The Indonesian parliament and Linggadjati: strengthened left wing supports Sjahrir cabinet
Long article in the Dutch communist daily De Waarheid (15 Jan 1947) by its "Indonesian collaborator" assessing support for the Linggarjati draft in the Indonesian provisional parliament: Masjumi and PNI divided or opposed, while the PKI, Partai Sosialis, Pesindo, Christian parties, Partai Buruh, Perwari and BTI back it
Balance sheet of Indonesian political parties
Nieuw Utrechtsch Dagblad, 17 January 1947, p. 2: list drawn up by the Republican paper De Patriot of Indonesian groups for and against the Linggadjati draft agreement. Perwari, PKI, Sobsi, BTI and the Partai Sosialis are listed for; Masjumi, PNI and Partai Wanita Rakjat against. Gerwani/Gerwis (founded later) does not
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
Latest news: Committee of Good Offices, Madiun arrests, women drowned
De Maasbode, 7 Dec 1948: 'Latest news' column covering the Committee of Good Offices, Dr Beel in Madura, Hatta's stand on the army, and about 3,000 arrests after the Madiun revolt. A brief item reports seven Indonesian women drowned when a prau capsized near Teluknaga. Gerwani/Gerwis and Soetanti Aidit are not mentione
Communist Blueprint for Asia (Western Mail, 18 August 1949)
Western Mail (Perth), 18 August 1949, p. 10, Denis Warner's anti-communist article 'Communist Blueprint for Asia'. It claims the February 1948 Calcutta Southeast Asia Youth and Students' Conference carried Moscow's instructions for revolt to Australia, Malaya, Burma, Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam. Indonesia's dele
Communist Blueprint For Asia (Western Mail, 18 August 1949), reprint
Western Mail (Perth), 18 Aug 1949, reprint of Denis Warner's article presenting the Feb 1948 Calcutta youth conference as a Moscow-directed 'blueprint' for Asian revolution. Indonesian delegate Francisca Fanggidaej is listed among the 'guests'; Warner says there is little to show 'his' politics and doubts Indonesian in
CIA report, 6 April 1950: Ho Chi Minh's Indonesian agents
CIA report, 6 April 1950, claiming Aidit and Trimurti visited Ho Chi Minh and would return as his 'agents' to build a people's army in Indonesia. Almost certainly unreliable but links future Gerwis founder S.K. Trimurti to alleged transnational conspiracy.
Indonesian delegate: victory in China inspiring (Lillah Suripno)
De Waarheid item (10 Feb 1950) quoting Indonesian delegate Lillah Suripno at the Asian Women's Conference in Peking: guerrillas fight oppressors, Indonesian women's task is a free democratic state, the Chinese revolution is an example, and victory needs a democratic front under the Communist Party. Photo shows her besi
CIA information report, 14 April 1950: Communist developments in Indonesia
CIA information report, 14 April 1950: 'Communist Developments in Indonesia', on the PKI, FDR and Partai Murba after the 1948 Madiun revolt, their alliance, infiltration of labour and army, and factions. Tan Ling Djie, Abdul Madjid, Sakirman and Wikana are named; Umi Sardjono appears only as head of one Partai Buruh In
CIA report, 26 February 1951: Estimate of the current economic situation in Indonesia
CIA report, 26 February 1951, on alleged communist-directed strike sabotage in Indonesia via SOBSI and WFTU. Gerwani-relevant only for naming a batik workers' union organised by Mrs Trimurti.
Arrests in East Java: seven journalists detained in Surabaya
De Nieuwsgier, 20 Aug 1951: report on the August 1951 Sukiman government sweep in East Java: 26 detained in Surabaya, including editors, SOBSI and PKI leaders, and Mrs Parjani Ilham, chairwoman of Gerwis. Police seized Mao, Lenin and Stalin pictures. Officials say the arrests do not target a particular ideology. Early
Impressive demonstrations throughout Indonesia (May Day 1952)
De Waarheid, 2 May 1952, p. 3: dispatch on May Day demonstrations across Indonesian cities by committees including SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat and the women's organisation Gerwis; Jakarta rally at Merdeka Square. Reports government attempts to prevent them, including bans in Surabaya on discussing germ warfare and carrying po
US State Dept. report IR-6165, January 1953: Communism in the Free World - Indonesia section on Gerwis
US State Department Office of Intelligence Research report IR-6165, 'Communism in the Free World' (January 1953), a compilation of about 30 country studies of communist capabilities, held in the CIA reading room. The Indonesia study (IR-6165.3) covers PKI aims and tactics, labour, and front organisations. Section VI.A
World mourns Stalin, including Gerwis telegram (Renmin Ribao, 17 March 1953)
Renmin Ribao, 17 Mar 1953 (p. 4), roundup of world mourning for Stalin: Togliatti's article and Brazilian, French and British tributes. In the Indonesia section the PKI issued a proclamation and held a memorial meeting (Sudisman eulogising), Harian Rakjat and other papers eulogised him, and Gerwis sent a telegram of gr
World mourns Stalin, including Gerwis telegram (Renmin Ribao, 17 March 1953)
Renmin Ribao, 17 Mar 1953 (p. 4), roundup of world mourning for Stalin: Togliatti's article and Brazilian, French and British tributes. In the Indonesia section the PKI issued a proclamation and held a memorial meeting (Sudisman eulogising), Harian Rakjat and other papers eulogised him, and Gerwis sent a telegram of gr
But what is the reality? Travel report on workers in Indonesia
De Waarheid, 1 May 1954, p. 4: travel report by Mak Meyer, a Dutch union delegate to the SOBSI conference, on Indonesian workers' misery: poverty, homelessness, factory conditions and wages, child labour, becak drivers, and figures such as 35,000 women dying in childbirth yearly. Portrays SOBSI and PKI as leaders and u
Joint declaration of thirty parties (abolition of the Netherlands-Indonesian Union)
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (24 Jun 1954, p.1): the Jakarta cooperation committee of about thirty parties and organisations, including PNI, PKI, Partai Buruh, Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, SOBSI, BTI and Wanita Rakjat, issued a joint declaration demanding immediate abolition of the Indonesian-Dutch Union, blaming Dutch imper
CIA study, May 1955: The Communist Party of Indonesia - a survey of PKI organization and history
CIA study, May 1955, surveying PKI organisation and history before the 1955 elections, with a short section on Gerwani among eight front organisations (pp. 49-50) and PKI foreign channels. Earliest extended US assessment of Gerwani as a PKI front.
