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
Woman and the Changing Marriage Pattern of Indonesia (van der Kroef, 1957)
Journal article by Justus M. van der Kroef (American Catholic Sociological Review, June 1957) on women's status and marriage in Indonesia: adat versus Islamic law, polygamy, divorce rates, colonial and revolutionary change. Surveys women's organisations (Perwari, Kowani) and notes Kowani's early left turn and WIDF cont
Birth and Growth of the Indonesian Women's Movement, Part II (Sulami, 1959)
Part II of Sulami's 1959 history: Indonesian women under Japanese occupation (Fujinkai, women coerced as 'geishas'), the 1945 proclamation, founding of Perwari (Klaten, Dec 1945), the formation of KOWANI (Solo, Feb 1946), its second congress at Madiun deciding to affiliate to WIDF, and women's role in partisan resistan
Sarinah through the Ages
Short illustrated piece by Sulami (c. 1959-60), written for the anniversary of the August Revolution, tracing women's history from Kartini, the 1928 Youth Pledge and the 22 December 1928 women's congress to demands for equality, education and political rights. It cites Sukarno's Manipol and the book 'Sarinah', and urge
40 Years of the PKI
'40 Tahun PKI', compiled by the PKI History Institute (Lembaga Sejarah PKI) for the party's 40th anniversary, Yayasan Pembaruan, Jakarta 1960, following D.N. Aidit's 'Lahirnya PKI dan perkembangannya'. A party-line history from the 1920 founding through the 1926 uprising, Japanese occupation, revolution and the VI Cong
Sulami's 1960 piece 'Kartini' for the anniversary of R.A. Kartini: biography (b. 1879, child-marriage custom, letters, schooling of girls, marriage as Regent's wife), Kartini as symbol for Indonesian women's national and emancipation struggle, quoting Sukarno's 1959 lecture. Paired with a parallel profile of Egyptian f
RAND paper P-2690 by Guy J. Pauker (Jan 1963, for Asian Survey), 'Indonesia: Towards Development or Expansionism?'. Surveys the West New Guinea settlement, the lifting of the state of emergency, PKI strength (Aidit versus Lukman factions), inflation, Soviet arms debt and the Brunei revolt. Mentions Gerwani once, as a P
A Little about the Indonesian Women's Movement
Api Kartini (late 1964) history of the Indonesian women's movement for Youth Pledge Day, tracing Kartini, Isteri Sedar, Perwari, wartime Fujinkai and Gerwis's founding on 4 June 1950 from the Gerakan Wanita Sedar, its name change to Gerwani after merging with railway workers' wives and Perwin Menado, joining Kowani and
History of the Indonesian Youth Struggle (Youth Bureau, Ministry of Education and Culture, 1965)
Official history of the Indonesian youth movement (1908-1960) compiled by the Youth Bureau of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Balai Pustaka, Jakarta 1965 (prefaces dated Dec. 1963), in five periods. Gerwani appears only briefly: it is listed among organisations demanding action against the 1957-58 PRRI separatis
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
Dossier of a slaughter
Tribune (Sydney), 29 Jun 1966, p. 5: editorial attacking Western press whitewashing of the Suharto regime plus a long reconstruction of 30 Sep-1 Oct 1965 taken from the British New Left Review, portraying the movement as junior officers' action. It mentions that Halim auxiliaries from Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani took par
Dossier of a slaughter
Tribune (Sydney), 29 Jun 1966, p. 5: editorial attacking Western press whitewashing of the Suharto regime plus a long reconstruction of 30 Sep-1 Oct 1965 taken from the British New Left Review, portraying the movement as junior officers' action. It mentions that Halim auxiliaries from Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani took par
CIA study, December 1968: Indonesia 1965 - the coup that backfired
CIA research study, December 1968 (released 2023), arguing the PKI planned the 30 September Movement in every detail, based largely on interrogations. Cold War security-apparatus counter-evidence relevant to how Gerwani was framed.
