Gittings, 'The black hole of Bali': long feature on the 1965 massacre (250,000 or more killed), how the killings were organised by the army under Suharto, the Aidit/PKI role, the US list of communists (Martens/Kadane) and US encouragement, survivors ('Tapols') an
The trauma of 1965 itches and nags
Jan Bezemer's long Trouw weekend feature (30 Sep 1995) on the unresolved 1965 trauma. Covers the 30 September events, Suharto's role, US encouragement, massacres (Gatot's trial testimony) and the smear campaign against Gerwani. Draws on Saskia Wieringa's doctoral research: Gerwani was blamed for mutilating the generals
The Forgotten Years: Mass Slaughter in Jombang-Kediri 1965-1966 (Sulistyo, 1997)
Hermawan Sulistyo's 1997 Arizona State history PhD, 'The Forgotten Years', studies the 1965-66 killings in Jombang-Kediri, East Java, from interviews and documents, finding no single national pattern and stressing local conflict and military-backed operations. Gerwani appears in passing: its claimed 1.75 million member
Tempo, 1 October 2007: Aidit's face on celluloid
Tempo feature (1 Oct 2007) on how D.N. Aidit was portrayed in the New Order film Pengkhianatan G-30-S/PKI, via interviews with Syu'bah Asa, Danarto, Amarzan Ismail Hamid and Jajang C. Noer. Notes thin research and an invented chain-smoking Aidit; context for film propaganda.
The Aidit family: after that night of horror (Tempo, 1 Oct 2007)
Tempo special (1 October 2007) on what happened to D.N. Aidit's family after 30 September 1965. It recounts the fates of his father, siblings and children, and of his wife Dr Soetanti Aidit, who fled, lived in disguise, was arrested, held in Kodim 66 and Bukit Duri until about 1980, and died in 1991. Her Gerwani member
The last night: after the headlights went out (Aidit's last night at home, Tempo, 2007)
Tempo piece (1 October 2007) reconstructing D.N. Aidit's last night at home, 30 September 1965, from his son Ilham and brother Murad. His wife Dr Soetanti Aidit angrily quarrels with him and urges him not to leave; he goes anyway. The article sets out the contested versions of where he went that night. Soetanti appears
The Banteng and the Eagle: Indonesian Foreign Policy and the United States during the Era of Sukarno, 1945-1967 (PhD, 20
PhD dissertation by Yohanes Sulaiman (Ohio State, 2008) on Indonesian foreign policy and the United States under Sukarno. Gerwani appears only in a footnote on the 1965 aftermath quoting John Hughes (1967, p. 150): Gerwani women in a village blocking Sarwo Edhie's column 'bared their posteriors' in insult and were shot
The Banteng and the Eagle: Indonesian Foreign Policy and the United States during the Era of Sukarno, 1945-1967 (PhD, 20
PhD dissertation by Yohanes Sulaiman (Ohio State, 2008) on Indonesian foreign policy and the United States under Sukarno. Gerwani appears only in a footnote on the 1965 aftermath quoting John Hughes (1967, p. 150): Gerwani women in a village blocking Sarwo Edhie's column 'bared their posteriors' in insult and were shot
Communism in Indonesia, Vol. IV: The G30S/PKI Rebellion and its Suppression (1960-1965), Pusjarah TNI, 2009
Official Army history (Pusjarah TNI, Jakarta 2009), vol. IV of 'Komunisme di Indonesia', presenting Gerwani as a PKI mass organisation in the 1960-65 build-up and the G30S. It reports Gerwani's Nov-Dec 1964 housewives' seminar (p. 70), 'unilateral actions' (p. 122), the 27 Sept 1965 Surabaya governor's-office raid unde
Communism in Indonesia, Vol. IV: The G30S/PKI Rebellion and its Suppression (1960-1965), Pusjarah TNI, 2009
Official Army history (Pusjarah TNI, Jakarta 2009), vol. IV of 'Komunisme di Indonesia', presenting Gerwani as a PKI mass organisation in the 1960-65 build-up and the G30S. It reports Gerwani's Nov-Dec 1964 housewives' seminar (p. 70), 'unilateral actions' (p. 122), the 27 Sept 1965 Surabaya governor's-office raid unde
Michele Ford's 2010 article arguing the New Order consciously rewrote Indonesian labour history to justify a single state union (FBSI, 1973), comparing sixteen labour histories. Context on labour historiography; not Gerwani-specific.