Djakarta postpones the evil day (The Observer, 16 January 1955)
The Observer, 16 Jan 1955, p.7, Rawle Knox, 'Djakarta Postpones the Evil Day': impressionistic report from Jakarta on a lively, disorderly capital, the Ali Sastroamidjojo government's dependence on Communist support, Sukarno's drift from impartiality, the delayed first election and anti-Dutch boycotts. A passing quote
CIA intelligence survey of the PKI's history, structure and front organisations, May 1955, before the September 1955 elections. Section III.E (report pp. 49-50) profiles Gerwani: founded 1950 as Gerwis, renamed Gerwani at the March 1954 congress, 25,000+ members, S.K. Trimurti general chairman and Umi Sardjono chairman
Ten years of the Republic (Cor Geugjes)
De Waarheid, 17 Aug 1955, p. 3: Cor Geugjes's article for the Republic's tenth anniversary, covering Dutch colonial violence, the Bandung Conference, the Ali Sastroamidjojo government's fall and replacement by a Masjumi-PSI cabinet under Harahap, and the PKI's election platform. It lists Gerwani only as 'the strong wom
Renmin Ribao, 15 Sep 1955: Indonesian parties begin election campaigning (Aidit; Umi Sardjono)
Renmin Ribao p. 4 (15 Sep 1955) on the campaign before the 1955 elections. The excerpt says that besides PKI leader Aidit's speech at a rally, the campaign speakers included a PKI leader transliterated 'Aliming' and women's leader Mrs Umi Sardjono; a non-party candidate Mrs D. Susanto is also named, apparently at a Sem
Renmin Ribao, 15 Sep 1955: Indonesian parties begin election campaigning (Aidit; Umi Sardjono)
Renmin Ribao p. 4 (15 Sep 1955) on the campaign before the 1955 elections. The excerpt says that besides PKI leader Aidit's speech at a rally, the campaign speakers included a PKI leader transliterated 'Aliming' and women's leader Mrs Umi Sardjono; a non-party candidate Mrs D. Susanto is also named, apparently at a Sem
Elections in Indonesia on Thursday
Arnhemsche Courant, 27 Sept 1955: preview of Indonesia's first general elections (29 Sept), expecting a communist-Masjumi contest and noting that women have emerged as a political force within existing parties. Gerwani is not named; useful context for the 1955 elections.
Interpellation by communist MPs on foreign capital
De Locomotief, 28 Dec 1955: PKI parliamentarians Sakirman, Tjugito, Suwarti, Sumadi and Utarjo submit a written interpellation on foreign capital, claiming colonial-era extraction and restored monopoly under the 1949 RTC accords, with eight questions to the Burhanuddin government. Suwarti is a woman PKI MP; Gerwani is
Pravda, 1956: working people of Indonesia respond to the 20th CPSU Congress
Pravda, No. 59, 1956 (c. 28 Feb), p. 3: Jakarta dispatch 'The working people of Indonesia speak' among foreign responses to the 20th CPSU Congress. SOBSI leaders (Sumandi, Sudoyo, Sudadi) praise the Congress; Gerwani leader Suharti says she followed it via newspapers and Moscow radio in Indonesian and is 'amazed' at So
Page (seq. 1010) of the US 'Monthly Indonesian Press Survey' (nos. 11-21, 1956) listing 1955-56 Constituent Assembly members by region. Under the PKI group (80 seats), East Java (27) names Njoto, Njono, Tan Ling Djie and Suwardiningsih, whom the sweep identifies as a Gerwani member; the page does not say so.
PKI has one million members: Aidit interview with Ogonyok
De Waarheid, 23 Mar 1956, p. 2: Moscow dispatch that the PKI has one million members, per Aidit in an interview with the Soviet magazine Ogonyok; SOBSI has 2.6 million, the peasant union BTI 2.5 million, Pemuda Rakjat 700,000 and Gerwani about 500,000. Useful as a contemporary membership figure for Gerwani.
Pravda, 5 Sep 1956: Gerwani leader on Sukarno's visit to the USSR (excerpt)
Keyword-hit excerpt of Pravda, No. 249, 5 Sept 1956, report by correspondent O. Chechetkina (Jakarta, 4 Sept) on Indonesian reactions to President Sukarno's visit to the USSR. D. N. Aidit and Darmini, 'one of the leaders of the mass women's organization Gerwani', hail it as the first visit of Indonesia's president to t
CIA, East-West and Intra-Orbit Travel and Contacts, 18 Sep 1956 (Mrs Ch. Salawati of the PKI)
CIA bulletin of travel by bloc and non-bloc delegations. Citing Harian Rakjat (30 June 1956), it lists the Indonesian parliamentary delegation to the USSR, Poland and Czechoslovakia (September 1956), including 'Mrs Ch. Salawati of the PKI' (identified by the sweep as Charlotte Salawati Daud) with Sakirman. A separate l