Anger mounts against the PKI over the killings (Berita Harian, 1965)
Berita Harian, 7 October 1965, p. 1: Sukarno's first cabinet meeting after 30 September; Nahdlatul Ulama demands a PKI ban and claims rebels armed Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani and SOBSI, and that Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani members trained at 'Sarang Buaya' (Lubang Buaya). Also press and rally restrictions in Sumatra and an ar
Fate of four Diponegoro Division officers unknown: Gerwani and the generals' widows (Berita Harian, 1965)
Berita Harian, 15 October 1965, p. 3, Reuters: troops capture local communist leaders in Serang, units search a communist's house in Jakarta, and unrest in Yogyakarta; reports claim 'more and more' Gerwani members tried to kidnap army officers' wives and, the previous night, to seize several generals' widows. An early
Straits Times, 3 Nov 1965: Subandrio's wife expels women Reds
Straits Times, 3 Nov 1965 (lead only). The Indonesian Women's Congress (Kowani), headed by Foreign Minister Subandrio's wife Hurustiati Subandrio, expelled the PKI women's auxiliary (Gerwani), per Antara; a consultative board statement addressed to President Sukarno. Shows Gerwani's isolation after the coup.
Aidit surrounded by army in Central Java: Gerwani 'suicide squad' in Solo (Berita Harian, 1965)
Berita Harian, 7 November 1965, p. 1: reports Aidit surrounded in Central Java (Col. Jasir) and, from army broadcasts, that nine 'suicide' members of Gerwani blocked tanks in Solo, jeered at paratroopers and were killed when they would not move. The text does not say how; the account is army-sourced and unverified. Als
Pregnant teenager confesses: PKI women tell of the cruel killing at Lubang Buaya (Berita Harian, 1965)
Berita Minggu/Berita Harian, 7 November 1965, p. 10, UPI: the 'confession' of Jamilah, 15 and pregnant, a Pemuda Rakyat member, reported from Angkatan Bersenjata. She says about 100 Gerwani women among 500 at Halim were given knives, struck first, and hacked a blindfolded general's genitals. A core Lubang Buaya slander
Suicide squad women crushed by army tanks (Straits Times, 1965)
The Straits Times, 7 November 1965, p. 7, world round-up: an army bulletin says nine 'suicide members' of Gerwani blocked army tanks in Solo, were 'gently asked' to move, jeered at paratroopers, and were killed by the troops when they refused. Same army-sourced story as Berita Harian's 7 November report; unverified. He
Communist woman detained in North Sumatra (Berita Harian, 1965)
Berita Harian, 15 November 1965, p. 3 (clipping lacks its headline), Antara via Medan: a Gerwani member is detained near an Islamic scholar's house; police say a 'secret mark' was found on her thigh and she confessed she was assigned to kill the cleric. A typical 1965 propaganda item on Gerwani as assassins and 'marked
Almost overlords yesterday, almost outlaws today: what happened to the PKI? (Bloodworth, Straits Times, 1965)
The Straits Times, 8 December 1965, p. 12, analysis by Dennis Bloodworth on why the PKI failed. In passing it repeats the Lubang Buaya slander as fact: 'six leading generals were done to death, horribly mutilated by doe-eye girls of the PKI's Gerwani women's movement'. It then covers Sukarno's weakness, Nasution's esca
Berita Harian, 21 Dec 1966: Aidit's wife arrested
Berita Harian, 21 Dec 1966 (UPI, lead only). Reports the arrest of D.N. Aidit's wife, described as a leader of the women's wing Gerwani, who had been under intelligence watch since the coup and was a very active communist.
Straits Times, 21 Dec 1966: Mrs Aidit and daughter captured in Kebayoran
Straits Times, 21 Dec 1966 (lead only). Berita Yudha reported that Aidit's widow and her daughter were captured in Kebayoran, Jakarta; Aidit had been shot dead in an ambush in Solo a year earlier.
Army seizes Aidit's wife (Berita Harian, 1966)
Berita Harian, 21 December 1966, p. 1, UPI: the wife of D.N. Aidit, described as a leader of the communist women's section (Gerwani), is arrested; per the paper 'Harian Perang' she had been watched since the coup and stayed very active as a fugitive. Short item; she is not named in the text.
Communist leader in West Java captured near Bandung: Gerwani members arrested (Berita Harian, 1967)
Berita Harian, 11 July 1967, p. 3, Reuters: the army announces capture near Bandung of Yakob Margolang, who allegedly tried to form a new Communist party in West Java; several women believed to be members of Gerwani, 'the secret organisation of Communist women', were also arrested. Context: army warnings against pro-Su
Former Gerwani chair jailed (Berita Harian, 1974)
Berita Harian, 12 February 1974, p. 3, AP: a court in Tebing Tinggi, North Sumatra, sentences Mrs Amnah, former Gerwani chair, to life imprisonment for involvement in the PKI's failed 1965 'power seizure' (per Radio Jakarta); Maryo, ex-chair of the BTI, gets 20 years. Shows continuing New Order trials of Gerwani leader