Situation in the Indies: Mansergh demands weapons be laid down
Nijmeegsch Dagblad front-page report (10 Nov 1945) on Gen. Mansergh's ultimatum to the Surabaya authorities to disarm, plus the situation in Java and Pontianak. A communist party spokesman is among Indonesians broadcasting appeals not to surrender weapons. No Gerwani or women's organisation content beyond permission fo
Ultimatum of Major-General Mansergh
Ons Noorden (10 Nov 1945), Reuter/Aneta report on Maj.-Gen. Mansergh's ultimatum to Surabaya's governor Suryo to disarm, with a communist party spokesman among those broadcasting appeals not to surrender weapons. Women and children may leave the city by 9 Nov. Background to the Battle of Surabaya; no Gerwani content.
Ultimatum of Major-General Mansergh
Ons Noorden (10 Nov 1945), Reuter/Aneta report on Maj.-Gen. Mansergh's ultimatum to Surabaya's governor Suryo to disarm, with a communist party spokesman among those broadcasting appeals not to surrender weapons. Women and children may leave the city by 9 Nov. Background to the Battle of Surabaya; no Gerwani content.
Sjahrir seeks contact with Sukarno: chaotic situation in Bantam
Trouw (20 Feb 1946): Sjahrir leaves for Yogyakarta to confer with Sukarno, possibly widening communist and Islamic representation; reports looting in Batavia and chaos in Bantam, where officials were murdered or abducted and young girls taken. No Gerwani content.
The Indonesian parliament and Linggadjati: strengthened left wing supports Sjahrir cabinet
Long article in the Dutch communist daily De Waarheid (15 Jan 1947) by its "Indonesian collaborator" assessing support for the Linggarjati draft in the Indonesian provisional parliament: Masjumi and PNI divided or opposed, while the PKI, Partai Sosialis, Pesindo, Christian parties, Partai Buruh, Perwari and BTI back it
Balance sheet of Indonesian political parties
Nieuw Utrechtsch Dagblad, 17 January 1947, p. 2: list drawn up by the Republican paper De Patriot of Indonesian groups for and against the Linggadjati draft agreement. Perwari, PKI, Sobsi, BTI and the Partai Sosialis are listed for; Masjumi, PNI and Partai Wanita Rakjat against. Gerwani/Gerwis (founded later) does not
Musso on the coup in the republic
Bredasche Courant, 21 Sept 1948: Madiun-affair report quoting Musso's radio speech that the revolution is under national-communist leadership, claiming 20 million Indonesian women were widowed by romusha labour and calling Sukarno and Hatta servants of Japan and America. Also reports refugees fleeing to Dutch lines. Ge
The coup in the Republic: opinions of Gen. Spoor and Sjahrir
Overijsselsch Dagblad (21 Sep 1948) on the Madiun communist uprising: Gen. Spoor fears communist spill-over into Dutch-held areas, Sjahrir comments on discontent, KNIP grants Sukarno special powers, and Musso broadcasts that 20 million women were widowed by romusha. No Gerwani or Gerwis mention; context for the later a
Latest news: Committee of Good Offices, Madiun arrests, women drowned
De Maasbode, 7 Dec 1948: 'Latest news' column covering the Committee of Good Offices, Dr Beel in Madura, Hatta's stand on the army, and about 3,000 arrests after the Madiun revolt. A brief item reports seven Indonesian women drowned when a prau capsized near Teluknaga. Gerwani/Gerwis and Soetanti Aidit are not mentione
FBIS, 15 December 1949: Lillah Suripno of Indonesia speaks
FBIS-monitored Xinhua text (15 Dec 1949) of a speech by Indonesian delegate 'Lillah' (Lily) Suripno at the Asian Women's Conference, Peking, 12 Dec. She thanks WIDF, surveys Indonesian anti-colonial history, the 1926-27 PKI revolts, Japanese occupation, women in guerrilla struggle, and calls for a PKI-led front of demo
CIA report, 26 February 1951: Estimate of the current economic situation in Indonesia
CIA report, 26 February 1951, on alleged communist-directed strike sabotage in Indonesia via SOBSI and WFTU. Gerwani-relevant only for naming a batik workers' union organised by Mrs Trimurti.
Joys and sorrows of Indonesia in the past year
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 7 Jan 1953, p. 3: year-in-review chronology for 1952 (selected entries translated). Mentions the August 1951 raids, the 17 October 1952 affair, release of East Java arrestees on 30 Oct, a goodwill mission to Kahar Muzakkar under Mrs Salawati (8 Apr), and Aidit and Njoto refused entry to
But what is the reality? Travel report on workers in Indonesia
De Waarheid, 1 May 1954, p. 4: travel report by Mak Meyer, a Dutch union delegate to the SOBSI conference, on Indonesian workers' misery: poverty, homelessness, factory conditions and wages, child labour, becak drivers, and figures such as 35,000 women dying in childbirth yearly. Portrays SOBSI and PKI as leaders and u
Elections in Indonesia on Thursday
Arnhemsche Courant, 27 Sept 1955: preview of Indonesia's first general elections (29 Sept), expecting a communist-Masjumi contest and noting that women have emerged as a political force within existing parties. Gerwani is not named; useful context for the 1955 elections.
