A great and strong people fights for a better life: Rie Lips on Java
De Waarheid, 12 May 1954, p. 5: opening of an interview with Rie Lips, vice-chair of the NVB, back from six weeks on Java after the Gerwis/Gerwani congress. She rejects stereotypes of Indonesians as lazy, dirty or stupid, citing women who work in factories or walk hours to attend meetings of the women's movement, 'the
Indonesian mothers: 'Do not send your sons to West Irian'
De Waarheid, 8 Jun 1960, p. 3: report that the NVB received a telegram from Gerwani, 'For peace and humanity, do not send your sons to West Irian', and replied that it will try to launch a big protest campaign. Quotes the NVB's letter to the Dutch cabinet opposing troop and arms shipments to New Guinea and recalling th
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
Greeting from Gerwani to the Dutch women's meeting on New Guinea
De Waarheid, 28 Nov 1961, p. 3: report of an NVB (Dutch women's) meeting where the peaceful settlement of New Guinea was top of the programme. A highlight was a greeting from Gerwani, described as a 900,000-member Indonesian women's organisation, saying Indonesian and Dutch women are closely linked in protecting childr
International solidarity: Gerwani's greeting quoted to the Dutch women's movement
De Waarheid, 28 Nov 1961, p. 3: one-paragraph quote from Gerwani's greeting to the Dutch women's movement (NVB): Indonesian mothers organised in Gerwani will never forget the NVB's consistent help and solidarity in the struggle to liberate West Irian. Companion to the 'Begroeting Gerwani' item.
Sympathy for the release campaign: letter from Gerwani delegation to Tom Clardij
De Waarheid, 21 Dec 1962, p. 3: full text of a letter from the Gerwani delegation at the WIDF Council session in Berlin, Suharti Suwarto, Darmini Sudirdjo and Sulami, to Dutch objector Tom Clardij, thanking him on behalf of Gerwani's 1,250,000 members, supporting Dutch women's demand for his release from prison and sen
Letter from Jakarta: Gerwani protests Tom Clardij's imprisonment and thanks NVB
De Waarheid, 13 Feb 1963, p. 2: report that the NVB received a letter from Gerwani, sent after the Central Council's plenary meeting in Jakarta on 10 January 1963, thanking it for solidarity on the transfer of West Irian. The council also protested to the Dutch government against the imprisonment of objector Tom Clardi
Indonesia: protest against persecution of the women's movement Gerwani
De Waarheid, 13 May 1966, p. 1: report that the NVB wrote to President Sukarno in shock and indignation at the terror against Gerwani and other democratic organisations, recalling the role they played in the Indonesian revolution and nation-building, and demanding the release of all political prisoners and lifting of t
Protest against persecution of Gerwani (full front page, 13 May 1966)
Full De Waarheid front page, 13 May 1966, mostly Dutch domestic and international news (cabinet Cals wage policy, Soviet trade delegation, US-China air incident). Only one box is relevant: the NVB's letter to Sukarno protesting terror against Gerwani and other democratic organisations and demanding release of political
Dutch Women's Movement protests Suharto's visit: letter to ministers
De Waarheid, 5 Aug 1970, p. 1: full text of the NVB executive's letter to Dutch ministers protesting President Suharto's planned state visit. It accuses his regime of causing hundreds of thousands of deaths, rejecting clemency, and holding at least 125,000 prisoners and exiles, among them many members of the 'million-m
Sandwich-board action in The Hague against Suharto visit: 'Freedom for the women of Gerwani'
De Waarheid, 18 Aug 1970, p. 1: report that a dozen women demonstrated with sandwich boards in The Hague against Suharto's planned visit, carrying signs 'Freedom for the women of Gerwani' and 'Suharto unwanted', distributing the NVB letter and later protesting at the Indonesian embassy.
Rotterdam women demonstrated against Suharto's visit
De Waarheid, 19 Aug 1970, p. 1: report that Rotterdam women demonstrated on the Lijnbaan and at the Beurs against General Suharto's state visit, with signs demanding release of political prisoners in Indonesia and especially members of Gerwani, handing out the NVB letter. Port workers also telegraphed Minister Luns.
The Hague women demonstrated against Suharto's visit
De Waarheid, 4 Sep 1970, p. 1: report that NVB members in The Hague carried sandwich boards for several days against Suharto's visit ('The women of Gerwani must be free', 'Not a cent for the generals'), handing out thousands of pamphlets until police took the women in at 3:30 pm on 3 September, amid public applause.
