Organisations
Indonesian Peasants' Front
- Acronym
- BTI
- Original name
- Barisan Tani Indonesia
- Type
- Indonesian mass organisation
- Country
- Indonesia
- Founded
- 1945
- Dissolved
- 1966
- Description
- PKI-aligned peasant mass organisation; active in land-reform actions in the early 1960s; banned after 1965.
- Deskripsi
- Organisasi massa tani sehaluan PKI; aktif dalam aksi landreform awal 1960-an; dilarang setelah 1965.
- Also written as
- BTI; Barisan Tani Indonesia; Indonesian Peasant Front (BTI); Indonesian Peasants Front; BTI (Indonesian Peasants' Front)
1947 – 2025
Often appears with
288 items
CIA study (c. 1964): A world-wide Chinese communist propaganda operation directed against Brazil
Undated CIA study (c. mid-1964) of a worldwide Chinese Communist propaganda campaign protesting Brazil's April 1964 arrest of nine Chinese trade and news officials. Appendices list Chinese organisations and foreign groups that sent messages; Indonesian entries include the Chinese women's federation's message to the Cen
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
KNIP working committee (composition, April 1947)
Het Nieuws (Algemeen Dagblad) item (29 Apr 1947, p.1) listing the 1947 working committee of the KNIP (Republic's provisional parliament) by party: BTI, Partai Sosialis, PKI (Njoto, Dr Roestam), Partai Buruh (including 'Soewarti'), Masjumi, PNI and group representatives. Mejuffrouw Soesilowati is named for the girls' le
Dictatorial powers for President Sukarno (Madiun affair)
Indische Courant voor Nederland front page (29 Sep 1948) on the Madiun affair: the KNIP working committee grants Sukarno full emergency powers for three months (25-1); Hatta blames 'PKI-Musso'; arrests of FDR communist leaders in Magelang, curfews in Kediri; Solo youth back the government. Soewarti of the labour party
Republican members of the RIS parliament: candidate list
Aneta item in De Vrije Pers (14 Jan 1950) listing candidates for the Republican seats in the RIS parliament. Among Masjumi, PNI, PKI and others, "Mrs Moedigdo" (Mudigdio) is put forward for the Partai Sosialis; many other names (Natsir, Sartono, Iwa Kusumasumantri, Yamin). Gerwis/Gerwani is not mentioned.
Regency council installed
De Locomotief, 10 Oct 1950: report on the installation of the Semarang regency council by Resident Milono, listing about 40 members from many parties and bodies. Mrs Sri Utari is named as the Gerwis representative; Mrs Sukandar and Suwarti represent GPII's women's wing. Records Gerwis's presence in local government in
Delegates to World Peace Congress
Nieuwe Courant, 3 November 1950: conference of the Committee for World Peace in Yogyakarta, attended by branches and representatives of Kowani, Gerwis, Front Pemuda Indonesia, BTI, Sobsi, Pesindo and others. It endorsed the Prague appeal, proposals for the London congress (five-power peace, Dutch army withdrawal, no fo
'World Peace' (peace conference in Yogyakarta)
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (4 Nov 1950, p.2): a World Peace Committee conference in Yogyakarta approved the Prague appeal, proposed demands for the Nederlandse army's withdrawal from Indonesia and an end to foreign interference (Irian, Moluccas) for a London congress, and reported 180,000 signatures. Delegates include
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.
In Yogyakarta two committees for 17 August
De Nieuwsgier, 31 July 1951: in Yogyakarta SOBSI initiates a rival '17 August' committee including trade unions, the youth front, PKI, PSII, Murba, BTI and Gerwis, claiming the city's official committee only wants to 'celebrate' without expressing the people's struggle. It will explore a merger. Another item (Pakistan-
Two committees in Yogyakarta for 17 August
Aneta item in De Vrije Pers (31 Jul 1951): on SOBSI's initiative a "17 August" committee was formed in Yogyakarta with trade unions, Front Pemuda, PKI, PSII, Murba, BTI and Gerwis, as an alternative to the city administration's committee, which SOBSI said would only "celebrate a feast".
Comrade Sri Panggihan has died (Harian Rakjat, 9 January 1952)
Harian Rakjat, 9 Jan 1952 (four-page issue; p.4), carries a notice from the Gerwis national board (Pengurus Besar, Jakarta, 5 Jan 1952) mourning Sri Panggihan, who died 26 Dec 1951 at Kadipolo hospital, Solo. It calls her one of the promoters of Gerwis, active in organising the 1950 fusion congress in Semarang. Rest of
Mrs Mudigdio (PKI) in parliament on the August raid arrests (Harian Rakjat, 16 February 1952)
Harian Rakjat, 16 Feb 1952, front page continued p.4: parliamentary debate on the government's account of the August 1951 razzia (mass arrests of leftists). Nyonya Mudigdio (PKI) is reported proposing that the DPR form a committee to investigate the arrests; Sakirman (PKI) notes most victims were PKI members. A detaine
Harian Rakjat, 23 April 1952: Kartini Day commemorations, Mrs Sri Kusnapsiah speaks
Page of the Jakarta daily Harian Rakjat, 23 April 1952 (Kartini Day issue; OCR very noisy). It reports Hari Kartini commemorations in Jakarta (about 650 women at Garden Hall), in The Hague, where Ny. S. Sri Kusnapsiah spoke on Kartini's aims and thought, and in Semarang, Bogor and elsewhere, alongside Wilopo-cabinet an
Asia-Pacific peace conference preparations; Indonesian sponsors include Gerwis chair (Renmin Ribao, 17 May 1952)
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao, 17 May 1952 (p. 1), on responses from twenty countries to Soong Ching-ling and Guo Moruo's call for an Asian and Pacific Regional Peace Conference in Beijing. For Indonesia it lists eleven sponsors named in April, including Suwati (Suwarti), MP and chairman of Gerwis, plus Setiadi, Siauw
Asia-Pacific peace conference preparations; Indonesian sponsors include Gerwis chair (Renmin Ribao, 17 May 1952)
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao, 17 May 1952 (p. 1), on responses from twenty countries to Soong Ching-ling and Guo Moruo's call for an Asian and Pacific Regional Peace Conference in Beijing. For Indonesia it lists eleven sponsors named in April, including Suwati (Suwarti), MP and chairman of Gerwis, plus Setiadi, Siauw
Analysis of Communist Propaganda in Indonesia (OIR 5714.7, 1952)
OSS/State Department report OIR 5714.7 (30 May 1952) analysing PKI propaganda: party structure, front organisations, relations with international communism and themes. Names Gerwis under Mrs Mudigdo as the communist vehicle competing with Kowani for women, and BTI under S. Sardjono; appendices cover publishing, films,
Indonesian miscellany (with item on Mrs Salawati)
Het Vaderland miscellany column 'Indonesische tjampoeran' (4 Aug 1952, p.6) of short items on sugar workers' strike threats, Medan's mayor, harsh anti-Kahar Muzakar rules in Makassar and prison conditions of SOBSI detainees. One item says Mrs Salawati of Makassar received a moped from the provincial Keamanan staff as a
Indonesian peace delegation visits Netherlands en route to Asia-Pacific Peace Conference
De Waarheid, 13 Sep 1952, p. 1: report from Amsterdam on a 20-member Indonesian delegation en route via Prague and Moscow to the Asia-Pacific Peace Conference in Beijing, led by Antara editor Soeroto, who opposes Japanese rearmament and says the war danger comes from America. Members include Moh. Tam and Umi Sardjono o
CIA report, 23 February 1953: Meeting of the sub-section committees, PKI Surabaya
CIA report, 23 February 1953, on a PKI Surabaya sub-section committees' meeting (Dec 1952) with directives on discipline, cadres and election preparation, including 'more support' for Gerwis. Shows Gerwis treated as a PKI-supported front.
US State Dept. report IR-6165, January 1953: Communism in the Free World - Indonesia section on Gerwis
US State Department Office of Intelligence Research report IR-6165, 'Communism in the Free World' (January 1953), a compilation of about 30 country studies of communist capabilities, held in the CIA reading room. The Indonesia study (IR-6165.3) covers PKI aims and tactics, labour, and front organisations. Section VI.A
Sumatran groups up in arms against Masjumi
De Locomotief, 27 July 1953: a Palembang delegation (PIR, PNI, PKI) flies to Jakarta with a statement signed by six parties and 22 organisations including SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwis. It demands early elections, anti-corruption action, settlement of the Tanjung Morawa affair and a democratic cabinet without Ma
Statement of groupings in South Sumatra
De Nieuwsgier, 27 July 1953: Palembang delegation (PIR, PNI, PKI) flies to Jakarta with a joint statement by six parties and 22 organisations including SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwis. It says a PNI-Masjumi cabinet is no longer possible, urges a democratic parliamentary cabinet under Wongsonegoro, action against D
Salatiga: national action committee formed
De Locomotief, 29 July 1953: Salatiga branches of SOBSI, BTI, PPDI, Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwis jointly convene a meeting of 35 organisations and parties, which forms a national action committee and decides to send an open letter to Sukarno urging implementation of parliament's decisions and action against Darul Islam and
Delegation of parties in South Sumatra to Jakarta
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (29 Jul 1953, p.2): a delegation of parties and organisations in Palembang flew to Jakarta with a joint declaration signed by six parties (PIR, PNI, PKI, Partai Buruh, Permai, Murba) and 22 organisations including SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwis. It rejects a cabinet built on PNI and Ma
Other trade unions: Sarbupri strike and BTI congress solidarity
De Vrije Pers fragment (17 Sep 1953) on trade-union reactions to the Sarbupri plantation workers' strike. It notes that the BTI's second congress, attended by SOBSI, Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwis representatives, declared solidarity with the strike and instructed its branches to support strikers.
Merger of peasant unions
Java-Bode, 18 September 1953, p. 2: report that the Barisan Tani Indonesia (BTI) congress in Jakarta voted 122 in favour of merging with the Rukun Tani Indonesia, with some BTI executive members suspended. The damaged OCR ends by saying Gerwis expressed views on the merger; the content of those views is unreadable.
Merger of the peasant unions
Short item, Indische Courant voor Nederland, 23 Sep 1953, p. 3: the BTI congress votes 122 to 8 to merge with Rukun Tani Indonesia; dissenting board members are suspended. Gerwis is reported to have welcomed the BTI-RTI merger.