Interpellation by communist MPs on foreign capital
De Locomotief, 28 Dec 1955: PKI parliamentarians Sakirman, Tjugito, Suwarti, Sumadi and Utarjo submit a written interpellation on foreign capital, claiming colonial-era extraction and restored monopoly under the 1949 RTC accords, with eight questions to the Burhanuddin government. Suwarti is a woman PKI MP; Gerwani is
FBIS, 28 March 1959: Aidit broadcast speech (farewell to the Chinese people)
FBIS-monitored Xinhua text (28 Mar 1959) of D.N. Aidit's farewell broadcast to the Chinese people after a fortnight's PKI delegation visit. He praises the Great Leap and people's communes, defends them against 'imperialist lies', and argues peasant women welcome communal dining and nurseries because 'a smoky kitchen is
CIA study, 15 June 1961: The Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Organization, April 1960 - April 1961
CIA study of the Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Organization, Apr 1960-Apr 1961. Covers AAPSO factions (Soviet, Chinese, UAR), the Cairo Afro-Asian Women's Conference of January 1961 and its takeover by Communists, and the April 1961 Bandung meeting arranged by Indonesians, notably Bintang Suradi (head of the PKI intern
Tribune (Sydney) p. 2: the Communist Party of Australia sends condolences to the PKI on the death of Bintang Suradi, a PKI Central Committee figure and private secretary to D.N. Aidit, who died on 22 June 1963 in a swimming accident while touring Indonesia with CPA's E. Bacon, aged 40. His wife Suwarti (Suwarti Bintang
Tribune (Sydney) p. 2: the Communist Party of Australia sends condolences to the PKI on the death of Bintang Suradi, a PKI Central Committee figure and private secretary to D.N. Aidit, who died on 22 June 1963 in a swimming accident while touring Indonesia with CPA's E. Bacon, aged 40. His wife Suwarti (Suwarti Bintang
FBIS-monitored VNA report (16 Sep 1963): the Indonesian parliamentary delegation headed by Deputy Speaker M.H. Lukman (PKI) arrived in Hanoi to a welcome of nearly 3,000 people; DRV leaders spoke of solidarity; Vietnamese and Indonesian women presented bouquets. Gerwani not named; context for PKI-linked parliamentary d
Foreign Office/CRO Papers on the PKI and Malaysia Confrontation (DO 169/516, 1964)
British Commonwealth Relations Office/Foreign Office file (DO 169/516, 1964) on Indonesia and Malaysia. It combines handwritten minutes, an IRD intelligence paper on the PKI (Aidit's December 1963 plenum, Sino-Soviet line, the prospect of PKI power within five years), a brief 'Communists smoothing path to power in Indo
FO 371/180337: Bilateral Relations with the US [3] (1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180337 (Mar-Nov 1965): telegrams and letters on US-Indonesian relations: Bunker mission, Peace Corps withdrawal, anti-American demonstrations, Ambassador Green, Palmer affair, then Anglo-American talks on aid to the generals after 1 October. No mention of Gerwani; 'women' appear only among
Kim Il Sung, Works Vol. 19 (Jan-Oct 1965), incl. Lecture at the Ali Archam Academy, Jakarta
Kim Il Sung, Works vol. 19 (January-October 1965), Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang 1984. Collects speeches and interviews, including the 14 April 1965 lecture at the 'Ali Archam' Academy of Social Sciences in Jakarta on socialist construction in North Korea and the South Korean revolution (p. 236), and a
Telegram 509, US Consulate Medan, June 1965
US Consulate Medan telegram 509, 7-8 June 1965: the military used Dwikora authority to overrule the governor over banning the newspaper Tjahaja, called a clear Army win. Pre-coup Army-PKI rivalry in North Sumatra; no Gerwani content.
Letter to Edwin L. Fox from Sjafruddin Prawiranegara, 5 August 1965
US Embassy copy of a 5 August 1965 letter from Sjafruddin Prawiranegara to Edwin Fox defending the US in Vietnam and warning of Chinese and Indonesian communist aggression. Pre-coup anti-communist voice; no Gerwani content.
Communists 'taking to hills in Indonesia': Soviet warning to Sukarno (The Scotsman, 12 October 1965)
The Scotsman, 12 Oct 1965 (Reuter and AP): travellers report thousands of Communists, some armed, taking to the hills of Central Java to escape an army dragnet, with party branch officials rounded up; the Soviet Union voices a warning to Sukarno, and the US ambassador Marshall Green comments on a general step. Short an
Telegram 971 to Secretary of State, 12 Oct 1965
US Embassy telegram 971, 12 Oct 1965: a German embassy source says the Army is considering overthrowing Sukarno and signalling Western embassies; Sukarno refused to read PKI-complicity papers. High-politics context; no Gerwani content.
Untung captured: Kremlin warns rebels (Straits Times, 1965)
The Straits Times, 13 October 1965, p. 1: Lt-Col. Untung is captured at Tegal; broadcasts claim rebels' support collapsed and many youths were rounded up; Medan rally demands a PKI ban; Soviet leaders warn Indonesia against imperialist threats; PKI chief Aidit still in hiding. Page also carries Vietnam war news. No men
Letter from CINCPAC to Marshall Green, 23 October 1965
Secret letter, 23 October 1965, from CINCPAC political adviser Norman Hannah to Ambassador Marshall Green asking for contingency thinking on US covert or material help if the Army fought the PKI. Shows early US planning for support to the anti-PKI campaign.
Telegram 1168 to Secretary of State, 23 Oct 1965
US Embassy telegram 1168, 23 Oct 1965: anti-communist unions demand dissolution of the PKI and SOBSI from Labour Minister Sutomo, who hesitates; Army liaison approached. Labour-front context; no Gerwani content.