Layout Sheet of Diorama Figures, Museum of the Extreme Left, Lubang Buaya
Typed layout sheet listing the 37 diorama titles of the Museum Pengkhianatan PKI ('Museum Ekstrim Kiri'), opened 1 Oct 1992, from Madiun 1948 through Aidit's capture, the Njono trial and 1974. Shows how the official PKI-treachery narrative was structured.
Merdeka, 6 April 1951: Batik Workers' Union conference
Merdeka, 6 Apr 1951, p. 2: Serikat Buruh Batik conference on fusion with the textile union; Gerwis listed among the guests and those who gave greetings, with SOBSI and MPs Werdojo and Pardede.
Abadi, 14 April 1951, p. 1: Support for the 14-Party Joint Programme
Abadi, 14 April 1951, p. 1: notice that letters and telegrams endorsing the 14-party joint programme poured in, including from the Gerwis central board in Semarang alongside unions and peasant groups.
Merdeka, 25 April 1951: May Day 1951 preparations
Merdeka, 25 April 1951 (hlm. 2): plans for May Day 1951 by a central committee (SOBSI, KABM) assisted by the Peace Defence Committee, Lekra, Pemuda Rakyat, Sakti and Gerwis, framed as defence of world peace.
Commemoration of 1 May 1951 in Surakarta (Bentara)
Full-page notice in the Surakarta magazine Bentara listing the organising committee of the 1 May 1951 Labour Day commemoration, a left united front dominated by SOBSI unions and including Gerwis.
Abadi, 31 July 1951, p. 1: Two 17 August Committees in Yogya
Abadi, 31 July 1951, p. 1: Aneta report that SOBSI and left groups including Gerwis formed a separate 17 August committee in Yogyakarta, denouncing the municipal committee as undemocratic.
Merdeka, 8 August 1951: Peace Committee organisations form 17 August committee
Merdeka, 8 Agustus 1951 (hlm. 2): mass organisations under the Peace Committee form their own 17 August committee with a 'peace programme', Gerwis and Lekra running the programme section.
Abadi, 25 August 1951, p. 1: '1001 Questions' Column, Gerwis Reception in Bukittinggi
Abadi, 25 Aug 1951, p. 1: satirical note on a Gerwis reception in Bukittinggi where greetings of 'merdeka' and 'bebas' left the Gerwis city representative hesitating.
Abadi, 4 February 1952, p. 2: World Youth Solidarity Day Committee
Abadi, 4 Feb 1952, p. 2: provisional committee including Gerwis, Lekra and Pemuda Rakjat to celebrate 21 February 1952 world youth solidarity day.
Abadi, 5 March 1952, p. 2: Gerwis Wants a Coalition Cabinet
Abadi, 5 Mar 1952, p. 2: during the cabinet crisis after the Sukiman cabinet fell, the Gerwis central board demands a coalition cabinet of religious, nationalist, socialist and progressive groups.
Surabaya Post, 21 January 1957, p. 2: Sujoso's lecture on a visit to Moscow
Surabaya Post p. 2, 21 January 1957: Malang report on Masyumi MP A.W. Sujoso's lecture on the parliamentary mission to Moscow, mocking Soviet life and saying Indonesian women, 'surely also Gerwani', would reject Soviet views on free unions. Gerwani appears only as a foil in anti-communist rhetoric.
Page 564 of the US State Department's Monthly Indonesian Press Survey (nos. 33-44, 1958), summarising the 25 Sept 1958 Nusantara. Suwardiningsih, PKI East Java committee and Constituent Assembly member, entered Kalisosok prison, Surabaya, on 22 Sept to serve a month (cut from six) for remarks about Hatta in 1953; thous
SOBSI, Partindo and Gerwani protest to Singapore government (Berita Harian, 1963)
Berita Harian, 6 February 1963, p. 3: SOBSI, Partindo and Gerwani send a protest to the Singapore government over the previous week's arrests of left-wing figures (Operation Coldstore); SOBSI blames the British and Tunku Abdul Rahman. The clipping is damaged and ends abruptly; Gerwani is only one of three protesting bo
SOBSI protest to Singapore government over mass arrests (Straits Times, 1963)
The Straits Times, 6 February 1963, p. 10, Reuters: SOBSI cables the Singapore government protesting the mass arrests of left-wing people the previous weekend and demanding release of detainees; Partindo and the Gerwani Women's Movement 'have also protested'. Brief mention of Gerwani among Indonesian left organisations
CIA intelligence memorandum, 6 October 1965: The upheaval in Indonesia
CIA intelligence memorandum, 6 October 1965, an early US assessment of the 30 September Movement; names Gerwani as reportedly involved and relays Suharto's 4 October claim that Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani volunteers trained near Halim. Early US echo of the Lubang Buaya narrative.
Suara Merdeka, 6 Oct 1965, p. 1: Lubang Buaya well and Kalibata burial
Suara Merdeka (Semarang), 6 Oktober 1965, hlm. 1. Front page after discovery of the officers' bodies: Suharto's RRI announcement of the Lubang Buaya well and Kalibata burial; his reply mentions an AURI-run training centre for 'sukarelawan/sukarelawati'. No Gerwani or mutilation mentioned.