Dissolution of Jakarta city council requested by nine parties and ten organisations
Aneta item in De Vrije Pers (13 Feb 1954): nine parties and ten organisations, including PKI, PNI, NU, SOBSI, BTI, Wanita Demokrat, Perwari and Gerwis, met under PNI's R. Kartasasmita and urged the government to dissolve the Greater Jakarta municipal council and form a representative one.
Joint declaration of thirty parties (abolition of the Netherlands-Indonesian Union)
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (24 Jun 1954, p.1): the Jakarta cooperation committee of about thirty parties and organisations, including PNI, PKI, Partai Buruh, Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, SOBSI, BTI and Wanita Rakjat, issued a joint declaration demanding immediate abolition of the Indonesian-Dutch Union, blaming Dutch imper
Gerwani conference in Salatiga on implementing congress decisions
De Locomotief, 29 July 1954: the Salatiga branch of Gerwani, with Central Java provincial delegates and BTI, SOBSI and women's organisation representatives, discusses implementing the latest congress decisions. Sub-branches will be set up in every subdistrict capital. Gerwani fields no candidates in the elections but i
PKI candidates: prominent non-party figures agree to stand
De Vrije Pers item (20 Aug 1954): the PKI central committee announced that Prof. Purbodiningrat, Dr. Tjokronegoro and painter Hendra Gunawan agreed to be on its list of PKI and non-party candidates; it notes that Ir. Taher Thajeb, Mrs. Salawati Daud and Ngantung had earlier agreed.
PKI candidates and non-party people
Java-Bode, 20 August 1954, p. 2: PKI central committee announces non-party figures willing to stand on its list in the coming elections: Prof. Purbodiningrat, Dr Tjokronegoro and painter Hendra Gunawan, adding earlier announced Tahir Thajeb, Salawati Daud and Henk Ngantung. Salawati Daud, a Gerwis-linked figure, appear
Three non-party candidates on the PKI election list
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (21 Aug 1954, p.1): the PKI central committee announces that three non-party leaders (Prof. Purbodiningrat, Dr Tjokronegoro and the painter Hendra Gunawan) will appear on its election list, and recalls earlier announcement that Taher Thajeb, Mrs Salawati Daud and Henk Ngantung agreed to stan
PKI and non-party candidates
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 26 Aug 1954, p. 2: the PKI central committee announces non-party figures Purbodiningrat, Dr Tjokronegoro and painter Hendra Gunawan will stand on its election list, adding that Taher Thajeb, Salawati Daud and Henk Ngantung had earlier agreed to be candidates.
Non-party candidates on the PKI list for the 1955 elections
De Nieuwsgier item (15 Dec 1954, p. 1) listing new non-party candidates on the PKI list for the 1955 elections (Affandi, Basuki Resobowo, Witarsa and others). Earlier non-party names include Mrs. Salawati (Salawati Daud), Henk Ngantung and Mrs. S.D. Susanto.
Maisuri, symbol of resistance to forced marriage (Harian Rakjat, 26 January 1955)
Harian Rakjat, 26 Jan 1955, p. 3: women's-page feature 'Maisuri, symbol of resistance to forced marriage', signed Ny. Suwarti (DPP Gerwani). Maisuri refused a marriage imposed by her family to an older man (Kyai Ahmad) who already had wives; the piece uses the case to argue against forced marriage and for a marriage la
PKI candidate list: Miss Maimunah, DPD Gerwani Central Sumatra (Harian Rakjat, 10 March 1955)
Harian Rakjat, 10 Mar 1955: PKI candidate list for the 1955 election with PKI and non-party candidates for Sumatra and elsewhere. No. 11 is Nn. Maimunah (PKI), state high-school teacher and member of DPD Gerwani Sumatera Tengah, Bukittinggi. Also lists trade-union, BTI and Perbum figures; the rest of the page is film a
CIA intelligence survey of the PKI's history, structure and front organisations, May 1955, before the September 1955 elections. Section III.E (report pp. 49-50) profiles Gerwani: founded 1950 as Gerwis, renamed Gerwani at the March 1954 congress, 25,000+ members, S.K. Trimurti general chairman and Umi Sardjono chairman
Pravda, 5 Aug 1955: government crisis in Indonesia; telegrams from Gerwani
Pravda, 5 August 1955, No. 217, page 6, supplied as a Claude machine translation of the Indonesia item. A TASS dispatch from Jakarta on the cabinet crisis (Harahap of Masjumi asked to form a government) says Harian Rakjat printed dozens of telegrams from SOBSI, BTI, the women's organisation Gerwani and Pemuda Rakjat in
Pravda, 5 Aug 1955: Gerwani telegram in Indonesian cabinet crisis (excerpt)
Keyword-hit excerpt of Pravda, 5 Aug 1955 (TASS, Jakarta) on the cabinet crisis after Masjumi's Burhanuddin Harahap was asked to form a government. Harian Rakjat published telegrams from SOBSI, BTI, Gerwani, Pemuda Rakjat and others demanding a truly democratic government, opposing a Masjumi cabinet and 'a military dic
Ten years of the Republic (Cor Geugjes)
De Waarheid, 17 Aug 1955, p. 3: Cor Geugjes's article for the Republic's tenth anniversary, covering Dutch colonial violence, the Bandung Conference, the Ali Sastroamidjojo government's fall and replacement by a Masjumi-PSI cabinet under Harahap, and the PKI's election platform. It lists Gerwani only as 'the strong wom
Events in Indonesia (conclusion): Harahap government and mass organisations
De Waarheid, 8 Oct 1955, p. 3: final part of Cor Geugjes's series on events in Indonesia, arguing the Harahap government (which replaced Ali Sastroamidjojo) is resisted: elections could not be postponed, New Guinea was raised at the UN, and preliminary results defeat Masjumi and PSI. Cites PKI (500,000), SOBSI (3 milli
US Monthly Indonesian Press Survey (1956): Gerwani expansion, Umi Sardjono, Setiati Surasto
US Monthly Indonesian Press Survey (1956) extracts. A list of PKI's 39 parliamentary seats includes Gerwani leaders (Umi Sardjono, Suharti Suwarto, Mudigdio, Sundari Abdurachman, Charlotte Salawati); notes the Central Sumatra Gerwani conference (Bukittinggi, Feb 1956; 14,000 members, 216 sections) and new branches in J
PKI has one million members: Aidit interview with Ogonyok
De Waarheid, 23 Mar 1956, p. 2: Moscow dispatch that the PKI has one million members, per Aidit in an interview with the Soviet magazine Ogonyok; SOBSI has 2.6 million, the peasant union BTI 2.5 million, Pemuda Rakjat 700,000 and Gerwani about 500,000. Useful as a contemporary membership figure for Gerwani.
Indian Daily Mail, 27 May 1956 (lead only). A delegation of Indonesian working women arrived in Moscow at the invitation of the Soviet trade-union council (VTsSPS), led by Setiati Surasto, secretary for economic affairs of an Indonesian agricultural (peasant) organisation. Solidarity with the socialist bloc.
Gudok, 17 Aug 1956: 'Indonesia today' for the Republic's 11th anniversary
Gudok (Soviet railwaymen's paper), 17 Aug 1956, p. 4. Survey article by G. Svetlanov for the Republic's 11th anniversary: Dutch colonial legacy, nationalisations, five-year plan, foreign policy and Sukarno's coming visit. One passage lists Gerwani, 'half a million members', among leading patriotic mass organisations be
Umi Sardjono article and Mudigdio speech in parliament; Gerwani defends menstrual leave (Harian Rakjat, 7 March 1957)
Harian Rakjat, 7 Mar 1957, p. 3: includes an article by Ny. Umi Sardjono for International Women's Day on women's struggle and rights (alongside a science piece), a DPR report with Ny. Mudigdio (PKI) speaking on 6 March, and Gerwani branch items. Notes 46 organisations including Gerwani opposing abolition of menstrual
Harian Rakjat, 9 March 1957: Umi Sardjono at the Women's Day exhibition
Harian Rakjat issue of 9 March 1957, very noisy OCR. Page 1 reports the International Women's Day exhibition (handicrafts, cooking, costumes, foreign stalls) in Jakarta, where Umi Sardjono (Gerwani leader) is among women leaders present alongside Fatmawati; the committee of ten women's organisations is chaired by Yahya
PKI protest over arrests in Minahassa
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1957-08-29, p. 3): the PKI central committee publishes North Sulawesi branch protest against arrests in Minahasa starting 20 July 1957 (about 30 detained, mostly PKI) and the sealing of the Manado PKI office. Listed detainees include Karel Supit and Mrs. Wuntu-Ottay of the Gerwani leadership i
Pewarta Soerabaia, 21 November 1957: Concordia building, Malang
Pewarta Soerabaia, 21 Nov 1957, p. 4: Malang municipality orders six organisations including BTI and Gerwani (Malang regency branch) to vacate the ruins of the former Societeit Concordia within seven days.
US Monthly Indonesian Press Survey (1958): National Conference of Communist Women
US Monthly Indonesian Press Survey (1958) analysis of the First National Conference of Communist Women (Jakarta, 26-31 May 1958). Aidit's address presents the 'Communist woman' and calls for a wider Gerwani; Suharti Suwarto (Gerwani second deputy chair) and Sundari report on women's groups, only 100,000 women PKI membe
FBIS, 6 May 1958: Gerwani message to the UN Secretary General protesting American intervention
FBIS Daily Report (6 May 1958), HathiTrust scan p.430: Xinhua report that Indonesian mass organisations endorsed Premier Djuanda's denunciation of US intervention (PRRI crisis). Gerwani sent a message to the UN Secretary-General strongly protesting American intervention and urging the UN to warn the US and expel the Ch
President Sukarno leaves Tokyo for home (Renmin Ribao, 16 February 1958)
Renmin Ribao, 16 Feb 1958, p. 6 (Xinhua): Sukarno ends a Japan visit, denouncing imperialism and rejecting interference; a Jakarta item reports SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, BTI and others backing the arrest of rebels such as Hussein and Lubis. Gerwani appears only in that list.