The United States and the 'New Order' in Indonesia (Sullivan, 1969)
John H. Sullivan's 1969 American University PhD in international relations traces US-Indonesian relations c. 1963-68 and the emergence of the New Order, covering the anti-American period, the 30 September Movement and its aftermath, and regional, communist-bloc and economic relations. It is diplomatic and political his
RAND memorandum RM-5753-PR (Feb 1969), Guy J. Pauker, 'The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Indonesia'. Argues, from trial records, that Aidit planned the 30 September action against the generals and traces PKI strategy, the Chinese turn, the agrarian 'unilateral actions' and the killings (up to 300,000), and th
Interpretations of the 1965 Indonesian Coup: a review of the literature (van der Kroef, 1970)
Review essay by Justus M. van der Kroef (Pacific Affairs, winter 1970) surveying interpretations of the 1965 coup (Wertheim, Rey, the Cornell Report, Utrecht, Pluvier, Hughes, Nugroho/Saleh) from a pro-PKI-complicity standpoint. Several passages mention Gerwani members' role at Halim; he cites 'Mrs Djamilah's' confessi
The revolution passes Indonesia by: interview with Ernst Utrecht
Second half of a De Volkskrant interview (29 Aug 1970) with Prof. Ernst Utrecht on his book on Indonesia ahead of Suharto's Dutch visit. Utrecht says the Jakarta branches of Gerwani and Pemuda Rakyat "wanted to take part and did take part" in the 1965 coup, that the PKI leadership said these were independent organisati
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
Social Conditions Leading to Military Dominance: the case of Indonesia (Kahane, 1974)
Journal article by Reuven Kahane (Contributions to Asian Studies, vol. 5, 1974) giving a structural-sociological explanation of the 1965 coup and army dominance in Indonesia: religious-class polarisation, failing Sukarno-era control mechanisms, and the army's rise. Gerwani appears only in a footnote listing PKI-affilia
A political fighter: profile of Ratna Sari Dewi Sukarno in Paris
De Tijd profile by Anton Koene (8 Feb 1974) of Ratna Sari Dewi Sukarno in Paris, who is serialising her memoirs to clear Sukarno's name over the 1 Oct 1965 coup, rebuts the Widjanarko report in Dake's book and criticises Suharto's regime. Gerwani and Gerwani women are not mentioned.
The 1965 Coup in Indonesia: The CIA's Version (van der Kroef, 1976)
Critical review by Justus M. van der Kroef (Asian Affairs, Nov 1976) of the CIA's declassified 1968 report 'Indonesia-1965: The Coup That Backfired'. Takes issue with the CIA's claim that Lubang Buaya victims were not mutilated and that Gerwani/Pemuda Rakyat confessions were Army-contrived, quoting Gerwani member Djami
The 30 September Movement: a political movement of the armed forces or an intelligence operation? (Holtzappel, 1979)
Journal article by Coen Holtzappel (Journal of Contemporary Asia, 1979) analysing the Untung and Njono trial records to argue the 30 September Movement was steered by Air Force and Army intelligence, with Sjam's Pringgodani group deliberately compromising the PKI and Aidit. Gerwani is mentioned only once, in a footnote
Lubis' Land under the Rainbow: history with sloppiness, errors and bias
Joop Morriën's critical review in De Waarheid (6 June 1979, p.5) of Mochtar Lubis's illustrated history 'Het land onder de regenboog'. He faults its errors and 'virulent anti-communism', says it adopts Suharto's version of 1965, and notes the Madiun 1948 and 1965 killings of communists and Lekra artists' imprisonment.
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' (47): Operasi Palmer
Harian Neraca, 24 Feb 1989, p. 10: instalment 47 on the anti-American campaign as 'Operasi Palmer'; notes a Gerwani telegram of March 1965 demanding expulsion of AMPAI director Bill Palmer as a CIA agent.
Harian Neraca serial 'Siapa menabur angin akan menuai badai' (54): AURI training of PKI organisations
Harian Neraca, 4 Mar 1989, p. 10: instalment 54 on April–August 1965, claiming AURI personnel helped train Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani and other PKI organisations under the Dwikora volunteer programme.
Harian Neraca serial 'Siapa menabur angin akan menuai badai' (82): October 1965, Bogor address and organisation freeze
Harian Neraca, 8 April 1989, p. 10: instalment 82 of Soegiarso Soerojo's serial. October 1965: the PKI camp, explicitly including Gerwani, welcoming Sukarno's Bogor address; Presidium instruction of 20 Oct 1965 to freeze organisations and dismiss officials.
Pravda, 30 Oct 1990: 'Indonesia: strokes to a tragedy of 35 years ago' (V. Shurygin)
Pravda, 30 October 1990 (No. 303), p. 5: V. Shurygin's retrospective 'Indonesia: strokes to a tragedy of 35 years ago' on the 1965 coup, Suharto's rise and the destruction of the PKI by a Pravda correspondent who was in Indonesia. Gerwani appears once, listed as the PKI's women's organisation alongside SOBSI, BTI, Pemu
Pravda, 1990: Shurygin, 'Indonesia: strokes to a tragedy of 35 years ago' (excerpt)
Pravda (Nov/Dec 1990, No. 303) archive.org OCR excerpt of V. Shurygin's retrospective 'Indonesia: strokes to a tragedy of 35 years ago'. Lists Gerwani among PKI-affiliated mass organisations, cites up to 500,000 killed, notes slander turned opinion against communists, and says ~50,000 of 1.4 million ex-prisoners may vo