Communists slaughter family of Yogyakarta army commander (Berita Harian, 1965)
Berita Harian, 7 October 1965, p. 1: Radio Yogyakarta claims Col. Katamso's family was slaughtered; fighting at Klaten and Cirebon, where rebels included armed communist youth and Gerwani members; army paper's account of the seven officers' deaths (Yani, Suprapto, Haryono, Parman, Panjaitan, Sutoyo, Tendean) at Lubang
More arrests, slaughter of civilians by Communists in Central Java (Straits Times, 1965)
The Straits Times, 7 October 1965, p. 1: Radio Jakarta says communists slaughtered civilians in Central Java; Yogyakarta retaken and Col. Katamso's family reportedly killed; fierce fighting at Klaten and Cirebon, where rebels included armed People's Youth Front and Gerwani members; 200 armed communists captured. Gerwan
Suara Merdeka, 12 Oct 1965, p. 1: Krukut 'cleansing operation' claims
Suara Merdeka (Semarang), 12 Oktober 1965, hlm. 1. Berita Yudha-based report on the Krukut 'cleansing operation' of 4–5 October claiming local activists joined the kidnappings and killings at Lubang Buaya. Gerwani is not named.
Developments in Indonesia (editorial, Berita Harian, 1965)
Berita Harian editorial, 16 October 1965, p. 4, assessing the aftermath of the 30 September Movement: Untung's arrest crushes the armed army opposition, but 'opposition from cadres of Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani as well as SOBSI' continues, probably as guerrilla action; speculates on a Sukarno-Nasution compromise over th
Indonesian Army says wholesale slaughter of civilians in east Java (Straits Budget, 1965)
The Straits Budget (Singapore), 3 November 1965, p. 15, UPI/Antara: the army declares a state of war in Central Java and gives figures for civilians it says communists massacred (e.g. 62 bodies in three mass graves at Banyuwangi, 104 killed), while observers note the incidents all occurred after the coup. Nothing on Ge
Heves Megyei Népújság, 7 Dec 1965: Jakarta (arrests, Gerwani)
Heves Megyei Népújság, 7 Dec 1965, brief Jakarta item: 10,500 people, mostly plantation workers, held in North Sumatra (Brig. Gen. Sobiran), and 10,333 arrested around Pati in Central Java, all members of BTI, Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani or other left organisations.
Review of Indonesian and Malayan Affairs, 1967-68, p. 271: the Yap Thiam Hien affair and Trees Sunito
Page 271 of the Sydney-published Review of Indonesian and Malayan Affairs (vols 1-2, 1967-68), on the arrest and release of lawyer Yap Thiam Hien. It reports Djohan Arifin's claim that the Mahmillub trials had been infiltrated by the 'FKI', referring to Trees Sunito (Njono's defence counsel) and Yap, which Mahmillub ch
FBIS Daily Report, 24 Jul 1968: Woman communist leader captured (Madame Sri Sukatno, South Blitar)
FBIS Daily Report (24 Jul 1968) relaying Antara: Madame Sri Sukatno, described as a woman communist leader, was arrested at Pasiraman, South Blitar, in a mopping-up operation, per the army paper Angkatan Bersendjata. She is called a Politburo member, head of the Central Committee section on armed peasants and a Pemuda
Rape case may fully restore rule of law: the Sum Kuning case (Hugh Mabbett, Straits Times, 1970)
The Straits Times, 31 December 1970, p. 10, by Hugh Mabbett: Yogyakarta court acquits 17-year-old egg seller Sum Kuning (Sumarijem), who reported rape by youths from powerful families and was charged with a false report. Police tortured a noodle seller, Trimo, and threatened her with electric torture and an accusation
Abadi, 21 March 1973, p. 2: Mutual Suspicion at RRI Mataram
Harian Abadi, 21 Mar 1973, p. 2: anonymous allegation that people 'involved in G30S/PKI' remain at RRI Mataram, including 'a woman M., a former Gerwani member'; New Order stigma persisting in workplaces.
Berita Yudha, 13 March 1982: 'Latent danger of extreme left and right in Indonesia' (4)
Berita Yudha, 13 Mar 1982, p. 1: final part of a series retelling the official PKI chronology to 30 September 1965 and asserting that 3,000 'youth and Gerwani' trained at Lubang Buaya.
Berita Yudha, 8 July 1984: Steering teenagers away from frustration
Berita Yudha, 8 July 1984, p. 4: youth-page essay using 1965 as a warning, saying teenagers drawn to the 'PKI education system' were used to murder the generals at Lubang Buaya; Gerwani invoked in passing.
Harian Neraca serial 'Siapa menabur angin akan menuai badai' (34): 1962-64, SOKSI and Gerwasi
Harian Neraca, 9 Feb 1989, p. 10: instalment 34 covering 1962–64; notes the army-initiated SOKSI and its onderbouw bodies, including 'GERWASI to counterbalance GERWANI'.
Harian Neraca serial 'Siapa menabur angin akan menuai badai' (47): Operasi Palmer
Harian Neraca, 24 Feb 1989, p. 10: instalment 47 on the anti-American campaign as 'Operasi Palmer'; notes a Gerwani telegram of March 1965 demanding expulsion of AMPAI director Bill Palmer as a CIA agent.