President Sukarno leaves Tokyo for home (Renmin Ribao, 16 February 1958)
Renmin Ribao, 16 Feb 1958, p. 6 (Xinhua): Sukarno ends a Japan visit, denouncing imperialism and rejecting interference; a Jakarta item reports SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, BTI and others backing the arrest of rebels such as Hussein and Lubis. Gerwani appears only in that list.
President Sukarno brings new strength to the Indonesian people (Renmin Ribao, 17 February 1958)
Renmin Ribao commentary, 17 Feb 1958, p. 5: praises Sukarno's nine-nation tour, backs Indonesia's West Irian claim and calls the PRRI/Permesta rebels imperialist-instigated. Notes that SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, BTI and seventeen Sumatran organisations backed the arrest of the rebels, and cites Aidit's call to brin
President Sukarno brings new strength to the Indonesian people (Renmin Ribao, 17 February 1958)
Renmin Ribao commentary, 17 Feb 1958, p. 5: praises Sukarno's nine-nation tour, backs Indonesia's West Irian claim and calls the PRRI/Permesta rebels imperialist-instigated. Notes that SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, BTI and seventeen Sumatran organisations backed the arrest of the rebels, and cites Aidit's call to brin
FBIS, 5 May 1958: Protests by mass organizations
FBIS-monitored Xinhua report (5 May 1958), a noisier excerpt of the same item as GA-02461: Indonesian mass organisations endorsed Premier Djuanda's denunciation of US intervention; the Peasants' Front claimed 3.5 million members; Gerwani sent a strong protest to the UN Secretary-General and demanded expulsion of the Ch
Calls for unity to stop American interference; Gerwani protest to the UN (Renmin Ribao, 6 May 1958)
Renmin Ribao, 6 May 1958, p. 6 (Xinhua, Jakarta; Jiang Yousheng commentary): Indonesian organisations back Djuanda's statement against US and Chiang Kai-shek aid to the rebels. Gerwani telegraphed the UN Secretary-General on 4 May protesting American interference; BTI, the Peace Committee and seventeen Jakarta mass org
Calls for unity to stop American interference; Gerwani protest to the UN (Renmin Ribao, 6 May 1958)
Renmin Ribao, 6 May 1958, p. 6 (Xinhua, Jakarta; Jiang Yousheng commentary): Indonesian organisations back Djuanda's statement against US and Chiang Kai-shek aid to the rebels. Gerwani telegraphed the UN Secretary-General on 4 May protesting American interference; BTI, the Peace Committee and seventeen Jakarta mass org
Suara Tani, January 1959 (10th anniversary issue): Gerwani greeting and cooperation with BTI
Suara Tani (BTI organ), special 10th-anniversary issue, January 1959, OCR noisy. Contains greetings from ministers, army chief Nasution and Gerwani; BTI New Year message; agrarian seminar results; BTI membership table (3.39 million); exposés of landlord exploitation in Java. On p. 5 Gerwani's national leadership (claim
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
US Monthly Indonesian Press Survey (1959-60): Api Kartini magazine (Maasje Siwi), Umi Sardjono in the DPR-GR
US Monthly Indonesian Press Survey (1959-60) extracts. A review of the new monthly Api Kartini, published by Yayasan Melati and headed by Maasje Siwi, lists its editors (S. Asijah, Darmini, Parjani Pradono, S.K. Trimurti, Rukiah Kertapati and others). Parliamentary notes list Umi Sardjono (functional group for women) a
Documents of the PKI Sixth National Congress, Vol. II (Bintang Merah special, 1960)
Volume II of the documents of the PKI Sixth National Congress (Jakarta, 7-14 September 1959; Bintang Merah special, Yayasan Pembaruan, 1960): delegates' speeches. It includes the speech of Suharti, deputy chair of the Gerwani national leadership (pp. 595-603), on women as the most oppressed, peasant women, women cadres
Documents of the PKI Sixth National Congress, Vol. II (Bintang Merah special, 1960)
Volume II of the documents of the PKI Sixth National Congress (Jakarta, 7-14 September 1959; Bintang Merah special, Yayasan Pembaruan, 1960): delegates' speeches. It includes the speech of Suharti, deputy chair of the Gerwani national leadership (pp. 595-603), on women as the most oppressed, peasant women, women cadres
Suara Tani, February 1960: Welcoming the WIDF Bureau session in Jakarta
Suara Tani (BTI organ), Feb 1960 (vol. XI no. 2), OCR noisy. Covers BTI protest over price rises, sugar-cane land rents, Khrushchev's coming visit and the Bandung peace conference. On p. 3 an article welcomes the WIDF Bureau session in Jakarta (late Jan 1960), stressing peasant women's backwardness, citing Sri Darnings
Izvestiia, 2 Mar 1960: 'A moving meeting', Khrushchev with Indonesian delegations in Jakarta
Izvestiia, 2 Mar 1960, p. 3, conclusion of a report on Khrushchev's farewell meeting in Jakarta with Indonesian representatives; Gerwani leaders are listed among those present with SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat, Lekra. Speeches by Njono, Buntaran Martoatmodjo and peace activist Setiadi (probably not Gerwani); Khrushchev's
Pravda, 2 Mar 1960: Gerwani among Indonesian mass organisations at Khrushchev's farewell
Pravda, 2 Mar 1960 (No. 62), pp. 1-3, 5 (machine-translated): coverage of the end of Khrushchev's 12-day visit to Indonesia (farewell speeches by Khrushchev and Sukarno; Calcutta stop). Pp. 2-3 report a farewell meeting on 29 Feb with delegates of mass organisations, naming 'the Indonesian women's movement (Gerwani)' a
Pravda, 2 Mar 1960: Gerwani welcomes Khrushchev among mass organisations (excerpt)
Keyword-hit excerpt of Pravda, No. 62, 2 March 1960, report 'People must live happily!' on Khrushchev's Indonesia visit. Leading figures of SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakjat, the women's movement Gerwani, the Peace Committee, the Soviet friendship society and Lekra gathered with gifts at his residence; SOBSI's Njono spoke of f
Sovetskaya Kirgiziya, 3 Mar 1960: Khrushchev's visit to Indonesia
Sovetskaia Kirgiziia, 3 Mar 1960, p. 2: TASS coverage of Khrushchev's 12-day Indonesia visit: toasts with Sukarno, Khrushchev's farewell at Kemayoran, and crowds. On the last day Khrushchev received delegates of mass organisations including SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani; Njono spoke. No Gerwani speaker is named
Suara Tani, June 1960: Biography of Kartinah Kurdi (DPR-GR) and her article on International Children's Day
Suara Tani (BTI organ), June 1960 (vol. XI no. 6), OCR noisy. Issue marks PKI's 40th anniversary, the DPR-GR, the sharecropping law and the 5-Principles rice method. P. 3 (cont. p. 6) gives short biographies of BTI peasant representatives in the DPR-GR, including Ny. Kartinah Kurdi (Taman Siswa teacher, Yogyakarta, act
Ashes of Yang Mumei and Ye Jinniang shipped home (Renmin Ribao, 21 July 1960)
Renmin Ribao, 21 Jul 1960, p. 5 (Xinhua, Jakarta): ceremony at Tanjung Priok on 18 July sending home the ashes of Yang Mumei and Ye Jinniang, ethnic Chinese women killed in West Java, with their families and 700 poor or displaced Chinese (Presidential Decree No. 10). Gerwani, SOBSI, BTI, Baperki's women's department an
Ashes of Yang Mumei and Ye Jinniang shipped home (Renmin Ribao, 21 July 1960)
Renmin Ribao, 21 Jul 1960, p. 5 (Xinhua, Jakarta): ceremony at Tanjung Priok on 18 July sending home the ashes of Yang Mumei and Ye Jinniang, ethnic Chinese women killed in West Java, with their families and 700 poor or displaced Chinese (Presidential Decree No. 10). Gerwani, SOBSI, BTI, Baperki's women's department an
Biographical Profiles of DPR-GR Members, Aug 1960
Compilation of US embassy Djakarta biographical despatches (2 Aug 1960) on members of the new Gotong Royong parliament. Contains profiles of Gerwani figures: Umi Sardjono (Gerwis then Gerwani chairwoman, WIDF delegate 1960), Francisca Fanggidaej (PKI women's group Gerwani board), Setiati Surasto (SARBUPRI, Gerwani link
Colonel in South Borneo 'suspends' PKI and Gerwani activity
De Waarheid, 26 Aug 1960, p. 1: report that the military commander of South Kalimantan, Colonel Hasan Basry, 'temporarily suspended' activities of the PKI and other organisations in the province, including SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat, the BTI peasant front, the women's organisation Gerwani and a cultural body, saying PKI ideo
Weekly Situation Reports on Indonesian Politics, September 1960
Compilation of Djakarta embassy weekly situation telegrams to the State Department, September 1960, on the army-Sukarno struggle over the PKI ban and a temporary ban on party activity. Gerwani is mentioned only in passing among PKI front organisations (with SOBSI, BTI) protesting bans.
Friends from over seventy countries gather in Beijing for the 11th National Day (Renmin Ribao, 1 October 1960)
Renmin Ribao, 1 Oct 1960, p. 2 (Xinhua): long list of nearly 2,000 foreign guests in Beijing for China's 11th National Day, from over seventy countries. Includes Indonesian guests and a Gerwani study group headed by Mrs Suwarti, Central Committee member and head of Gerwani's organisation department. Most entries (trans
Friends from over seventy countries gather in Beijing for the 11th National Day (Renmin Ribao, 1 October 1960)
Renmin Ribao, 1 Oct 1960, p. 2 (Xinhua): long list of nearly 2,000 foreign guests in Beijing for China's 11th National Day, from over seventy countries. Includes Indonesian guests and a Gerwani study group headed by Mrs Suwarti, Central Committee member and head of Gerwani's organisation department. Most entries (trans
National Seminar of Women Peasants, 17-20 January 1961
Gerwani DPP brochure of the first National Seminar of Women Peasants (Jakarta, 17–20 January 1961), with the DPP working paper, a BTI paper, speeches by officials and D.N. Aidit, regional delegate reports and resolutions. Centres poor and landless women in Gerwani's class analysis of the village.
