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
Furious: Suharto's statement on the generals' bodies near the Halim training base
De Telegraaf item (7 Oct 1965) on General Suharto's television statement: the generals' bodies were found near the air-force base where Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani volunteers were trained, and an arrested female volunteer in Cirebon reportedly said volunteers came from Central Java. An early press link of Gerwani to the
While Sukarno keeps silent, 1,500 communists arrested; Gerwani blamed for torture
De Telegraaf report (11 Oct 1965) that the army arrested over 1,500 communists, including Col. A. Latief; it states Gerwani members among the arrested "are said to be responsible for the torturing to death of the generals." Early Dutch-press repetition of the Gerwani slander.
Indonesia: Army nets 1,500 Reds (New York Herald Tribune, European ed., 11 October 1965)
New York Herald Tribune (European ed.), 11 Oct 1965, Reuters report 'Army Nets 1,500 Reds' from Djakarta. Says the army arrested at least 1,500 Communists, including members of 'the Gerwani Communist women's movement, some members of which are alleged to have tortured the six army generals', plus PKI band and choir mem
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
Country-wide hunt for Reds in Indonesia: weapons seized (The Times of India, 11 October 1965)
The Times of India, 11 Oct 1965, p.11 (Times of India News Service, Reuter, AFP): country-wide hunt for Communists and weapons seized; 1,500 reported detained; mobs raid Njoto's and Aidit's houses; Radio Jakarta urges people to report members of the PKI, its youth and women's wings. A Muslim crowd ransacked a suburban
Torture squads in Djakarta: how Indonesian generals died (South China Morning Post, 15 October 1965)
South China Morning Post, 15 Oct 1965, p.12, 'Torture squads in Djakarta: how Indonesian generals died', by a special correspondent. A lurid account of the 1 October killings: it says 'frenzied members of the Gerwani women's organisation' chanted insults and danced naked while Pemuda Rakjat youths emasculated six gener
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
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
Nógrád, 7 Nov 1965: army kills communist women demonstrators in Solo
Page of Hungarian county daily Nograd, 7 Nov 1965, with an MTI Djakarta dispatch: the army press office says paratroopers 'were forced to take the lives' of Gerwani women who blocked a military column in Solo (Surakarta), Central Java; the communique does not state numbers. Also Pravda's Jakarta report on the banning o
Freiburger Nachrichten, 8 November 1965: Indonesia - the hunt for communists continues
Freiburger Nachrichten, 8 Nov 1965, 'Indonesia: hunt for Communists continues' (Reuter/AFP). Citing the Army newspaper, paratroopers killed nine women described as 'suicide fighters of Gerwani' who tried to block army tanks near Solo, shot after warning shots; also arrests in Cilacap, suspensions in Kalimantan, a 'holy
Izvestiia, 22 Nov 1965: Sukarno meets commanders; anti-communist campaign continues
Izvestiia, 22 Nov 1965, p. 1, TASS: Sukarno at Bogor condemns journalists spreading 'fables' about 'atrocities' of the 30 September movement, orders a civil-service purge under Subandrio; a second item gives arrests (1,600 in South Kalimantan), citing Antara that all those arrested are members of PKI, Gerwani, Pemuda R
Almost overlords yesterday, almost outlaws today: what happened to the PKI? (Bloodworth, Straits Times, 1965)
The Straits Times, 8 December 1965, p. 12, analysis by Dennis Bloodworth on why the PKI failed. In passing it repeats the Lubang Buaya slander as fact: 'six leading generals were done to death, horribly mutilated by doe-eye girls of the PKI's Gerwani women's movement'. It then covers Sukarno's weakness, Nasution's esca
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
Armed Forces Information Centre, Intisari Berita, 14 December 1965: Sukarno rejects stories of mutilation at Lubang B...
Armed Forces Information Centre bulletin, 14 Desember 1965. Reports Sukarno's address (13 Dec) rejecting press stories of genital mutilation and eye-gouging at Lubang Buaya; 18 Gerwani among 228 detained in Wonosobo; a Gerwani leader beaten by her own members.
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
Angkatan Bersendjata, 31 January 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 31 Jan 1966. The 'Pos Piket' column jokes about 'kuntilanak GERWANI'; also a 'confession' by Partindo official Waridjan and railway police seizure of 'a suitcase of human hair'.
Angkatan Bersendjata, 28 February 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 28 Feb 1966, during Untung's Mahmillub trial. The 'Pos Piket' corner jokes that the alleged 'Dewan Djenderal' tape is 'the tape of Gerwani at Lubang Buaya', presupposing the sexual slander as common knowledge.
Atrocities: account of the generals' killing and alleged Gerwani role
De Tijd article "Gruwelen" (23 Apr 1966) recounting the 1 Oct 1965 killings of the generals, claiming a hundred Gerwani women at Halim took part in torturing them with knives and razor blades after "training" including sexual orgies and blood oaths, citing a 15-year-old "Miss Djamilah" and the Djakarta Mail of 5 Nov. A
Atrocities: account of the generals' killing and alleged Gerwani role (duplicate record)
De Tijd article "Gruwelen" (23 Apr 1966) recounting the 1 Oct 1965 killings of the generals, claiming a hundred Gerwani women at Halim took part in torturing them with knives and razor blades after "training" including sexual orgies and blood oaths, citing a 15-year-old "Miss Djamilah" and the Djakarta Mail of 5 Nov. D
Angkatan Bersendjata, 1 October 1967 (Weekly Edition)
Angkatan Bersendjata, 1 Oktober 1967 (edisi Mingguan). Second-anniversary issue with a front-page lead 'Dianiaja' alleging the generals were tortured and mutilated and contradicting Sukarno; the richest Lubang Buaya slander item in this run.
A flood of rumours about the Sukarno affair
Trouw (7 Oct 1968), badly garbled OCR, on rumours of a 'Sukarno affair': interrogation of Sukarno's household, an army officer's claim that communists are trying to regain power, and a mention of an investigation concerning communist Gerwani, whose connection to Sukarno is unclear. Writer warns rumours are used to elim
Indonesia and the Wertheim Committee: Nijmegen congress and Dutch aid to Suharto
Long De Tijd opinion piece by Arie Kuiper (24 Apr 1969) on the Nijmegen student congress and the Wertheim Indonesia Committee's call to halt Dutch aid to Suharto's regime. It acknowledges hundreds of thousands killed and many political prisoners but blames Muslim hatred and defends Suharto; it repeats that generals wer
Archive of the Event of 1965 in Indonesia (compilation incl. Anderson and McVey, Preliminary Analysis of the October 1,
Internet Archive compilation on the 1965 events whose main text is Anderson and McVey's Cornell 'Preliminary Analysis of the October 1, 1965 Coup' (1971), with source documents. It says Gerwani and Pemuda Rakjat trainees at Lubang Buaya were drawn into the killings (pp. 22-23) while stressing the army-fed 'orgy' storie
Archive of the Event of 1965 in Indonesia (compilation incl. Anderson and McVey, Preliminary Analysis of the October 1,
Internet Archive compilation on the 1965 events whose main text is Anderson and McVey's Cornell 'Preliminary Analysis of the October 1, 1965 Coup' (1971), with source documents. It says Gerwani and Pemuda Rakjat trainees at Lubang Buaya were drawn into the killings (pp. 22-23) while stressing the army-fed 'orgy' storie