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 371/180317: Attempted Coup against Sukarno [8] (2-9 Oct 1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180317 (2-9 Oct 1965): Jakarta embassy and Foreign Office telegrams on the 30 September coup, Suharto's takeover, Sukarno and Omar Dani, Soviet press silence, and a Singapore proposal for unattributable propaganda to blacken the PKI. Gerwani is named in Suharto's 4 Oct statement and a 6 Oc
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 371/180320: Gilchrist Despatch of 8 October 1965 on the Coup and Counter-Coup
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180320 (Oct-Nov 1965): Gilchrist's despatch no. 13 of 8 Oct 1965 on the coup and counter-coup, plus telegrams, NATO and Commonwealth reports and Chinese/Soviet/Hanoi reactions. The despatch lists GERWANI among 'chief suspects' (p. 11) and says members of PKI youth and women's groups took p
FO 371/180323: Attempted Coup against Sukarno [14] (Nov 1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180323 (c. 4-16 Nov 1965): Djakarta telegrams, Antara extracts and Foreign Office correspondence on the PKI's destruction, Subandrio, Nasution and Sukarno. Gerwani items: tel. 2480 (p. 39) reports a 8 Nov Jakarta rally of women's organisations demanding dissolution of the PKI and Gerwani;
FO 371/180324: Attempted Coup against Sukarno [15] (Nov 1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180324 (1965), 'Attempted coup against Sukarno [15]': telegrams and letters from Djakarta, Washington and Peking, November 1965, plus appended US and Canadian reports. It records Sukarno's Heroes Day speech, Adam Malik's view of the Sukarno-generals stalemate and accounts of 30 September.
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
FRUS 1964-68 vol. XXVI, doc. 149: Intelligence memorandum, The Upheaval in Indonesia (6 October 1965)
FRUS 1964-68 vol. XXVI, doc. 149: CIA/OCI Intelligence Memorandum 'The Upheaval in Indonesia' (6 Oct 1965). Describes the 30 September Movement, Suharto's takeover and Sukarno's manoeuvres, and says GERWANI (the 'Communist women's front group') was reportedly involved. Quotes Suharto's 4 Oct statement that an area near
Dramatic funeral in Jakarta: lieutenant saved Nasution's life
Leeuwarder Courant, 7 October 1965, p. 1: report on the exhumation of the seven murdered army officers from the Lubang Buaya well and the generals' funeral, with Nasution's escape and Lt Tendean's death. It relays Suharto's televised claim that the bodies lay next to a base where the air force trained Pemuda Rakjat and
Jakarta saw gruesome TV film of exhumation of generals' bodies
Twentsch Dagblad Tubantia (7 Oct 1965): Jakarta TV shows exhumation of the generals' mutilated bodies from the Lubang Buaya well; Suharto says they were found near the air-force base where Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani volunteers were trained, citing an arrested female volunteer from Cirebon. Also the generals' funeral and
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
Neue Berner Zeitung, 5 November 1965: How the Indonesian Communist Party wanted to seize power - mass murders planned
Neue Berner Zeitung, 5 Nov 1965, DPA report 'How the Communist Party of Indonesia wanted to seize power: mass murders were planned'. Citing army-held 'captured plans', it claims the PKI intended to kill 10,000+ officers and officials, and to arm one million peasants and workers as a militia built from Pemuda Rakyat, BT
Neue Zürcher Nachrichten, 5 November 1965: Was Sukarno himself involved in the coup?
Neue Zürcher Nachrichten, 5 Nov 1965, 'Was Sukarno himself involved in the coup?' (dpa). Same DPA account: army-held plans allegedly show the PKI intended to murder 10,000+ officers and arm one million peasants and workers as a people's militia from Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, SOBSI and Gerwani cadres; the coup failed in 18 ho
Walliser Bote, 5 November 1965: The greatest riddle of the Indonesian coup - Sukarno's conduct
Walliser Bote (5 Nov 1965) running a DPA report on the coup, repeating army-sourced claims of a PKI plan to murder 10,000+ officials and build a people's militia from Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, SOBSI and Gerwani cadres on the Peking model. Also puzzles over Sukarno's presence at Halim.
The Economist, 6 Nov 1965, p.594, 'Rings on a tree trunk', from a special correspondent in Jakarta: the army-inspired anti-communist campaign has gained its own momentum, with raids on PKI offices, arrests, 26 Antara correspondents detained, Aidit in hiding, Sukarno declaring Central Java in a 'state of war'. Wall graf
Berner Tagwacht, 6 November 1965: The greatest riddle of the Indonesian coup - Sukarno's conduct
Berner Tagwacht (Bern), 6 Nov 1965, DPA-based report on the Indonesian coup. Citing army-compiled 'captured plans', it claims the PKI planned to murder 10,000+ officers in five days and arm one million peasants and workers via Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, SOBSI and Gerwani cadres as a militia on the Peking model. It calls Sukar
Geschäftsblatt für den obern Teil des Kantons Bern, 6 November 1965: The greatest riddle of the coup - Sukarno's conduct
Geschäftsblatt für den obern Teil des Kantons Bern, 6 Nov 1965: the same DPA report on the Indonesian coup as in Berner Tagwacht, with other subheadings. It alleges PKI plans (from captured documents) to murder 10,000+ officers and to arm one million peasants and workers as a militia using Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, SOBSI and
Burgdorfer Tagblatt, 8 November 1965: Was Sukarno involved in the coup? Revelations from Indonesia
Burgdorfer Tagblatt (Burgdorf), 8 Nov 1965, 'Was Sukarno involved in the coup?', the same DPA report as in Berner Tagwacht with subheadings. It claims captured plans show the PKI intended to kill 10,000+ officers and officials, and to arm one million peasants and workers as a 'people's militia' using cadres of Pemuda R
Indonesia: slap for Omar Dhani
Algemeen Handelsblad column (1965-11-18) on post-coup Indonesia: Suharto slaps Omar Dhani, rumours of poisoning, false communist accusations, and an RPKAD anecdote. Reports that Mrs. Subandrio, chair of Kowani, announced Gerwani had been expelled from the federation; Berita Yudha mocked her, and Mrs. Nasution reportedl
The masses did not rise (The Hindustan Times, 8 December 1965)
The Hindustan Times, 8 Dec 1965, Dennis Bloodworth (Singapore), 'PKI Debacle I: The Masses Did Not Rise': analysis of why the PKI collapsed after the 1 Oct coup: overrated membership, reliance on Sukarno and on army and air force penetration, no general strike, SOBSI dissolving. It reports Untung's alleged claim that m
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
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
Chinese Policy in Indonesia, 1949-1967 (Mozingo, 1973)
PhD dissertation (Political Science, UCLA, 1973) by David Paul Mozingo on Chinese policy toward Indonesia, 1949-1967, arguing it was an extension of united-front strategy and was undone by the 1965 coup. Its only reference to Gerwani is one sentence in the chapter on the coup (pp. 258-259): young men and women from the
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