The Communist Party of Indonesia 1951-1961: A Decade of the Aidit Leadership (Hindley, 1961)
Donald Hindley's 1961 ANU PhD thesis on the Indonesian Communist Party under the Aidit leadership, 1951-1961, covering PKI strategy, party-building, finances, mass organisations and elections. Section 'Women' (pp. 422-448, esp. 'Gerwani', pp. 428-441) traces Gerwis from its founding on 4 June 1950 (about 500 members) t
Communism and the PKI, Despatch of January 1961
US embassy Djakarta despatch compilation (Jan 1961) analysing communism and the PKI, including its front organisations. The overview describes Gerwani as the communist women's organisation used for price and anti-bomb demonstrations, affiliated with the WIDF (which funds trips abroad for prominent members), and contras
The bridge of Chinese-Indonesian friendship will be further strengthened (Renmin Ribao, 1 April 1961)
Renmin Ribao, 1 Apr 1961, p. 5 (Xinhua, Jakarta): Jakarta press coverage of Chen Yi's visit, and over a hundred representatives of the Friendship Association, SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwani presenting gifts (handicrafts, batik, Indonesian translations of Mao and Liu Shaoqi) to Chen Yi, with Sain Nasution speakin
The bridge of Chinese-Indonesian friendship will be further strengthened (Renmin Ribao, 1 April 1961)
Renmin Ribao, 1 Apr 1961, p. 5 (Xinhua, Jakarta): Jakarta press coverage of Chen Yi's visit, and over a hundred representatives of the Friendship Association, SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwani presenting gifts (handicrafts, batik, Indonesian translations of Mao and Liu Shaoqi) to Chen Yi, with Sain Nasution speakin
National Seminar on Peasant Women, 17-20 January 1961 (DPP Gerwani)
Gerwani national leadership (DPP) brochure of the National Seminar on Peasant Women, Jakarta, 17-20 January 1961 (published 1962). Contains the DPP keynote on peasant-women's emancipation against imperialism and feudal remnants, speeches by BTI, ministers and D.N. Aidit, regional delegates' land-tenure reports, a Mudig
Api Kartini No. 7-8, Year 4, July-August 1962
Double issue (Jul–Aug 1962): excerpts of Sukarno's 17 August 1962 speech, a profile of BTI activist Daeng Tomi, Alexandra Kollontai, reports on the Moscow World Peace Congress (Hurustiati Subandrio) and the All-African Women's Conference in Dar es Salaam.
Pravda, 28 Apr 1962: Aidit's report to the Seventh (Extraordinary) PKI Congress
Pravda no. 118, 28 April 1962 (full issue). Page 4 reports D. N. Aidit's report to the Seventh (Extraordinary) PKI Congress (Jakarta): Guided Democracy, elections, West Irian, Malaysia, SEATO, party mass organisations. Gerwani appears in a single sentence, credited with 'important progress' in expanding organisation, m
Pravda, 28 Apr 1962: Aidit's report to the Seventh PKI Congress (excerpt)
Pravda no. 118, 28 April 1962 (excerpt of the page). Page 4 reports D. N. Aidit's report to the Seventh (Extraordinary) PKI Congress (Jakarta): Guided Democracy, elections, West Irian, Malaysia, SEATO, party mass organisations. Gerwani appears in a single sentence, credited with 'important progress' in expanding organi
Aidit's general report to the PKI Seventh Congress, part 2 (Renmin Ribao, 11 May 1962)
Renmin Ribao, 11 May 1962, pp. 4-5: Part 2 of D.N. Aidit's abridged general report to the PKI's Seventh Congress, covering finance for the eight-year plan, the international situation, PKI relations with the communist movement, and mass work. One paragraph says Gerwani, a 'revolutionary women's mass organisation', expa
Aidit's general report to the PKI Seventh Congress, part 2 (Renmin Ribao, 11 May 1962)
Renmin Ribao, 11 May 1962, pp. 4-5: Part 2 of D.N. Aidit's abridged general report to the PKI's Seventh Congress, covering finance for the eight-year plan, the international situation, PKI relations with the communist movement, and mass work. One paragraph says Gerwani, a 'revolutionary women's mass organisation', expa
Communists of Indonesia beloved by the people
Tribune (Sydney), 23 May 1962, p. 9: Laurie Aarons, Communist Party of Australia fraternal delegate, praises the Seventh Congress of the PKI as a mass party (383 delegates, 'two million' members) led by D.N. Aidit, with Sukarno speaking at the closing rally. Lists the mass organisations it leads: BTI, SOBSI and Gerwani
Communists of Indonesia beloved by the people
Tribune (Sydney), 23 May 1962, p. 9: Laurie Aarons, Communist Party of Australia fraternal delegate, praises the Seventh Congress of the PKI as a mass party (383 delegates, 'two million' members) led by D.N. Aidit, with Sukarno speaking at the closing rally. Lists the mass organisations it leads: BTI, SOBSI and Gerwani
Indonesian mass organisations urge refusal of Taiwan's participation in the Asian Games (Renmin Ribao, 5 August 1962)
Renmin Ribao, 5 Aug 1962, p. 3 (Xinhua, Jakarta): SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakjat, railway and other unions, and Gerwani's Central Committee urge the government to bar Taiwan (and Israel) from the Fourth Asian Games in Jakarta. Gerwani's letter says Indonesia's policy recognises only one China, the PRC. Pemuda Rakjat recalls
Indonesian mass organisations urge refusal of Taiwan's participation in the Asian Games (Renmin Ribao, 5 August 1962)
Renmin Ribao, 5 Aug 1962, p. 3 (Xinhua, Jakarta): SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakjat, railway and other unions, and Gerwani's Central Committee urge the government to bar Taiwan (and Israel) from the Fourth Asian Games in Jakarta. Gerwani's letter says Indonesia's policy recognises only one China, the PRC. Pemuda Rakjat recalls
Over 300 foreign guests come to Beijing to celebrate National Day (Renmin Ribao, 1 October 1962)
Renmin Ribao, 1 Oct 1962, p. 4 (Xinhua): list of over 300 foreign guests arriving in Beijing for China's 13th National Day, headed by Hartini Sukarno and including W.E.B. Du Bois. Indonesian entries include a BTI delegation, Pemuda Rakjat, student leaders and an army colonel; Mrs Sudarso is named as Gerwani's represent
Over 300 foreign guests come to Beijing to celebrate National Day (Renmin Ribao, 1 October 1962)
Renmin Ribao, 1 Oct 1962, p. 4 (Xinhua): list of over 300 foreign guests arriving in Beijing for China's 13th National Day, headed by Hartini Sukarno and including W.E.B. Du Bois. Indonesian entries include a BTI delegation, Pemuda Rakjat, student leaders and an army colonel; Mrs Sudarso is named as Gerwani's represent
Renmin Ribao, 14 Dec 1962: Aidit supports the Brunei uprising; Indonesian organisations' statements
People's Daily page 4, 14 December 1962 (excerpt only), on Indonesian support for the Brunei rebellion. The excerpt lists organisations issuing statements of support: PNI, Murba, SOBSI, BTI, the Indonesian Women's Movement Association (Gerwani), Pemuda Rakyat and others. Shows Gerwani aligned with the PKI-led anti-Brit
Renmin Ribao, 14 Dec 1962: Aidit supports the Brunei uprising; Indonesian organisations' statements
People's Daily page 4, 14 December 1962 (excerpt only), on Indonesian support for the Brunei rebellion. The excerpt lists organisations issuing statements of support: PNI, Murba, SOBSI, BTI, the Indonesian Women's Movement Association (Gerwani), Pemuda Rakyat and others. Shows Gerwani aligned with the PKI-led anti-Brit
US State Department INR Report no. 4489, January 1963: World strength of the communist party organizations
US State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research report no. 4489 (January 1963), an annual tabulation of Communist party strength worldwide for 1962, with country-by-country entries on membership, parliamentary status and front organisations. The Indonesia entry (about p. 98) gives the PKI more than 2,000,000 me
RAND paper P-2690 by Guy J. Pauker (Jan 1963, for Asian Survey), 'Indonesia: Towards Development or Expansionism?'. Surveys the West New Guinea settlement, the lifting of the state of emergency, PKI strength (Aidit versus Lukman factions), inflation, Soviet arms debt and the Brunei revolt. Mentions Gerwani once, as a P
Java Reds in protest march, Purwokerto (Straits Times, 1963)
The Straits Times, 25 March 1963, p. 2, UPI/Antara: 1,500 communists demonstrate in Purwokerto, Central Java, against high prices and the cost of living; participants came from the PKI and affiliates including Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani, BTI and Lekra. They petition for lower prices and the inclusion of communists in the C
Grand mass rally in Bali welcomes Chairman Liu Shaoqi (Renmin Ribao, 19 April 1963)
Renmin Ribao, 19 Apr 1963, p. 1 (Xinhua, Bali): about 50,000 attend a rally in Bali welcoming PRC President Liu Shaoqi and Wang Guangmei. Liu stresses the anti-imperialist and anti-colonial struggle; Sukarno attacks the Malaysia plan. Gerwani is listed only among attending organisations (BTI, SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat, PNI,
Grand mass rally in Bali welcomes Chairman Liu Shaoqi (Renmin Ribao, 19 April 1963)
Renmin Ribao, 19 Apr 1963, p. 1 (Xinhua, Bali): about 50,000 attend a rally in Bali welcoming PRC President Liu Shaoqi and Wang Guangmei. Liu stresses the anti-imperialist and anti-colonial struggle; Sukarno attacks the Malaysia plan. Gerwani is listed only among attending organisations (BTI, SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat, PNI,
Sukarno presents gifts to Chairman Liu (Renmin Ribao, 21 April 1963)
Renmin Ribao, 21 Apr 1963, p. 2 (Xinhua, Jakarta): at the State Palace Sukarno presents gifts to Liu Shaoqi and Chen Yi before the farewell banquet; delegates of Indonesian organisations (Pemuda Rakjat, BTI, PKI, SOBSI, Baperki, Gerwani, Perwari and others) also present gifts, including a West Irian bird of paradise. G
Sukarno presents gifts to Chairman Liu (Renmin Ribao, 21 April 1963)
Renmin Ribao, 21 Apr 1963, p. 2 (Xinhua, Jakarta): at the State Palace Sukarno presents gifts to Liu Shaoqi and Chen Yi before the farewell banquet; delegates of Indonesian organisations (Pemuda Rakjat, BTI, PKI, SOBSI, Baperki, Gerwani, Perwari and others) also present gifts, including a West Irian bird of paradise. G
Chairman Aidit departs for the Soviet Union and China (Renmin Ribao, 21 July 1963)
Renmin Ribao snippet-only entry (21 July 1963, p. 3) on Aidit's departure to the USSR and China. The snippet lists PKI leaders and the heads of SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani among those at the airport; no Gerwani leader is named. The full article is in GA-01890.