Tempo, 1 October 2012: AM - 'We never buried them...' (Ansor member's testimony)
Tempo testimony (1 Oct 2012) of 'AM', 70, a former Ansor/Banser member who took part in night-time 'drop-dropan' killings of village-level PKI leaders in Badas and Pare (Jombang-Kediri), Oct-Nov 1965. He says he felt no pity and left bodies unburied, justifying his hatred by PKI land reform actions. Gerwani is not ment
Tempo, 1 October 2012: Burhan Zainuddin Rusjiman - 'I had a licence to kill'
Tempo testimony (1 Oct 2012) of Burhan Zainuddin Rusjiman, 72, 'Burhan Kampak', a former HMI/KAMI/Laskar Ampera member in Yogyakarta given a pistol and 'license to kill' from Nov 1965, who hunted PKI with Kostrad/RPKAD in Yogyakarta, Gunungkidul and Klaten. Motivated by anti-communism and CGMI conflict; Gerwani not men
Tempo, 1 October 2012: Chambali - 'He recited the creed fluently...'
Tempo testimony (1 Oct 2012) of Chambali, 70, former Banser chief of Rengel, Tuban, who describes beheading PKI members at Jurang Watu Rongko in 1965-66 on lists from the district office and military, encouraged by NU leader Kiai Murtadji. Recalls sparing one man who recited the creed. Tempo adds a note on the ravine's
The Cold War in the City of Heroes: US-Indonesian Relations and Anti-Communist Operations in Surabaya (Setiyawan, 2014)
PhD dissertation in History (UCLA, 2014) by Dahlia Gratia Setiyawan on U.S. anti-communist operations and the 1965-66 purge in Surabaya. Gerwani appears in context: as the PKI's women's affiliate (ch. 1), through the Surabaya women's coalition GOWS in the 27 September 1965 Grahadi demonstration (ch. 4), and in the Army
Bhinneka, October 2015: Half a Century of the 1965 Genocide (Indonesian edition, women ex-prisoners' testimonies)
Bhinneka, October 2015 (Surabaya; ed. Soe Tjen Marching), a 1965 anniversary issue. Women ex-prisoners testify: Hartiti, a Gerwani member, was asked whether she joined the 'naked dance' and castrated the generals; Maria Goretti Sumilah was beaten and burned to confess she was Gerwani; Theresia Kadmiyanti ran a TK Melat
Bhinneka, October 2015: Half a Century of the 1965 Genocide (Indonesian edition, women ex-prisoners' testimonies)
Bhinneka, October 2015 (Surabaya; ed. Soe Tjen Marching), a 1965 anniversary issue. Women ex-prisoners testify: Hartiti, a Gerwani member, was asked whether she joined the 'naked dance' and castrated the generals; Maria Goretti Sumilah was beaten and burned to confess she was Gerwani; Theresia Kadmiyanti ran a TK Melat
Tempo, 2 October 2021: Gerwani, Sukarno and polygamy (Gerwani and the dilemma of brotherhood)
Tempo essay (2 Oct 2021) by I Gusti Agung Ayu Ratih on why Gerwani did not criticise Sukarno's polygamy. It recounts Kowani expelling Gerwani on 29 Oct 1965 and removing Hurustiati Subandrio in 1966, the erasure of Gerwani from women's movement history, Perwari rivalry, Gerwani members' reverence for Sukarno, and anti-