Dutch purge action in South Celebes
De Heerenveensche Koerier, 8 July 1947, summarising a Vrij Nederland exposé on the Dutch 'purge' in South Sulawesi (Dec 1946-Mar 1947), with sworn statements and over 20,000 reported dead. It quotes a letter from the women of Makassar protesting the soldiers' methods, signed on behalf of a women's social association by
WIDF 1950: From All Parts, Women Write to the WIDF
WIDF bulletin, 1950: 'From All Parts, Women Write to the WIDF' with reports from South Africa, Israel and Indonesia. The Indonesia section recounts women in the Republic's struggle against the Dutch, mass May Day rallies (390,000 in 1950), repression after the Madiun era, harsh conditions for plantation women, and supp
Gerwis protests Egyptian ban on women voting
De Nieuwsgier, 17 Apr 1952: Gerwis hands a letter to the Egyptian consulate protesting the Cairo governor's decision that women may not take part in Egyptian elections, and urges Egypt to withdraw it. Early example of Gerwis's international women's-rights solidarity.
False accusations: Gerwis answered by Mrs Roosevelt
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1952-05-19, p. 2): Eleanor Roosevelt replied to a letter Gerwis gave her in Jakarta in April, rejecting its claim that UN forces used bacteriological weapons in Korea, denying that the UN suppresses peoples' freedom, and disputing its account of Palestinian Arab displacement. Shows Gerwis's Co
Mrs Roosevelt denies Gerwis's allegations of bacteriological warfare
De Nieuwsgier, 19 May 1952: Eleanor Roosevelt, replying to a Gerwis letter handed to her in Jakarta in late April, rejects its allegations of UN bacteriological warfare in Korea and suppression of a people's freedom, and the claim that the West drove a million Arabs from their homes. Third press version of this exchang
Mrs Roosevelt answers Gerwis's allegations
De Locomotief, 20 May 1952: severely garbled OCR of the report on Eleanor Roosevelt's reply to the Gerwis letter delivered during her Jakarta visit, rejecting claims that the US used bacteriological weapons in Korea and addressing Arab refugee allegations. Companion to the Arnhemsche Courant item of 27 May 1952; fragme
Mrs. Roosevelt did not agree
Arnhemsche Courant, 27 May 1952: a short item reports Eleanor Roosevelt's reply, during her Jakarta visit, to a letter from Gerwis. She rejected its claims that the UN used bacteriological weapons in Korea and suppressed peoples, and denied the US drove a million Arabs from their homes. Shows Gerwis's Cold War peace st
Parliamentary Proceedings 1953, Vol. II (Sittings 12-25)
Official record (Risalah Perundingan) of the Indonesian parliament (DPR RI), 1953, vol. II, sittings 12-25 (from 30 January 1953). It covers the debate on the election bill for the Konstituante and DPR, army and defence bills, emergency laws and private-land restitution. Gerwani is not discussed. The only direct trace
Campaign to save the Rosenbergs, including Gerwis protest (Renmin Ribao, 14 June 1953)
Xinhua roundup in Renmin Ribao, 14 June 1953 (p. 4), on the worldwide campaign to save Julius and Ethel Rosenberg from execution: US court rejections, New York rallies, and protests in Canada and Europe, including a resolution by the World Congress of Women in Copenhagen. The only Indonesian reference: SOBSI, the Gerwi
Campaign to save the Rosenbergs, including Gerwis protest (Renmin Ribao, 14 June 1953)
Xinhua roundup in Renmin Ribao, 14 June 1953 (p. 4), on the worldwide campaign to save Julius and Ethel Rosenberg from execution: US court rejections, New York rallies, and protests in Canada and Europe, including a resolution by the World Congress of Women in Copenhagen. The only Indonesian reference: SOBSI, the Gerwi
New demonstrations in prospect: open letter to Sukarno after Bandung rally
De Nieuwsgier, 17 July 1953 (PIA): a delegation from the PPDI, Partai Buruh, PNI, PKI, PRIM, Gerwis and Permai, whose parties held a large Bandung demonstration, presents Sukarno with an open letter asking him to decree Darul Islam and other bands terrorists to be exterminated. Sukarno agrees personally but says cabine
Salatiga: national action committee formed
De Locomotief, 29 July 1953: Salatiga branches of SOBSI, BTI, PPDI, Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwis jointly convene a meeting of 35 organisations and parties, which forms a national action committee and decides to send an open letter to Sukarno urging implementation of parliament's decisions and action against Darul Islam and
Dear sisters: Dutch Women's Movement greeting to Indonesian women
De Waarheid, 14 Aug 1953, p. 3: open letter from the NVB chair G. Blokker-de Groot congratulating 'dear Indonesian sisters' on the eighth anniversary of the Republic, praising Gerwis as a sister organisation of great significance in women's struggle for equality. Recalls the Dutch and Indonesian women's meeting at the
Congratulation from Dutch Women's Movement to the Indonesian women's league
De Waarheid, 14 Aug 1953, p. 3: headline and one-line introduction only, stating that the NVB executive sent a letter to Gerwis; the letter text itself is not in this item (it appears in the companion item 'Dierbare zusters'). Evidence of NVB-Gerwis contact.