Chairman Aidit leads delegation to the Soviet Union and China (Renmin Ribao, 21 July 1963)
Renmin Ribao/Xinhua report (21 July 1963, p. 3) on PKI chairman Aidit's delegation leaving Jakarta for Moscow, Beijing and Cuba, with his airport statements on the Sino-Soviet dispute, Nasakom and 'Malaysia'. Gerwani appears once, its head among mass-organisation leaders at the send-off. Useful for Gerwani's place in P
D.N. Aidit, 'Some problems of the Indonesian revolution and the PKI': Beijing report, 4 September 1963
Full Renmin Ribao text (5 Sept 1963, p. 3) of D.N. Aidit's 4 September Beijing rally report on the Indonesian revolution and PKI: semi-colonial, semi-feudal analysis, national united front, Nasakom, state power's 'two aspects', and party building. Gerwani appears only once, in a membership tally (1.5 million, alongside
Aidit in Pyongyang: Indonesian-Korean friendship (snippet)
Snippet-only Renmin Ribao extract (14 Sept 1963, p. 3) from Aidit's Pyongyang rally speech. It gives PKI-affiliated mass organisation figures, including 1.5 million women in Gerwani, described as the progressive women's organisation, and 1.5 million in Pemuda Rakyat. The full text is GA-01902.
D.N. Aidit, 'Indonesian-Korean friendship will last forever': Pyongyang speech, 11 September 1963
Full text (Renmin Ribao, 14 Sept 1963, p. 3, via Xinhua/KCNA) of D.N. Aidit's 11 September speech at a Pyongyang welcome rally: praise of North Korea, an outline of the Indonesian revolution, Nasakom, West Irian, the anti-US line and attacks on 'modern revisionism'. Gerwani appears once in the tally of PKI-aligned orga
Foreign guests from eighty countries at China's National Day celebrations
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao (1 Oct 1963, p. 3) on 1,800+ foreign guests at China's 14th National Day. The translation covers only Indonesia and women's items: M.H. Lukman's DPR-GR delegation, Lekra, SOBSI, BTI and other groups, and an Indonesian women's delegation with Kartinah Kurdi of Gerwani; also Cuban, Ghanaian,
Forward to Total Integration of Gerwani with Farm-Labourer and Poor Peasant Women (Umi Sardjono's General Report, 1964)
Umi Sardjono's General Report as DPP Gerwani chair to the 3rd DPP Plenary (Bandung, early 1964; transcribed by Nathanael Pribady). Reviews 1963: Irian Barat, 'Crush Malaysia' confrontation, the 26 May economic regulations, 1,378 TK Melati kindergartens, the WIDF Moscow Congress (Gerwani rejected the programme, attacked
Conclusions of the Housewives' Seminar (1964)
Api Kartini (1964) publication of the conclusions of the Gerwani National Seminar on Housewives. Four commissions set out positions on solidarity (Vietnam, China's nuclear test), Dwikora and 'crushing Malaysia', landreform and the UUPA/UUPBH, rat-eradication campaign under Aidit and Asmu, anti-corruption demands, a dem
CIA special report, 23 October 1964: Sukarno and the Communists
CIA Special Report, 23 October 1964, on the Sukarno-PKI relationship; lists Gerwani among PKI fronts with almost two million claimed members. Pre-coup US context.
Continuing integration of the women's movement with Indonesian peasant women: report of Gerwani's Third Plenum (Harian R
JPRS translation of Harian Rakjat, 23 Jan 1964, on the Third Plenary Session of Gerwani's Central Council (Bandung, 18-22 Jan 1964). Chair Umi Sardjono reports on crushing 'Malaysia', price rises, the Cabinet of Mutual Assistance and land reform; stresses integration with peasant women, cooperation with the BTI, West I
Plans and tasks of the Indonesian women's movement, by Suwati Trimo (Harian Rakjat, 4 January 1964; JPRS)
JPRS translation of a Harian Rakjat piece (4 Jan 1964) by Suwati Trimo (Sutrimo) on Gerwani's plans after the 1961 Fourth Congress, plus the end of another National Front speech and an Aidit message to prison personnel. Reports membership growth (Surabaya 14,434 to 16,231; Jakarta trained 45 cadres), peasant and anti-'
How to deal with US imperialism's overbearing conduct: Indonesian responses
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao (12 Jan 1964, p. 4) on Indonesian responses to US pressure: a Harian Rakjat editorial calling for 'confrontation' of Malaysia, the Seventh Fleet and SEATO, and New Year messages from SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat and the Peace Committee. The Gerwani Central Committee pledges support for the go
Renmin Ribao, 7 Mar 1964: world opinion attacks US expansion of the South Vietnam war
People's Daily, 7 March 1964, p. 3: roundup of world protests at US escalation in South Vietnam ('a second Dien Bien Phu awaits you'). The excerpt says the Indonesian Peasants' Front, SOBSI, the Indonesian Women's Movement Association (Gerwani), Pemuda Rakyat and the student movement union recently met and denounced US
Renmin Ribao, 7 Mar 1964: world opinion attacks US expansion of the South Vietnam war
People's Daily, 7 March 1964, p. 3: roundup of world protests at US escalation in South Vietnam ('a second Dien Bien Phu awaits you'). The excerpt says the Indonesian Peasants' Front, SOBSI, the Indonesian Women's Movement Association (Gerwani), Pemuda Rakyat and the student movement union recently met and denounced US
Gone to the farmer: communists in the Indonesian countryside
Friese Koerier travel/feature piece (12 Mar 1964, p.11) on how Indonesian communists won rural support via relief after Darul Islam raids, farming advice, theatre, wayang and badminton. It states the communists founded nominally non-communist organisations: BTI, Gerwani ('the Indonesian women's movement') and Pemuda Ra
Renmin Ribao, 20 Mar 1964: Indonesians volunteer against 'Malaysia' at National Front office
Renmin Ribao p. 3 (20 Mar 1964), on Indonesian volunteer registration against 'Malaysia'. The excerpt lists organisations whose members rushed to register at the National Front office, including SOBSI, the BTI peasants' front, the Indonesian Women's Movement Association (Gerwani), journalists, students and Baperki. No
Renmin Ribao, 20 Mar 1964: Indonesians volunteer against 'Malaysia' at National Front office
Renmin Ribao p. 3 (20 Mar 1964), on Indonesian volunteer registration against 'Malaysia'. The excerpt lists organisations whose members rushed to register at the National Front office, including SOBSI, the BTI peasants' front, the Indonesian Women's Movement Association (Gerwani), journalists, students and Baperki. No
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
Foreign guests from over eighty countries at China's National Day (snippet)
Snippet-only Renmin Ribao extract (1 Oct 1964, p. 6) on foreign guests at China's 15th National Day. Among Indonesians listed are BTI and Pemuda Rakyat delegations and Mrs Juswati as Gerwani representative; truncated. Full text is GA-01944.
Foreign guests from over eighty countries celebrate China's National Day
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao (1 Oct 1964, p. 6) on 2,600+ foreign guests at China's 15th National Day. Translation retains only Indonesian items: the PKI delegation under Yusuf Adjitorop, Harian Rakjat, SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat, Kowani delegations and Mrs Juswati as Gerwani's representative. Gerwani is a single name
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
History of the Indonesian Youth Struggle (Youth Bureau, Ministry of Education and Culture, 1965)
Official history of the Indonesian youth movement (1908-1960) compiled by the Youth Bureau of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Balai Pustaka, Jakarta 1965 (prefaces dated Dec. 1963), in five periods. Gerwani appears only briefly: it is listed among organisations demanding action against the 1957-58 PRRI separatis
Pravda, c. 27 Oct 1965: The Situation in Indonesia
Pravda, c. 27 October 1965 (No. 300), 'The Situation in Indonesia': two short TASS dispatches from Jakarta dated 26 October. They report Sukarno and Subandrio on the 30 September Movement and ongoing repression of the PKI. Gerwani is mentioned once, among organisations banned by military authorities in North Sulawesi a
Pravda, 1965: bans on the PKI and Gerwani in the regions (excerpt)
Pravda no. 300, 1965 (excerpt; TASS dispatch dated Jakarta, 26 Oct). Reports Sukarno ordering police and army to fire on those destroying Communist property, and military bans on the PKI, SOBSI and BTI in East Java and East Sulawesi; in North Sulawesi the ban also covers Gerwani. Rest is unrelated (OAU, Rhodesia, econo
Pravda, 23 Nov 1965: the situation in Indonesia, mass arrests
Pravda no. 327, 23 November 1965 (full issue). Page 1 TASS item 'The situation in Indonesia' (Jakarta, 22 Nov): arrests of 1,600 in South Kalimantan; in Central Java 1,630 (Wonogiri), 820 (Sragen), 711 (Boyolali), over 2,200 (Klaten), said by ANTARA to be members of PKI, Gerwani, Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, Partindo; Subandrio
Pravda, 23 Nov 1965: the situation in Indonesia, mass arrests (excerpt)
Pravda no. 327, 23 November 1965 (excerpt of the page). Page 1 TASS item 'The situation in Indonesia' (Jakarta, 22 Nov): arrests of 1,600 in South Kalimantan; in Central Java 1,630 (Wonogiri), 820 (Sragen), 711 (Boyolali), over 2,200 (Klaten), said by ANTARA to be members of PKI, Gerwani, Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, Partindo;
FO 371/180309: Periodic Reports on Indonesia's Internal Political Situation (1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180309 (1965), periodic reports on Indonesia's internal political situation, mostly weekly letters from the British Embassy in Djakarta (S.J.G. Cambridge, M.J.T. McCann) to D. Tonkin, January to July 1965, with Antara and press extracts. It covers Aidit and the arming of peasants, Chairul
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;
FO 371/180326: Political Parties and Communism (Feb-Aug 1965)
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180326 (Feb-Aug 1965): embassy telegrams, letters and Antara extracts on the PKI's growth before the coup: its 45th anniversary, Aidit's speeches, Mao's greeting, Sino-Soviet positions and Sukarno's leftward drift. Gerwani items: Antara of 9 June reports Sukarno addressing Gerwani, chaired
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
Our Road: reports from many countries (WIDF, 1965), incl. Gerwani for Peasant Women
WIDF magazine 1965 'Our Road' news page (mid-1965), with reports on North and South Korean women, West German women against Emergency Laws, and Argentina/India/US actions. A 'GERWANI for Peasant Women' item says Gerwani's International Women's Day statement backed peasants' demands for the Basic Agrarian Law and Crop S
Reds, pressing reforms, win wide peasant support in Java (New York Times, 27 March 1965)
New York Times, 27 March 1965, p.55, Neil Sheehan from Klaten, Central Java: on how the PKI and affiliates win peasant support through land-reform agitation and practical projects. Mrs. Sukarni, chair of the Klaten district women's organisation (Gerwani) and district committee member, says Gerwani works to remove restr
FBIS-monitored VNA Domestic Service text (6 Apr 1965) on tens of thousands of Korean, Indonesian, Venezuelan, Indian and Japanese volunteers for South Vietnam. Key Indonesian item: on 4 April about 100 women volunteers led by Mrs Umi Sardjono, president of the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani), went to the DRV Emba
Bandung tenth anniversary in Jakarta; BTI and Gerwani welcome Zhou Enlai's visit
Xinhua dispatches in Renmin Ribao (17 Apr 1965, p. 5) on the Bandung Conference tenth-anniversary celebration in Jakarta: Ganis Harsono announces 37 attending countries, delegations arrive, and BTI (8.5 million) and Gerwani welcome Zhou Enlai's visit. The Gerwani Central Council, speaking for 'three million members', s
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 24 April 1965: Aidit and Indonesian communism - on the springboard to power
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 24 April 1965, long analytical article 'Aidit and Indonesian Communism: on the springboard to power'. It reviews the Indonesian crisis, PKI history from 1920 through Madiun 1948, Aidit's rise and biography. Gerwani appears once, as a PKI front organisation with 1.5 million members, alongside SOBSI
FBIS-monitored Xinhua report (25 Apr 1965): Premier Zhou Enlai, in Jakarta for the Bandung anniversary, received Indonesia-China Friendship Association and mass-organisation representatives, among them SOBSI chair Mohammad Munir, the Peasants' Front, and Mme Mudikdio (Mudigdio), leader of the Indonesian Women's Movemen
Premier Zhou receives Indonesian mass organisation representatives (snippet)
Snippet-only Renmin Ribao extract (27 Apr 1965, p. 3): Premier Zhou receives representatives of Indonesian mass organisations, including Mrs Mudigdio, Gerwani leader, with SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat and Lekra leaders; truncated. Full text is GA-01968.
