Illustrations from Joop Wolff's book on Indonesia: review mentions Gerwis marriage-law struggle
De Waarheid, 23 Jan 1954, p. 6: Annie Averink's review of Joop Wolff's Pegasus book 'Uit het rijk der duizend eilanden', based on a trip to Indonesia after the SOBSI congress of late 1952, with colonial-contrast views of Jakarta and kampongs. It notes that Gerwis, which organises workers' and peasants' wives, leads wom
Conditions in Indonesia (Morning Bulletin, 1 June 1954)
Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton), 1 June 1954, p. 9, report of Allison Dickie, Victorian president of the Union of Australian Women, on her return from an Indonesian women's conference in Jakarta (360 delegates for 60,000 women; Dutch WIDF delegates present). She describes sex equality in the provisional constitution but
Izvestiia, 20 Jun 1954: 'In Indonesia', travel notes of a Soviet women's delegate
Izvestiia, 20 Jun 1954. Travel notes by a member of the Soviet women's delegation (Anti-Fascist Committee of Soviet Women) touring Indonesia: Jakarta, Boyolali rally where Gerwani representatives and the woman who invited them questioned the guests about the USSR, plantation conditions near Bandung, Round Table agreeme
Znamia, Oct 1954: 'On the Island of Java' (Yekaterina Shevelyova)
Znamia, 31 Oct 1954, p. 124: opening of Yekaterina Shevelyova's travel essay 'On the Island of Java'. She says a Soviet Anti-Fascist Women's Committee delegation, invited by Gerwani, spent almost a month in Java, then summarises Dutch colonialism, the 1949 Round Table settlement, and the 1954 dissolution of the Dutch-I
Jakarta sets up National Council: Sukarno names members (New York Times, 16 June 1957)
New York Times, 16 June 1957, p.37, Special to the Times from Jakarta: Sukarno names the 45 members of the new National Council (Dewan Nasional), chaired by himself, with Roeslan Abdulgani as deputy chairman and secretary-general. About a quarter are described as Communists or sympathisers, including PKI member Sujono
CIA Current Intelligence Weekly Summary, 12 November 1959
CIA Current Intelligence Weekly Summary, 12 Nov 1959, a long multi-topic report; the Indonesia part (pp.23-27) assesses PKI strength (Aidit's claim of 1.5 million members, Java as base, army and Sukarno restrictions, Aidit's 1959 Moscow and Peking trip). It names GERWANI as the PKI's women's front, alongside Pemuda Rak
Dilemmas of Indonesian Communism (van der Kroef, 1962)
Article by Justus M. van der Kroef (Pacific Affairs, summer 1962) on the PKI's dilemmas under Guided Democracy: dependence on Sukarno, the July 1960 'Evaluation' clash with the army, and the party's use of mass fronts. Gerwani is named as the PKI's women's front: its organ was aggressive without censure in 1961, and in
Secretary of Aidit drowns (Bintang Suradi), The Straits Times, 26 June 1963
Straits Times item of 26 June 1963 reporting that Bintang Suradi, 40, private secretary to PKI chairman D.N. Aidit, drowned off Java's south coast the previous Saturday, per Antara. Only the lead snippet was available. Relevant as the death of the husband of Gerwani figure Suwarti Bintang Suradi (the husband link comes
Gone to the farmer: communists in the Indonesian countryside
Friese Koerier travel/feature piece (12 Mar 1964, p.11) on how Indonesian communists won rural support via relief after Darul Islam raids, farming advice, theatre, wayang and badminton. It states the communists founded nominally non-communist organisations: BTI, Gerwani ('the Indonesian women's movement') and Pemuda Ra
Aust. delegate saw Indonesia
Tribune (Sydney), 12 Aug 1964, p. 3: Enid Hampson, NSW secretary of the UAW and WIDF delegate to the recent congress of Indonesian women in Jakarta, tells Perth that Indonesian women were amazed at suggestions of aggression against Australia. The congress was run by 'WANITA', a body of 40 organisations, with Mme Suband
Aust. delegate saw Indonesia
Tribune (Sydney), 12 Aug 1964, p. 3: Enid Hampson, NSW secretary of the UAW and WIDF delegate to the recent congress of Indonesian women in Jakarta, tells Perth that Indonesian women were amazed at suggestions of aggression against Australia. The congress was run by 'WANITA', a body of 40 organisations, with Mme Suband
LBJ National Security File: Indonesia, Communist Parties and Internal Politics (Sept 1964-Feb 1965)
LBJ Library National Security File, Indonesia (Sept 1964-Feb 1965): White House/State memoranda, Djakarta cables and CIA OCI reports on Sukarno's leftward drift, 'Sukarnoism' anti-PKI movement, succession, Malaysia and the USIS library crisis. Includes the CIA 'Sukarno and the Communists' report, listing Women's Front
CIA Special Report SC 00642/64A, 23 October 1964: Sukarno and the Communists
CIA Office of Current Intelligence Special Report SC 00642/64A, 'Sukarno and the Communists' (23 Oct 1964, Secret; declassified 1975). Analyses Sukarno's mutual exploitation with the PKI and Aidit's strategy; lists PKI front membership claims, including Gerwani at almost two million, beside BTI, SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat an
CIA, 'Sukarno and the Communists' (Office of Current Intelligence, 23 Oct 1964)
CIA Office of Current Intelligence report 'Sukarno and the Communists' (23 Oct 1964, ten pages), pre-coup assessment of the PKI-Sukarno relationship. Describes PKI growth to a claimed three million members and its fronts, including the Women's Front (GERWANI), 'almost two million'; also the cabinet, National Front, lan
Berliner Zeitung, 17 Dec 1964, p. 2: Significant declaration of the representatives of both parliaments (GDR-Indonesia)
