FO 371/180322: Attempted Coup against Sukarno [13] (28 Oct-5 Nov 1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180322 (28 Oct-5 Nov 1965): Djakarta telegrams quoting Antara on the post-coup purge, Sukarno versus the generals, Medan and Central Java. Gerwani items: tel. 2418 (2 Nov, p. 52) reports a Kowani/women's congress move to expel Gerwani members; tel. 2421 (p. 57) quotes Suharto naming 'Pemud
FO 371/180323: Attempted Coup against Sukarno [14] (Nov 1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180323 (c. 4-16 Nov 1965): Djakarta telegrams, Antara extracts and Foreign Office correspondence on the PKI's destruction, Subandrio, Nasution and Sukarno. Gerwani items: tel. 2480 (p. 39) reports a 8 Nov Jakarta rally of women's organisations demanding dissolution of the PKI and Gerwani;
Film of murder of generals
Het Rotterdamsch Parool/ANP report (7 Oct 1965, p.1): Jakarta television showed a film of the exhumation of seven officers from the well at Lubang Buaya, with Suharto, voice trembling, saying the bodies were found near the air-force base training Pemuda Rakjat men and 'Gerwani' (for women) volunteers. A female voluntee
Java ruled by the army
Friese Koerier ANP/Reuters wire report (11 Oct 1965, p.1) on the situation in Java after the 30 September coup attempt: 90% of rebels reportedly arrested, Muslims looting the homes of Aidit and Njoto and the Gerwani headquarters. It adds that among arrested communists are Gerwani members 'said to be responsible for the
Indonesia: Army nets 1,500 Reds (New York Herald Tribune, European ed., 11 October 1965)
New York Herald Tribune (European ed.), 11 Oct 1965, Reuters report 'Army Nets 1,500 Reds' from Djakarta. Says the army arrested at least 1,500 Communists, including members of 'the Gerwani Communist women's movement, some members of which are alleged to have tortured the six army generals', plus PKI band and choir mem
Communists
Gereformeerd Gezinsblad wire item (12 Oct 1965, p.1): Muslims looted the homes of Aidit and Njoto and then the headquarters of the communist women's organisation 'Gerwani'; 86 'counter-revolutionaries' arrested near Breses; 1,500-2,000 rebels arrested on Java. It repeats that arrested Gerwani members are said to be res
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
Suara Merdeka, 29 October 1965, p. 2: 'Confession' of a Pemuda Rakyat leader on Lubang Buaya training
Suara Merdeka (Semarang), 29 Oktober 1965, hlm. 2. Antara report of the 'confession' of Pemuda Rakyat leader 'MSN': secret 'GTM' recruitment for Lubang Buaya training from July 1965, seeing many Gerwani, PR and BTI in ranks, 'Ibu Djumono of the DPP Gerwani', and ranks that 'appeared happy and sang'.
Gruesome story of a communist woman: Indonesian general slaughtered with razors
Nieuwe Haarlemsche Courant, 6 November 1965, p. 3: UPI report (headline 'PKI women's section the culprit') relaying the armed-forces bulletin story of 'Djamilah', a pregnant 15-year-old Pemuda Rakjat member, who describes training at Halim and about 100 Gerwani women handed knives and razors who mutilated and stabbed a
Berita Harian, 7 Nov 1965: pregnant teenage woman 'confesses' (Lubang Buaya)
Berita Harian, 7 Nov 1965 (UPI, lead only). Repeats the army newspaper Angkatan Bersenjata: a pregnant teenage woman 'confessed' she took part in hacking and mutilating a bound, blindfolded army general during the coup attempt. An early instance of the Lubang Buaya sexual-slander narrative in the regional press.
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
Women Denounce Reds (Sunraysia Daily, 10 November 1965)
Sunraysia Daily (Mildura), 10 November 1965, p. 14, AAP/UPI report from Jakarta that 10,000 women (housewives, students, actresses) denounced Gerwani as 'a disgrace to Indonesian womanhood' and demanded its dissolution. They marched from Suharto's headquarters to the National Front with bands and batons and handed a pe
Women Denounce Reds (Sunraysia Daily, 10 November 1965), duplicate
Sunraysia Daily (Mildura), 10 November 1965, p. 14, AAP/UPI report from Jakarta that 10,000 women (housewives, students, actresses) denounced Gerwani as 'a disgrace to Indonesian womanhood' and demanded its dissolution. They marched from Suharto's headquarters to the National Front with bands and batons and handed a pe
Berita Harian, 15 Nov 1965: communist woman detained in North Sumatra
Berita Harian, 15 Nov 1965 (UPI/Antara, lead only). North Sumatra authorities detained a woman, said to be a Gerwani member, accused of attempting a murder and bearing a 'secret mark' on her thigh. The 'secret mark' trope echoes slander about Gerwani women.
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
Girl admits role in coup (South China Morning Post, 20 November 1965)
South China Morning Post, 20 Nov 1965, p.20 (Jakarta, 19 Nov; UPI/AP via Antara): a girl captured near Bandung admitted taking part in the killing of the six generals at Lubang Buaya and among those who shot the Army commander, and admitted membership of Gerwani, the Communist women's auxiliary. The item also reports a
Angkatan Bersendjata, 6 January 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 6 Jan 1966. Antara claims PKI leaders 'admitted' Gerwani and Pemuda Rakyat were physically trained in North Sumatra before 1 October; two Pekalongan women 'known as Gerwani' forced to recite the shahada; Soetiman's 'confession'.
Sinar Harapan, 10 Sep 1966: call to arrest 'the Lubang Buaya doctor'
Sinar Harapan, 10 September 1966. Antara report: Pesing police commander urges arrest of Dr. Sumiarsih, 'the Lubang Buaya doctor', a 'PKI/HSI/Gerwani figure' said to have issued 'sick' certificates to those trained there.
Red Cross gets new uniforms (note on arrest of Gerwani's former treasurer)
Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 2 September 1967, p. 7: page-column item on new Red Cross uniforms, followed by a short wire note that Mrs Djoebaedah, former treasurer of the PKI women's movement (Gerwani), was arrested in Jakarta, per an Indonesian paper, accused of taking part in the torture and murder of six generals on
Angkatan Bersendjata, 15 April 1969. Antara: Medan police arrest a 30-year-old 'Gerwani' woman 'A' from Bali in a prostitution area, said to have 'taken part in the torture and killing of the TNI generals at Lubang Buaya'.
First woman to be tried over the 1965 coup: 'Gestapo' woman (Berita Harian, 1973)
Berita Harian, 9 May 1973, p. 3, Reuters: a court spokesman says Mrs Sumali, a Gerwani leader, will be the first woman tried over the 1965 coup, charged with torturing an army general with a razor blade; she was arrested with other Gerwani members at Lubang Buaya on 1 October 1965 after six generals' bodies were found.