Premier Zhou receives leaders of Indonesian mass organisations in Jakarta
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao (27 Apr 1965, p. 3): on 25 April in Jakarta Zhou Enlai receives leaders of the Indonesia-China Friendship Association, SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat, Lekra and Gerwani (Mudigdio). Spokesman 'Sinki' praises China's nuclear test; Zhou praises 'fighting friendship', Bandung and Nasakom. Gerwani a
Fifteen Years of Gerwani (Harian Rakjat, 4 June 1965; JPRS 30968)
JPRS 30968 translation of the unsigned Harian Rakjat article 'Fifteen Years of Gerwani' (4 June 1965). Traces three periods: Gerwis (1950, 500 members; 74,977 by 1954 Congress), Gerwani (631,342 in 1957; 1,056,436 in 1961), and support for the women's front. Covers Melati kindergartens, peasant integration, the Kowani
Aidit's political report to the PKI Fourth Plenum (snippet)
Snippet-only Renmin Ribao extract (12 June 1965, p. 3) from Aidit's political report to the PKI's enlarged Fourth Plenum, 'Intensify the revolutionary offensive on all fronts'. The visible sentence says SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani, Lekra and CGMI are beginning to give Marxist education to their membership; trunc
D.N. Aidit, 'Step up the revolutionary offensive on all fronts': political report to PKI plenum
Long Xinhua summary in Renmin Ribao (12 June 1965, p. 3) of D.N. Aidit's political report to the enlarged PKI Central Committee plenum, 'Step up the revolutionary offensive on all fronts': Nasakom, bureaucratic capitalists, takeovers of US firms, the Murba/BPS ban, Vietnam, the UN exit, Khrushchev's fall; PKI over 3 mi
JPRS Translations on South and East Asia No. 101: Indonesian press, October 1965 (dismiss Gerwani from the women's movem
JPRS Translations on South and East Asia No. 101: selected Oct 1965 Indonesian press items. Gerwani-related: Duta Masjarakat (16 Oct) 'Dismiss Gerwani from Women's Movement' saying members trained at Lobang Buaja and urging Kowani (chair Hurustiati Subandrio) to act; 11 Oct 'Gerwani and Pemuda Rakjat in Disguise' (clai
Mass arrests by Indonesian army: Communist offices burned (The Irish Times, 11 October 1965)
The Irish Times, 11 Oct 1965, p.66 (Reuter and AP): mass arrests of Communists in Jakarta (about 1,500 detained) after PKI headquarters were burned; Muslims and army organise processions demanding Aidit be hanged. Those arrested include Gerwani members, some alleged to have tortured the six generals, and a crowd of Mus
Berita Yudha, 14 October 1965
Berita Yudha, 14 Oktober 1965. Regional items: 105 organisations of South Kalimantan demand dissolution of the PKI and affiliates including Gerwani; Aceh demands; Gerwani listed among organisations to be banned.
Suara Merdeka, 15 October 1965, p. 2: Paseh PKI and Gerwani self-dissolution
Suara Merdeka (Semarang), 15 Oktober 1965, hlm. 2. Report that on 8 October 1965 the PKI sub-district committee of Paseh (West Java) and its mass organisations including Gerwani declared self-dissolution, condemning G30S; an early ritualised self-dissolution.
FBIS-monitored Jakarta radio text (18 Oct 1965): Jakarta war administrator Maj. Gen. Umar Wirahadikusumah's decision No. 11/1965 temporarily prohibits activities in Greater Jakarta of eight organisations 'clearly involved in the 30 September affair': PKI, Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, BTI, CGMI, Perhimi, IPPI and HSI. First
PKI Affiliates Including Gerwani Suspended (FBIS, 18-21 Oct 1965)
FBIS Daily Report pages (19 and 21 Oct 1965; HathiTrust scans) with the Jakarta war administrator's reporting order: from 19 to 24 October board members of PKI, Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, BTI, CGMI, Perhimi, IPPI, Lekra and HSI must report to police or military posts or face action. Also the bans on PKI and affiliates, Ge
Communist Party Banned in Indonesia (Canberra Times, 19 October 1965)
Canberra Times, 19 Oct 1965, p. 1 (AAP-Reuter): Radio Jakarta reports the PKI and affiliates banned, including Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani (called the women's wing), Sobsi, BTI and the student movement; the ban is by the Jakarta military commander, not Sukarno. Notes Army-led anti-Communist drive and Chinese protests. Early
Communist Party Banned in Indonesia (Canberra Times, 19 October 1965), duplicate
Canberra Times, 19 Oct 1965, p. 1 (AAP-Reuter): Radio Jakarta reports the PKI and affiliates banned, including Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani (called the women's wing), Sobsi, BTI and the student movement; the ban is by the Jakarta military commander, not Sukarno. Notes Army-led anti-Communist drive and Chinese protests. Early
Izvestiia, 19 Oct 1965: Communist Party banned in Djakarta
Izvestiia, 19 Oct 1965, p. 1, TASS: Jakarta military administrator Maj. Gen. Umar Wirahadikusumah banned the PKI and affiliates in Jakarta, naming Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani, BTI, CGMI, HSI, Lekra and others; executives must report to police or army or be punished under emergency law.
Berita Yudha, 20 October 1965
Berita Yudha, 20 Oktober 1965. Richest issue in the set for Gerwani: Jakarta commander freezes activities of 'PKI, Gerwani, Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, CGMI...' and the women's volunteer corps leader Ibu Soemarno speaks; formal freeze of Gerwani.
Abrupt change in Indonesia's political situation: Suharto takes control, mass arrests, PKI offices burned
Xinhua survey in Renmin Ribao (20 Oct 1965, p. 1) of Indonesia's first three weeks after 30 September, from Chinese-side sources: Suharto takes control, mass arrests (3,000 by 17 October), PKI headquarters burned, Harian Rakjat closed, universities shut, anti-Chinese incidents. Gerwani appears in the NU demand to disso
Jakarta commander's decisions suspending the PKI and mass organisations (snippet)
Snippet-only Renmin Ribao extract (20 Oct 1965, p. 3) of the Jakarta Military Region commander's decisions of 18 October 1965 temporarily suspending the PKI, Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani, BTI, CGMI and other organisations in Jakarta and environs; truncated. Full text is GA-01988.
Two decisions of the Jakarta commander suspending the PKI and its mass organisations
Renmin Ribao (20 Oct 1965, p. 3) prints, from Radio Republik Indonesia, two decisions of 18 October 1965 by Jakarta commander Umar Wirahadikusumah: temporary suspension of all activities of the PKI, Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani, BTI, CGMI and others; and a duty on leaders (Gerwani included, down to branch level) to report to
Suara Merdeka, 20 October 1965, p. 1: Suharto order of the day and suspension of PKI organisations
Suara Merdeka (Semarang), 20 Oktober 1965, hlm. 1. Front page with Suharto's first order of the day and the RRI report of the Pepelrada Jakarta decree suspending PKI, Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani, BTI, CGMI, Lekra and others; one of the first formal measures against Gerwani.