Women's movement needed: Truus Divendal on Gerwani and Indonesia
De Waarheid, 7 Sep 1971, p. 4: report on the NVB's speech by Truus Divendal arguing a women's movement is still needed. She reports fundraising for the South Vietnamese NLF and addresses Indonesia: Gerwani, which earlier played a large role in eliminating illiteracy, now has thousands of members imprisoned; the NVB dem
Resolution closing the NVB congress of 1971: lift the ban on Gerwani
De Waarheid, 1 Nov 1971, p. 6: report on the close of the NVB's 25th-anniversary congress, which adopted a resolution on education, equal rights and government policy and urged support for the Vietnamese NLF. The congress also demanded lifting of the ban on Gerwani and freedom for Angela Davis; G. van der Laan succeede
Women - life imprisonment (Joop Morrien on the trial of Gerwani and PKI women)
De Waarheid, 25 Apr 1975, article by Joop Morrien on nearly ten years of Suharto's dictatorship. It reports the military tribunal trial of Gerwani and PKI women Sulami, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar Rukmiati and Suharti Harsono, who went underground after 1965 and were arrested in late 1966; life is demanded for Sulami and 20 ye
Women's movement magazine condemns Indonesian trial: NVB demands freedom for Gerwani women
De Waarheid, 21 Jun 1975, p. 5: report that the NVB monthly 'Vrouwen' urges protest against the heavy sentences passed in late April on four Gerwani members. It recalls the 1965 coup, bloodbath and camps, ten years of deteriorating living conditions and foreign aid through the IGGI (up to 880 million dollars a year). T
Stop support for the Suharto regime
De Waarheid, 21 Jun 1975, p. 5: boxed text 'Stop support for the Suharto regime' from the NVB monthly 'Vrouwen': the IGGI group (US, Japan, West Germany, Netherlands) gives up to 880 million dollars yearly to the regime; its April meeting was postponed amid confusion over Indochina; Suharto fears liberation victories.
Tortures (article by Annie van Ommeren in 'Vrouwen')
De Waarheid, 18 Oct 1975, p. 5: closing part of a review of the NVB monthly 'Vrouwen'. Annie van Ommeren's article stresses women's role against the regime, with Gerwani members prominent, names prominent women held and tortured with burning cigarettes and electric shocks in Plantungan, Bukit Duri and Bulu prisons, and
Riek Hoogkamp: international solidarity high on the banner
De Waarheid, 15 Nov 1976, p. 1: report on an NVB meeting opened by chair Riek Hoogkamp, who stressed the role of international solidarity in NVB history and said the thoughts of the meeting went out to the women of the Indonesian sister organisation Gerwani, to women in Chile and Namibia. The NVB reports growth and 31
The NVB (International Women's Day 1978)
De Waarheid, 4 Mar 1978, p. 5: article on the NVB's record around International Women's Day, listing its causes since the war: disarmament, anti-nuclear action, opposition to wars in Korea and Vietnam, international solidarity with Gerwani in Indonesia and anti-apartheid women, and women's rights at home. Contrasts the
Gerwani (Annie van Ommeren on Tanti Aidit and the witch-hunt against Gerwani)
De Waarheid, 24 Mar 1979, p. 8: excerpt from Annie van Ommeren on Tanti Aidit, board member of Gerwani, sister organisation of the NVB. She says Gerwani had one million members, was the target of a huge smear campaign during and after the 1965 coup, with women accused of atrocities, which found fertile ground among rea
New objectives at 11th NVB congress
Front-page De Waarheid report (12 Feb 1980) on the 11th congress of the Nederlandse Vrouwenbeweging (NVB), which re-elected Riek Hoogkamp. The congress adopted a declaration asking Dutch ministers to press Indonesia to restore civil rights of released political prisoners, grant amnesty to women independence fighters, a
Indonesian women (lecture by Mieke Lokkerbol)
De Waarheid report (2 May 1980, p.5) of a talk by Mieke Lokkerbol of Komitee Indonesië on the Indonesian women's movement from Kartini to Gerwani. It describes Gerwani's programme (marriage law, rape penalties, labour law, schooling, health, price control), claims 1.5 million members in 1963, its ban after 1965, and ma
Women of Indonesia (review of the Komitee Indonesie women's group booklet)
De Waarheid review (4 Mar 1981, p.8) by Joop Morriën of a Vrouwengroep Komitee Indonesië booklet 'Vrouwen van Indonesië: strijd om bestaan'. It covers women's position under colonialism, adat and Islam, rural-urban migration and prostitution after 1965, and ends with a chapter on NVB–Gerwani solidarity with recollectio
Population movement hits Papuans
De Waarheid report (23 Mar 1985, p.3) on a Dutch parliamentary committee debate criticising Indonesia's transmigration to West Papua. CPN MP Ina Brouwer, pressing minister Schoo on freedom of organisation, states that Gerwani, 'the progressive Indonesian women's movement' that once did much for women, is banned; Schoo
For a free Indonesia (founding of the Wertheim Foundation)
De Waarheid report (30 Nov 1987, p.4) on the launch of the Wertheim Foundation, where W.F. Wertheim praised a Hendra painting of a male and female guerrilla. He argued that the Suharto regime rests on mass murder and falsified history, and that one task is to write the real history of Gerwani, Lekra, SOBSI and the PKI.