Women Write to Us From Everywhere: Indonesia (Darmini, 1954)
Short 1954 item in WIDF's 'Women Write to Us From Everywhere' by Darmini, Assistant General Secretary of Gerwani. She reports the Gerwani congress as a success, with WIDF representative Monica Felton present and foreign delegates (Dutch, Australian, Soviet) touring the country, a first in Indonesian women's movement hi
Letters to the Editor: SEATO's aim
Tribune (Sydney), 13 Oct 1954, p. 11: letters page covering SEATO, Eisenhower, Pakistan, housing and criticisms of Tribune. One letter claims Indonesia, India, Ceylon and Burma's abstention from SEATO shows Asian peoples want peace and independence; another praises the Union of Australian Women journal 'Our Women'. No
WIDF magazine 'Women Write to Us' (1955), country letters after the World Congress of Mothers (Lausanne): Bulgaria, Argentina, France, India floods, and Indonesia. The Indonesia item reports delegate Mme Suryadarma's warm airport welcome, press and radio coverage of her Congress speech, and the Indonesian Women's Movem
Successful festive evening of the Dutch Women's Movement (ten years of WIDF)
De Waarheid, 12 Dec 1955, p. 3: report on the NVB's festive evening in Amsterdam for the WIDF's tenth anniversary, with a speech by Betty Zeehandelaar on equal pay and women's rights, a Belgian greeting, and a Scapino ballet programme. At the close, letters were sent to the WIDF and to Gerwani asserting Indonesia's rig
Gerwani and painless childbirth
Java-Bode, 23 January 1956, p. 2: the Gerwani central board wrote to the government welcoming Pope Pius XII's endorsement of painless childbirth, credited the theory's discoverer, Soviet professor Pavlov, and urged the government to let Indonesian scholars learn it for mass application. Other snippets (Kalimantan impor
Gerwani and painless childbirth
Short item, Indische Courant voor Nederland, 4 Feb 1956, p. 3: the Gerwani central board writes to the government welcoming Pope Pius XII's acceptance of painless childbirth, praising its Soviet discoverer Pavlov, and asking that Indonesian scientists be enabled to learn the method for mass application.
Appreciation from Gerwani
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1956-03-28, p. 2): Gerwani's West Java branch publishes an open letter praising the police over the Tengku Angkasa affair, but argues prostitution persists while foreign capital controls resources and prices rise. It urges police to support the people's struggle against foreign capital and for
Letter from Emma Poeradiredja to Helen Fowler, 12 January 1957
Letter from Emma Poeradiredja (Bandung, 12 January 1957) to Helen Fowler, answering a request to describe Indonesian women's work. She explains the Kongres Wanita Indonesia umbrella, its three foundations, women's organisations by type (social, officials' wives, political), kindergartens, schools, cooperatives and the
1957 'Letter to an Unknown Friend' by Sudjinah (Gerwani) on Indonesian children's conditions, framed by colonial history, Japanese occupation and the Round Table agreement. Gives statistics (15-20% infant mortality, one doctor per 59,000, illiteracy 65%, 5 of 12 million children in school) and notes Gerwani, with the I
'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
'From Our Mailbag' (WIDF magazine, 1959): readers' letters from France, Germany, USA, Sudan, Egypt, Colombia and Indonesia. The Jakarta letter, from Mrs Lies Said, editor of the women's magazine Wanita (30,000 readers), says Indonesian women still await the Marriage Law and will keep struggling for equal rights. Gerwan
A letter from Indonesia to the Dutch Women's Movement (Gerwani reply)
De Waarheid, 29 Aug 1960, p. 2: publication of Gerwani's reply letter to the NVB, thanking Dutch women on behalf of its 710,000 members for their efforts to prevent sons being sent to West Irian, promising to publish the NVB letter in Indonesia and to keep working for peace. Prefaced by a note recalling Gerwani's teleg
Two Women Leaders Exchange Letters, One Wish: Lasting Peace
Api Kartini (1961) exchange of open letters on peace between Ny. A. Hidayat, a leader of the Indonesian peace committee, and Nina Popova of the Soviet women's movement, about nuclear tests, disarmament and the Soviet space flights of Gagarin and Titov. The page also carries a mother's letter to school-age children. Pea
Wrote to Indonesian women
Tribune (Sydney), 24 Jan 1962, p. 10: Perth UAW secretary Mrs M. Lester says the UAW wrote to Indonesian women leaders and to Gerwani, described as WIDF-affiliated, supporting Indonesia's claim to West New Guinea and saying Australian leaders do not speak for many sympathetic Australians. It also wrote to ALP leader Ca
Wrote to Indonesian women
Tribune (Sydney), 24 Jan 1962, p. 10: Perth UAW secretary Mrs M. Lester says the UAW wrote to Indonesian women leaders and to Gerwani, described as WIDF-affiliated, supporting Indonesia's claim to West New Guinea and saying Australian leaders do not speak for many sympathetic Australians. It also wrote to ALP leader Ca
Protest at US support for Dutch seizure of West Irian; Gerwani letter to Robert Kennedy (Renmin Ribao, 17 February 1962)
Renmin Ribao, 17 Feb 1962, p. 3 (Xinhua, Jakarta): during US Attorney General Robert Kennedy's visit, Indonesian student bodies, trade unions and Gerwani protest US support for Dutch 'self-determination' on West Irian; Gerwani delivered a protest letter to the US embassy. Students shout 'Recover West Irian' at Gadjah M