FBIS-monitored Manado radio text (20 Oct 1965): the commandant of the 13th Regional Military Command, as regional Dwikora authority, temporarily suspended the PKI and its affiliates in North Sulawesi: Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, BTI, CGMI, Perhimi, IPPI, HSI, Lekra and SOBSI (Pepelrada decision 029/1965). Regional ban nami
Berliner Zeitung, 20 Oct 1965, p. 5: Communist Party of Indonesia banned
Berliner Zeitung, 20 October 1965, p. 5: TASS/ADN brief "KP Indonesiens verboten" from Djakarta. The Jakarta military governor (OCR: Birahadikusumo, i.e. Umar Wirahadikusumah) issued a temporary ban on the PKI and its "affiliated organisations" in the Jakarta area, explicitly listing Pemuda Rakjat and "Gerwani (Fraueno
Neues Deutschland, 20 Oct 1965, p. 1: Communist Party of Indonesia banned in Djakarta
Neues Deutschland, 20 October 1965, p. 1: ADN/TASS report 'KP Indonesiens in Djakarta verboten'. Jakarta's military governor, Maj.-Gen. Umar Wirahadikusumah, issued a temporary ban on the PKI and its affiliated organisations for the Jakarta area, explicitly naming Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani (women's organisation), the p
FBIS-monitored ANTARA report (21 Oct 1965): at Madjalengka Square, Bandung (West Java) region, before thousands and the local commandant, PKI sectional committee members and affiliates declared themselves out of the PKI and dissolved the branches, renewing allegiance to Sukarno. The statement lists nine signatories, in
Suara Merdeka, 22 October 1965, p. 1: Diponegoro military command freezing decree
Suara Merdeka (Semarang), 22 Oktober 1965, hlm. 1. Prints decree Kep-PPDD/0064/10/1965 of 20 Oct 1965 by Pangdam Diponegoro freezing the PKI and its mass organisations, listing 'Ormas Wanita: Gerakan Wanita Indonesia (Gerwani)'.
Suara Merdeka, 22 October 1965, pp. 2-3: Semarang mass action, Majalengka dissolution, student demands
Suara Merdeka (Semarang), 22 Oktober 1965, hlm. 2–3. Editorials on Col. Katamso and the Semarang mass action, self-dissolution in Majalengka co-signed by a Gerwani representative, and UI students demanding dissolution of PKI, Gerwani and others.
Suara Merdeka, 26 October 1965, p. 1: Yogyakarta freezing decree by Col. Widodo
Suara Merdeka (Semarang), 26 Oktober 1965, hlm. 1. Col. Widodo froze the PKI and its mass organisations in Yogyakarta by decree of 20 Oct 1965, listing Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani, CGMI, IPPI, Lekra, Perhimi, BTI and SOBSI; Gerwani appears only in the decree list.
FBIS-monitored ANTARA report (26 Oct 1965): the Jakarta PWI chapter suspended 77 more journalists of banned papers (Warta Bhakti, Bintang Timur and others) after suspending 40 from Harian Rakjat, Kebudajaan Baru and Antara; regional PWI chapters did likewise. Yogyakarta authorities banned the PKI-affiliated Ariwarti Wa
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'.
Suara Merdeka, 30 October 1965, p. 2: Pekanbaru crowds raze PKI and mass-organisation offices
Suara Merdeka (Semarang), 30 Oktober 1965, hlm. 2. After a rally in Pekanbaru crowds razed all offices of the PKI, SOBSI, Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani, Baperki and BTI within a day; members were 'rescued' from crowds by state organs, some injured.
FBIS item (1 Nov 1965, Indonesian Information Service to diplomatic missions): over 300 members of BTI, Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwani in Rantjamalang village, Bandung regency, were reported to have renounced PKI membership and dissolved their organisations, saying they were 'tricked' by the PKI leadership; about 100 PKI su
FBIS summary of Manado radio (3 Nov 1965): the North Sulawesi Regional Council pledged to implement Sukarno's 21 October commands and asked him to dissolve the PKI and affiliates including Pemuda Rakjat, Gerwani, SOBSI, BTI, fishermen's front, HSI, Lekra, CGMI, IPPI, Perhimi and Baperki; it urged purges, and trial of d
FBIS-monitored Manado radio text (3 Nov 1965), released by the 13th Regional Military Command: PKI chapter and affiliates in Tolitoli, Central Sulawesi, condemned the 30 September Movement, severed ties with PKI leadership and resigned en masse from 15 October, pledging loyalty to Sukarno. Signatories include represent
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
US Consulate Surabaya 'Joint Sitrep 11', 4 November 1965: clean-up raids continue, Blitar a main concern, and Basuki Rachmat's East Java tour sealing off PKI areas. Regional military context of the repression; Gerwani not specifically named.
Neue Berner Zeitung, 5 November 1965: How the Indonesian Communist Party wanted to seize power - mass murders planned
Neue Berner Zeitung, 5 Nov 1965, DPA report 'How the Communist Party of Indonesia wanted to seize power: mass murders were planned'. Citing army-held 'captured plans', it claims the PKI intended to kill 10,000+ officers and officials, and to arm one million peasants and workers as a militia built from Pemuda Rakyat, BT
Neue Zürcher Nachrichten, 5 November 1965: Was Sukarno himself involved in the coup?
Neue Zürcher Nachrichten, 5 Nov 1965, 'Was Sukarno himself involved in the coup?' (dpa). Same DPA account: army-held plans allegedly show the PKI intended to murder 10,000+ officers and arm one million peasants and workers as a people's militia from Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, SOBSI and Gerwani cadres; the coup failed in 18 ho
Walliser Bote, 5 November 1965: The greatest riddle of the Indonesian coup - Sukarno's conduct
Walliser Bote (5 Nov 1965) running a DPA report on the coup, repeating army-sourced claims of a PKI plan to murder 10,000+ officials and build a people's militia from Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, SOBSI and Gerwani cadres on the Peking model. Also puzzles over Sukarno's presence at Halim.
Berner Tagwacht, 6 November 1965: The greatest riddle of the Indonesian coup - Sukarno's conduct
Berner Tagwacht (Bern), 6 Nov 1965, DPA-based report on the Indonesian coup. Citing army-compiled 'captured plans', it claims the PKI planned to murder 10,000+ officers in five days and arm one million peasants and workers via Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, SOBSI and Gerwani cadres as a militia on the Peking model. It calls Sukar
Geschäftsblatt für den obern Teil des Kantons Bern, 6 November 1965: The greatest riddle of the coup - Sukarno's conduct
Geschäftsblatt für den obern Teil des Kantons Bern, 6 Nov 1965: the same DPA report on the Indonesian coup as in Berner Tagwacht, with other subheadings. It alleges PKI plans (from captured documents) to murder 10,000+ officers and to arm one million peasants and workers as a militia using Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, SOBSI and
FBIS-monitored ANTARA report (6 Nov 1965): PKI and affiliates on Bali, including BTI, Gerwani, Pemuda Rakjat, Lekra, HSI, SOBSI, IPPI and the PGRI teachers' union, were suspended from 3 November. Leaders must report daily to military commands and sign obedience statements, take down signboards within five days; the war
Words and deeds of the Indonesian army: Nasution and Suharto statements reprinted
Renmin Ribao (7 Nov 1965, p. 5) reprints Indonesian army statements from radio and Antara: Nasution's 25 October speech on 'slander' and purges, Suharto's 30 October Bandung speech calling the PKI the 'protagonist' and Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani members 'supporting roles' of the movement, an army information chief's int
The Hindustan Times, 8 Nov 1965: the Bali war administrator has suspended the PKI and affiliates, including Gerwani (Women's Movement), Pemuda Rakjat, students' association, peasants' union and SOBSI, with daily reporting to the military, removal of signboards in five days and a curfew from 3 Nov. It notes Sukarno was
The Times of India, 8 Nov 1965, p.1 (Jakarta, 7 Nov): the PKI and affiliated mass organisations in Bali, including Gerwani (Women's Movement), Pemuda Rakjat, Lekra, BTI, student, teachers' (PGRI) and SOBSI unions, have been suspended; leaders must report daily and a curfew applies. Sukarno says he is considering bannin
Burgdorfer Tagblatt, 8 November 1965: Was Sukarno involved in the coup? Revelations from Indonesia
Burgdorfer Tagblatt (Burgdorf), 8 Nov 1965, 'Was Sukarno involved in the coup?', the same DPA report as in Berner Tagwacht with subheadings. It claims captured plans show the PKI intended to kill 10,000+ officers and officials, and to arm one million peasants and workers as a 'people's militia' using cadres of Pemuda R
Berita Yudha, 16 November 1965. Puspen AD report that the PKI in Ambon dissolved itself and its former Maluku head Umar Lestaluhu instructed PKI, PR, Gerwani, SOBSI, Lekra, IPPI, CGMI and BTI to follow.
Pravda, 17 Nov 1965: The Situation in Indonesia
Pravda, 17 November 1965 (No. 321), 'The Situation in Indonesia': TASS dispatches of 16 November on the removal of 62 MPs, a purge operation in Jepara (315 arrests), a curfew in Makassar and a planned army purge. Gerwani is named once, among left-wing organisations (with SOBSI and BTI) banned in the Moluccas by Brig. G
Pravda, 16 Nov 1965: Indonesia, Gerwani banned in the Moluccas (excerpt)
Pravda no. 321, 16 November 1965 (excerpt). TASS dispatch from Jakarta: 62 MPs (about 25 per cent) removed for alleged involvement in the 30 September Movement; the Moluccas commander Brig. Gen. Busiri temporarily bans the PKI, SOBSI, Gerwani and BTI; 315 arrested near Jepara; curfew in Makassar; planned army purge. Ot
Pravda, 17 Nov 1965, p. 1: 'Situation in Indonesia', Gerwani banned in the Moluccas
Pravda front page, 17 Nov 1965: TASS dispatch 'The situation in Indonesia'. Reports 62 MPs removed after the 30 September Movement, 315 arrests in Jepara, and that Brig. Gen. Busiri temporarily banned the PKI, SOBSI, Gerwani ('Gervani') and BTI in the Moluccas.
Armed Forces Information Centre, Intisari Berita, 18 November 1965: arrests in Central Java and 'self-dissolution' of...
Armed Forces Information Centre bulletin, 18 November 1965. Round-up from Central Java reports 1,636 arrests 'including 16 Gerwani members' and 'self-dissolution' of the PKI and mass organisations in several towns; a second Gerwani item names a woman.
