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
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
Part 1: The women's movement, the women of Indonesia (Asahi Shimbun, 16 January 1957)
Asahi Shimbun (Tokyo evening edition, 16 Jan 1957, p. 2), part 1 of a series on the women's movement among Indonesian women, apparently by a Japanese woman writer who visited. OCR is badly scrambled; fragments mention Sumatra, Jakarta, women's organisations, possibly polygamy, and New Delhi. No Gerwani name legible.
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
Indonesian parliament wants more concrete Sukarno-Hatta cooperation
Ons Noorden (27 Sep 1957) on the parliamentary debate after the national consultation conference. PKI MP Suharti Suwarto sharply criticised the revolutionary councils in Sumatra and Celebes for arresting local communist leaders, warning the conference decisions cannot work until they are freed. Other speakers urge Suka
Suluh Indonesia, 12 February 1958: S.K. Trimurti and Indonesian women to Pan-Pacific/Southeast Asia women's conference
Suluh Indonesia, Jakarta, 12 February 1958 (four pages, OCR very noisy). Front page covers the Husein ultimatum and the dismissal of Sumatran army dissidents (Husein, Simbolon, Dahlan Djambek, Lubis) and Nasution's soldier's-oath statement. A short garbled item on p. 1 lists Indonesian women, including S.K. Trimurti, l
Drafting committee of the National Council, including S.K. Trimurti for the women's group (Bintang Timur, 29 March 1958)
Bintang Timur, 29 March 1958, p. 1. Among PRRI/Sumatra war news, SEATO and Khrushchev becoming Soviet premier, the page lists the members of a Dewan Nasional drafting committee (panitya perumus) on national vigilance against foreign intervention, with S.K. Trimurti named for the 'Wanita' functional group. No Gerwani co
Drafting committee of the 4th National Council session, including S.K. Trimurti (Bintang Timur, 18 April 1958)
Bintang Timur, 18 April 1958, p. 1 (Lebaran issue; APRI landings in Sulawesi). Lists the drafting committee (panitia perumus) formed by the fourth Dewan Nasional session, chaired by Ds. W.Y. Rumambi, with S.K. Trimurti as representative of the women's group alongside Sukarni, B.M. Diah and others. Also regulations on f
Tages-Anzeiger, 11 July 1959: Indonesia on the road to dictatorship
Tages-Anzeiger analysis (11 July 1959, signed Th. v. R.) of Sukarno's return to the 1945 constitution and the army's rising power under Nasution. Lists PKI-linked mass organisations, giving Gerwani 75,000 members alongside SOBSI, Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, and notes PKI's 1957 vote.
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
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
Prisoners Tell of Indonesian Plan (Canberra Times, 31 December 1964)
Canberra Times, 31 Dec 1964, p. 1 (AAP-Reuter): two captured Indonesian soldiers claim Indonesia is forming a Malayan government and army in exile in Sumatra during Konfrontasi. Final paragraphs report about 500 housewives, led by Mrs Subandrio of the Indonesian Women's Congress, protesting prices in Jakarta. Gerwani n
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
Self-defence from panic: commentary on the hunt for communists
De Volkskrant commentary (11 Oct 1965) warning that the hunt for communists could drive Aidit's followers to armed self-defence. It describes Muslim demonstrators wrecking Aidit's and Njoto's houses and then "the headquarters of the communist women's organisation Gerwani", and army occupation of PKI headquarters in Ace
Armed Java Reds Flee to Hills to Escape Dragnet (Evening Post, 12 October 1965), headline clipping
Headline-only clipping 'Armed Java Reds Flee to Hills to Escape Dragnet' from the Evening Post of 12 Oct 1965; the Gerwani passage is not in this fragment.
Armed Java Reds Flee to Hills to Escape Dragnet (Evening Post, 12 October 1965), opening clipping
Opening clipping of the Evening Post article of 12 Oct 1965: tension in Central Java, where thousands of Communists, some armed, have fled into the hills from an Army dragnet. Gerwani is not mentioned in this fragment.
Neue Zeit, 11 Nov 1965, p. 2: State of war lifted
Neue Zeit, 11 November 1965, p. 2: ADN/TASS item 'Kriegszustand aufgehoben'. Sukarno lifted the state of war in Jakarta imposed after the 'Movement of 30 September'; persecution of communists continues, with 346 party members arrested in Tangerang, 125 people 'including twelve women' in a Central Java town and 40 in Be
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
Indonesian communist free after 20 years in prison (Sundari Abdulrachman)
Front-page De Waarheid report (23 Aug 1989) on the release on 17 August of Sundari Abdulrachman, PKI central committee member and former MP, after over twenty years' imprisonment (arrested Lampung Nov 1968; life sentence 1976, commuted 1982). Notes 51 PKI members still held, fourteen under death sentence, and fourteen
Pohlman (2017) chapter on how women whose husbands were killed or detained in 1965-66 secured daily survival for decades under ET stamps and boycotts, with case studies including Ibu Arum, a plantation labourer. Women's post-violence survival.