Berliner Zeitung, 17 December 1964, p. 2: continuation of the joint declaration 'Bedeutsame Erklärung der Repräsentanten beider Parlamente' at the end of a GDR Volkskammer delegation's visit to Indonesia. It lists meetings with Sukarno, ministers and leaders, and records 'cordial encounters' with scientists and represe
FO 371/180309: Periodic Reports on Indonesia's Internal Political Situation (1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180309 (1965), periodic reports on Indonesia's internal political situation, mostly weekly letters from the British Embassy in Djakarta (S.J.G. Cambridge, M.J.T. McCann) to D. Tonkin, January to July 1965, with Antara and press extracts. It covers Aidit and the arming of peasants, Chairul
Neue Zeit, 24 Sep 1965, p. 4: Independent and equal (stalks of rice as a symbol of happiness)
Neue Zeit, 24 September 1965, p. 4 (women's page): ADN reportage "Halme des Reises als Symbol des Glücks – Selbständig und gleichberechtigt" by ADN Jakarta correspondent Helga Pe[...] on Indonesian women's life. It claims women drive cars, work as police and journalists, make up almost half of students and that the dep
ANP news report, 10 October 1965 (Indonesia: arrests continue)
ANP radio bulletin, 10 Oct 1965: arrests continue in Jakarta; among arrested communists are members of Gerwani, 'said to be responsible' for the killing/mutilation of the six generals (garbled in source). Also reports Njoto's reported arrest, soldiers at Hotel Indonesia and 1,500-2,000 arrests in Java in a week. An ear
Fears of a New Surge of Red Terror in Indonesia (Evening Post, 11 October 1965), headline clipping
Headline-only clipping 'Fears of a New Surge of Red Terror in Indonesia' from the Evening Post of 11 Oct 1965; no further text.
Fears of a New Surge of Red Terror in Indonesia (Evening Post, 11 October 1965), opening clipping
Opening clipping of the Evening Post article of 11 Oct 1965: mass arrests of Communists continued in Jakarta, with fears of a retaliatory terror campaign; unofficial estimates of 1,500 detained in a week and 2,000 captured in Java. Gerwani is not mentioned in this fragment.
Fears of a New Surge of Red Terror in Indonesia (Evening Post, 11 October 1965), opening clipping (duplicate)
Opening clipping of the Evening Post article of 11 Oct 1965: mass arrests of Communists continued in Jakarta, with fears of a retaliatory terror campaign; unofficial estimates of 1,500 detained in a week and 2,000 captured in Java. Gerwani is not mentioned in this fragment.
Straits Budget, 3 Nov 1965: army says wholesale slaughter of civilians in east Java
Straits Budget, 3 Nov 1965 (lead only). Reports a state of war declared in central Java, with the army saying Communists massacred civilians and Communists and Muslims fighting, citing Radio Jakarta. Typical army-sourced framing of the killings; matched on Gerwani.
Sinar Harapan, 20 Apr 1966: PKI cadres in West Irian; one Gerwani figure still detained
Sinar Harapan, 20 Apr 1966, p. 1: Brig. Gen. Bintoro of Kodam Cendrawasih says PKI cadres posted to West Irian were easily 'secured', 93 prisoners sent to Java, and 'only one Gerwani figure named Rukinah' remained detained.
Peking Review no. 18, 29 April 1966: 'white terror' in Indonesia, women and children killed
Peking Review Vol. 9 No. 18, 29 April 1966, a Chinese weekly. Besides Cultural Revolution and Afro-Asian Journalists' Association material, it carries Chinese protests against Indonesian anti-China outrages and a Renmin Ribao commentary, 'Right-Wing Reactionaries Plunge Indonesia into a Bloodbath' (p. 25), quoting New
Tricontinental Bulletin no. 21 (Havana, Dec 1967): denunciation of Suharto regime and death sentences
Tricontinental Bulletin no. 21 (Havana, December 1967), organ of OSPAAAL. A passage denouncing the Suharto-Nasution regime says thousands of men and women suffer torture in Indonesian prisons and names those sentenced to death: Njono, Sudisman, Sakirman, Rewang, Latief, Sujono, 'Sutanti, Aidit', Omar Dani. The printed
Tricontinental Bulletin no. 21 (Havana, Dec 1967): denunciation of Suharto regime and death sentences
Tricontinental Bulletin no. 21 (Havana, December 1967), organ of OSPAAAL. A passage denouncing the Suharto-Nasution regime says thousands of men and women suffer torture in Indonesian prisons and names those sentenced to death: Njono, Sudisman, Sakirman, Rewang, Latief, Sujono, 'Sutanti, Aidit', Omar Dani. The printed
Indonesian Communism since the 1965 Coup (van der Kroef, 1970)
Article by Justus M. van der Kroef (Pacific Affairs, spring 1970) on the PKI underground and army counter-campaign after 1965, from the Blitar and Purwodadi operations to political prisoners and Moscow/Beijing exile factions. Gerwani appears once (p.50): arrests of former Communists 'including members of Gerwani (the P
After 12 Years Freedom (Post-Courier, 19 January 1978)
Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, 19 January 1978, p. 5, feature by George Oliver on the release of 10,000 political prisoners held since the 1965 coup, with PKI members forced to swear loyalty. It describes the Category A, B, C system, the 1965-66 massacres (estimates up to half a million killed), Amnesty International's
After 12 Years Freedom (Post-Courier, 19 January 1978), clean OCR
Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, 19 January 1978, p. 5, clean OCR of George Oliver's feature on the release of 10,000 political prisoners held since the 1965 coup (same article as GA-00267). It covers the official and alternative accounts of 30 September, killings of perhaps half a million, half to three-quarters of a mi
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