Sjahrir seeks contact with Sukarno: chaotic situation in Bantam
Trouw (20 Feb 1946): Sjahrir leaves for Yogyakarta to confer with Sukarno, possibly widening communist and Islamic representation; reports looting in Batavia and chaos in Bantam, where officials were murdered or abducted and young girls taken. No Gerwani content.
Musso on the coup in the republic
Bredasche Courant, 21 Sept 1948: Madiun-affair report quoting Musso's radio speech that the revolution is under national-communist leadership, claiming 20 million Indonesian women were widowed by romusha labour and calling Sukarno and Hatta servants of Japan and America. Also reports refugees fleeing to Dutch lines. Ge
The coup in the Republic: opinions of Gen. Spoor and Sjahrir
Overijsselsch Dagblad (21 Sep 1948) on the Madiun communist uprising: Gen. Spoor fears communist spill-over into Dutch-held areas, Sjahrir comments on discontent, KNIP grants Sukarno special powers, and Musso broadcasts that 20 million women were widowed by romusha. No Gerwani or Gerwis mention; context for the later a
Republicans want to relieve Madiun
Deventer Dagblad front-page roundup (22 Sep 1948) on the Madiun affair: republican forces prepare to retake Madiun, communist leaders of the FDR are arrested in Magelang, curfews in Kediri, Solo calmed, fighting organisations disarmed, and a 'social revolution' purge in Sumatra. Mentions Colonel Djokosoejono as communi
Sukarno and Hatta servants of Japan and America (Musso on Radio Gelora Pemuda)
Het Dagblad (Batavia) item (22 Sep 1948, p.2) quoting Musso's radio speech from communist-held 'Radio Gelora Pemuda' after the Madiun coup: the revolution is under national-communist leadership against imperialism, Sukarno and Hatta are called 'servants of Japan and America', and he says more than twenty million Indone
The coup in Madiun: 'purge action against reactionaries'
Nieuwe Courant, 22 September 1948: Antara reports on the Madiun events: Murba's correspondent describes the 12 September communist takeover, Musso's radio speech (claiming millions of women became widows through Japanese romusha), Suripno calling it a 'purge action', and Col. Djokosujono's claim of a clean-up of reacti
Radio war in the republic (Madiun, September 1948)
Indische Courant voor Nederland (29 Sep 1948, p.3) 'Radio war in the republic': Musso, Colonel Djokosoejono and Suripno speak on communist-held Radio Gelora Pemuda after the Madiun takeover, attacking Sukarno and Hatta as capitulationists and 'servants of Japan and America'. Musso says over twenty million women were wi
FBIS, 15 December 1949: Lillah Suripno of Indonesia speaks
FBIS-monitored Xinhua text (15 Dec 1949) of a speech by Indonesian delegate 'Lillah' (Lily) Suripno at the Asian Women's Conference, Peking, 12 Dec. She thanks WIDF, surveys Indonesian anti-colonial history, the 1926-27 PKI revolts, Japanese occupation, women in guerrilla struggle, and calls for a PKI-led front of demo
Joys and sorrows of Indonesia in the past year
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 7 Jan 1953, p. 3: year-in-review chronology for 1952 (selected entries translated). Mentions the August 1951 raids, the 17 October 1952 affair, release of East Java arrestees on 30 Oct, a goodwill mission to Kahar Muzakkar under Mrs Salawati (8 Apr), and Aidit and Njoto refused entry to
Harian Rakjat, 22 May 1954, p. 2
Harian Rakjat, 22 Mei 1954, hlm. 2. Page 2 with A. Umarsaid's travel notes on Sukarno's visit to Ambon and news; no Gerwis or Gerwani item.
What others write
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad press review (1954-09-20, p. 2): Jakarta papers commemorate the 1948 Madiun revolt as a communist plot; Medan papers criticise the information minister; and Malay and Philippine women and press react to Sukarno's second marriage, with Malay Ibu Kaum leaders saying Muslim public figures should n
Women's delegation at the palace: uproar over Sukarno's new marriage
Leeuwarder Courant, 21 September 1954, p. 3: Dutch roundup of the uproar over Sukarno's marriage to Hartini. A four-woman delegation led by Perwari chair Mrs Kartowijono visited the palace; Indonesian, Chinese and Malayan-region papers are quoted, some warning that the fuss helps the PKI, Indonesia Raya calling it a bl
Lt-Col Sumual willing to account in Jakarta
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 16 Mar 1957, p. 1: after the East Indonesian military proclamation, parliament considers sending observers to T.T. VII including Mrs Ch. Salawati (PKI); the PKI central committee condemns Sumual's action as linked to Colonel Lubis and SEATO subversion.
'The fathers are not pure': Mrs Fatmawati Sukarno: 'Let me form a cabinet'
Dagblad voor Noord-Limburg, 30 Mar 1957: Fatmawati, Sukarno's first wife, who left the palace after his 1954 marriage to Hartini 'to the great indignation of the Indonesian women's organisation', proposes in an open letter that a non-party woman form the new cabinet ('the fathers are not pure'). Page also covers anti-c
Masyumi leader warns against 'playing with fire'
Winschoter Courant (30 Mar 1957), news round-up. Relevant: Fatmawati Sukarno writes asking why a woman cannot form a cabinet, with a note that women's organisations took Sukarno's second marriage badly. Also Masyumi's Isa Anshary on cabinet formation, searches of Jakarta banks, and Aidit threatening a general strike un
Sukarno, the arch-intriguer: profile including the Hartini marriage
Long profile of Sukarno by C.H. Schaap in De Tijd (6 Feb 1958) tracing his career and manoeuvres. It notes that in Oct 1954 his marriage to Hartini caused general indignation among Indonesian women, who remembered his book "Sarinah", and that Fatmawati left him. Gerwani is not named.
FBIS, 28 March 1959: Aidit broadcast speech (farewell to the Chinese people)
FBIS-monitored Xinhua text (28 Mar 1959) of D.N. Aidit's farewell broadcast to the Chinese people after a fortnight's PKI delegation visit. He praises the Great Leap and people's communes, defends them against 'imperialist lies', and argues peasant women welcome communal dining and nurseries because 'a smoky kitchen is
Indonesia's New Governmental Bodies (OIR report, Oct 1959)
State Department intelligence report (13 Oct 1959) on Indonesia's new governmental bodies under Guided Democracy: Cabinet, National Advisory Council, National Planning Council. Appendices list members with functional-group labels, including S.K. Trimurti (teachers), Umi Sardjono (women), Rasuna Said and Emma Puradiredj
FBIS-monitored VNA report (16 Sep 1963): the Indonesian parliamentary delegation headed by Deputy Speaker M.H. Lukman (PKI) arrived in Hanoi to a welcome of nearly 3,000 people; DRV leaders spoke of solidarity; Vietnamese and Indonesian women presented bouquets. Gerwani not named; context for PKI-linked parliamentary d
From Tavip: Standing on Our Own Feet
Api Kartini (1964) excerpt from Sukarno's Tavip (17 August 1964) address on landreform: demands implementation of UUPA and the sharecropping law within promised deadlines, endorses Landreform Courts, urges officials to consult peasants, links food self-sufficiency to land reform, and supports abolishing IGO/IGOB and im
Foreign Office/CRO Papers on the PKI and Malaysia Confrontation (DO 169/516, 1964)
British Commonwealth Relations Office/Foreign Office file (DO 169/516, 1964) on Indonesia and Malaysia. It combines handwritten minutes, an IRD intelligence paper on the PKI (Aidit's December 1963 plenum, Sino-Soviet line, the prospect of PKI power within five years), a brief 'Communists smoothing path to power in Indo
JPRS 1964: Speech by Suwardiningsih on the Political Report to the CC PKI Second Plenary (Harian Rakjat, 14 Jan 1964)
JPRS translation (Translations on South and East Asia, 1964) of Suwardiningsih's speech in Harian Rakjat, 14 Jan 1964, p. 3, on the Political Report to the CC PKI's Second Plenary Session. She addresses workers' and peasants' hardship under the 26 May Regulations, work among peasants and fishermen, and revisionism. Fol
Flourish, Flourish, Flourish PKI: Sukarno's Speech, 23 May 1965
PKI-press (Jajasan Pembaruan) pamphlet of Sukarno's speech at the 45th anniversary rally of the PKI (23 May 1965), prefaced by a list of his earlier public endorsements of the party. Context for Sukarno–PKI alignment shortly before 1965.
US Embassy Airgram A-300 (Johnson Library copy): The September 30 Affair - background to the coup
Second, noisier OCR copy of the same US Embassy Djakarta airgram A-300 of 22 October 1965 (Masters), from the Johnson Library country file, 46 pages. Covers Sukarno-PKI offensive, the coup, PKI and Sukarno roles, army prospects. Gerwani is mentioned only as PKI women taunting the generals at Lubang Buaya (p.14) and as
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
FO 371/180318: Attempted Coup against Sukarno [9] (Oct 1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180318 (Oct 1965): Djakarta embassy telegrams, minutes and copied US cables on the 30 September affair. Covers the anti-PKI demonstration and burning of PKI HQ, Sukarno's return, Suharto and Nasution, and Anglo-American debate on backing the generals. Only Gerwani-relevant item: the 10 Oct
FO 371/180337: Bilateral Relations with the US [3] (1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180337 (Mar-Nov 1965): telegrams and letters on US-Indonesian relations: Bunker mission, Peace Corps withdrawal, anti-American demonstrations, Ambassador Green, Palmer affair, then Anglo-American talks on aid to the generals after 1 October. No mention of Gerwani; 'women' appear only among
Communists 'taking to hills in Indonesia': Soviet warning to Sukarno (The Scotsman, 12 October 1965)
The Scotsman, 12 Oct 1965 (Reuter and AP): travellers report thousands of Communists, some armed, taking to the hills of Central Java to escape an army dragnet, with party branch officials rounded up; the Soviet Union voices a warning to Sukarno, and the US ambassador Marshall Green comments on a general step. Short an
Telegram 971 to Secretary of State, 12 Oct 1965
US Embassy telegram 971, 12 Oct 1965: a German embassy source says the Army is considering overthrowing Sukarno and signalling Western embassies; Sukarno refused to read PKI-complicity papers. High-politics context; no Gerwani content.
Untung captured: Kremlin warns rebels (Straits Times, 1965)
The Straits Times, 13 October 1965, p. 1: Lt-Col. Untung is captured at Tegal; broadcasts claim rebels' support collapsed and many youths were rounded up; Medan rally demands a PKI ban; Soviet leaders warn Indonesia against imperialist threats; PKI chief Aidit still in hiding. Page also carries Vietnam war news. No men