Izvestiia, 22 Nov 1965: Sukarno meets commanders; anti-communist campaign continues
Izvestiia, 22 Nov 1965, p. 1, TASS: Sukarno at Bogor condemns journalists spreading 'fables' about 'atrocities' of the 30 September movement, orders a civil-service purge under Subandrio; a second item gives arrests (1,600 in South Kalimantan), citing Antara that all those arrested are members of PKI, Gerwani, Pemuda R
Gudok, 23 Nov 1965: In Indonesia (TASS on arrests)
Gudok, 23 Nov 1965, p. 4, TASS dispatch from Jakarta: military and right-wing forces continue the anti-communist campaign, with arrest figures (1,600 in South Kalimantan; 1,630 in Wonogiri, 820 in Sragen, 711 in Boyolali, over 2,200 in Klaten), citing Antara that all those arrested are members of PKI, Gerwani, Pemuda R
Berliner Zeitung, 23 Nov 1965, p. 5: Further reprisals
Berliner Zeitung, 23 November 1965, p. 5: ADN/BZ brief "Weitere Repressalien" from Djakarta. Citing the Indonesian press, it reports further reprisals by military authorities and civilian right-wing circles against progressive forces, and quotes Antara that all arrested persons belong to the Communist Party, the women'
Neues Deutschland, 23 Nov 1965, p. 7: New reprisals in Indonesia
Neues Deutschland, 23 November 1965, p. 7: ADN report 'Neue Repressalien in Indonesien' from Jakarta citing the Indonesian press: 1,600 detained in the South Borneo military district and 1,630 arrested in Wonogiri near Surakarta. Antara states all those held belong to the Communist Party, the women's organisation 'Gerw
Armed Forces Information Centre, Intisari Berita, 27 November 1965: Klaten training claims and 'razored Heroes' allusion
Armed Forces Information Centre bulletin, 27 November 1965. Serial 'Mengikuti Operasi RPKAD' says the PKI in Klaten held training for Gerwani, PR and BTI, and insists its claims are as true as 'the Gerwani who razored our Heroes of the Revolution'.
Berita Yudha, 1 December 1965
Berita Yudha, 1 Desember 1965. 'Brigpol Tukidjo tidak mempan golok': indoctrination session for local PKI, Gerwani and BTI members who 'declared their organisations dissolved' in Karang Pucung ends with a machete attack and shooting.
Njono: PKI coup hastened by Sukarno's illness
Leeuwarder Courant, 1 December 1965, p. 11: relays armed-forces newspaper reports of SOBSI chief Njono's interrogation statements: planning began in July, Aidit's claim that Sukarno was gravely ill was decisive, and Njono was to raise a 2,000-man reserve from PKI, Pemuda Rakjat, Sobsi, BTI and Gerwani members, learning
Armed Forces Information Centre, Intisari Berita, 2 December 1965: arrests of Gerwani members in Jakarta and Central...
Armed Forces Information Centre bulletin, 2 Desember 1965. Three Gerwani items: arrest of a woman Misnah, 'a Gerwani', at a Jakarta coffee stall with insinuations about 25 September; three Gerwani among those seized by Kodam Diponegoro; executioners' confessions in Blitar.
Further Report on Confessions of Njono (FBIS, 2 Dec 1965)
FBIS item (ANTARA, 2 Dec 1965) reporting Njono's army-publicised interrogation: PKI Politburo allegedly planned the coup from July to August 1965 under Aidit. Gerwani is named among the organisations expected to support military operations and, with Pemuda Rakyat, BTI and SOBSI, in Njono's Jakarta force. Lubang Buaya i
Armed Forces Information Centre, Intisari Berita, 3 December 1965: Puspenad statement on PKI as sole executor of G30S
Armed Forces Information Centre bulletin, 3 Desember 1965. Puspenad statement declaring the PKI sole executor of the 30 September Movement; Gerwani cited among armed 'auxiliary forces' trained at Lubang Buaya and as forces Njono organised; self-dissolution of a Kebayoran Gerwani ranting.
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.
Pest Megyei Hírlap, 7 Dec 1965: detainees in North Sumatra and Pati
Pest Megyei Hirlap (Hungarian), 7 Dec 1965, p. 56: brief Jakarta item on mass arrests after the 30 September Movement: 10,500 people, mostly plantation workers, held in North Sumatra and 10,333 arrested around Pati, Central Java, all described as members of the peasant front, People's Youth, Gerwani or other left organ
Indonesia, a new Vietnam (Drammens Tidende og Buskeruds Blad, 13 December 1965)
Drammens Tidende og Buskeruds Blad (Norway), 13 Dec 1965, p. 4 (page image): Albert Henrik Mohn's Jakarta report 'Indonesia - a new Vietnam', surveying the PKI's history from 1920 and Aidit's leadership. It lists PKI mass organisations, including SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat and the women's organisation 'Gerwani' with rou
Indonesia, a new Vietnam (Drammens Tidende og Buskeruds Blad, 13 December 1965), OCR text
Drammens Tidende og Buskeruds Blad (Norway), 13 Dec 1965, p. 4 (OCR text): Albert Henrik Mohn's Jakarta report 'Indonesia - a new Vietnam', surveying the PKI's history from 1920 and Aidit's leadership. It lists PKI mass organisations, including SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat and the women's organisation 'Gerwani' with rough
Indonesia, a new Vietnam? (Haugesunds Avis, 17 December 1965)
Haugesunds Avis (Norway), 17 Dec 1965, p. 8 (page image): Albert Henrik Mohn's Jakarta article 'Indonesia, a new Vietnam?' on PKI history, Aidit's rise and party growth to 3 million. It names PKI mass organisations (SOBSI, peasant front, Pemuda Rakyat, and the women's organisation Gerwani with about 1.5 million members
Indonesia, a new Vietnam? (Haugesunds Avis, 17 December 1965), OCR text
Haugesunds Avis (Norway), 17 Dec 1965, p. 8 (OCR text): Albert Henrik Mohn's Jakarta article 'Indonesia, a new Vietnam?' on PKI history, Aidit's rise and party growth to 3 million. It names PKI mass organisations (SOBSI, peasant front, Pemuda Rakyat, and the women's organisation Gerwani with about 1.5 million members)
Armed Forces Information Centre, Intisari Berita, 18 December 1965: KKO tour of Cilacap and fleeing villagers
Armed Forces Information Centre bulletin, 18 Desember 1965. Last instalment of a KKO tour of Cilacap: fleeing 'PKI/Gestapu, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani' are driven by warning fire and a young woman cries 'I'm not Gerwani, I'm a Marhaen woman', told as a 'touching joke'.
Angkatan Bersendjata, 11 January 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 11 Jan 1966. NTB military order (31 Dec 1965) dissolving the PKI and affiliates including Gerwani, BTI, SOBSI, Lekra, Baperki and Universitas Rakyat (UNRA), confiscating their property; about 66,000 detainees in Central Java.
Angkatan Bersendjata, 5 February 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 5 Feb 1966. Kodam Udayana round-up: 24 PKI/BTI arrests at Kupang, six 'Gerwani' escorted from Klungkung to Denpasar, and other detainees; Suharto on securing the revolution.
Angkatan Bersendjata, 7 February 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 7 Feb 1966. Yogyakarta report that BTI member Suradijo, called an 'executioner of Lubang Buaya', was shot 'fleeing'; his reported confession says Gerwani members tortured and stabbed the generals while singing.
Berita Yudha, 7 February 1966
Berita Yudha, 7 Februari 1966. Boxed Antara report: BTI member Suradijo, called an 'executioner of Lubang Buaya', shot dead while 'escaping'; his reported confession involves Gerwani members stabbing the generals.
Unrest in Jakarta, Untung in court: strike force included Gerwani members
De Volkskrant report (24 Feb 1966) on unrest in Jakarta and the opening of Untung's trial. The prosecutor said his strike force of 5,000 included 2,000 communists, "men and women, of the organisations Gerwani, Pemuda Rakjat and the BTI". No claims of torture or sexual misconduct appear in this item.
Students try to prevent swearing-in: trial of Untung begun
Gereformeerd Gezinsblad wire item (25 Feb 1966, p.1) on the opening of Colonel Untung's trial in Jakarta for treason and armed rebellion. The prosecutor claimed Untung gathered 5,000 people before the coup, including Tjakrabirawa troops, paratroops and 2,000 members of the PKI and its linked women's organisation Gerwan
Thai Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee protests repression in Indonesia (snippet)
Snippet-only Renmin Ribao extract (19 Apr 1966, p. 4) from a Thai Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee communiqué protesting Indonesia's repression. It lists banned mass organisations including Gerwani and notes the 12 March 1966 ban on the PKI; truncated. Full text is GA-01992.
Thai Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee communique condemns Indonesian military killings and arrests
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao (19 Apr 1966, p. 4) of a 13 April communiqué by the Thai Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Committee condemning Indonesia's military and 'reactionaries': 78,500 killed and 106,000 arrested per the Fact-Finding Commission in Bali, Java and North Sumatra; bans on Pemuda Rakyat, CGMI, Gerwani, B
Angkatan Bersendjata, 18 June 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 18 Juni 1966. Front-page editorial welcoming KODAM Jaya's ban on Partindo members at MPRS, arguing Partindo drew its members from the PKI, SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani; Suharto warns against the 'Lubang Buaya trap'.
Angkatan Bersendjata, 13 September 1966. 'Bung Piket' retrospective names 'the PKI with its accomplices BTI, SOBSI, PR, GERWANI, BAPERKI, HSI, CGMI' as the 'thieves' of October 1965; issue also rich in items on women including Fatmawati Sukarno.
Sinar Harapan, 4 Nov 1966: '3 Gestapu ringleaders seized'
Sinar Harapan, 4 November 1966: '3 Gembong Gestapu dibekuk'. Antara item: the Gerwani chair for South Bengkulu (name omitted), a PKI sub-section secretary and a BTI member captured after fleeing into the forest.
Politics in Simalungun: A Study in Political Integration (Liddle, 1967)
PhD dissertation (Yale, 1967) by R. William Liddle, a political-science study of local parties and political integration in Simalungun regency and Pematangsiantar, North Sumatra, based on 1963-64 fieldwork. Gerwani appears in a few brief passages in ch. VI: listed among PKI mass organizations (p. 190), given no members
Nationalism and Confrontation in the Southeast Asian Islands: Sources of Indonesian Foreign Policy (Reinhardt, 1967)
PhD dissertation (Tulane, April 1967) by Jon McEwen Reinhardt in political science on the sources of Indonesian foreign policy under Guided Democracy: West Irian, Malaysia confrontation and the post-coup state. Gerwani appears only in a footnote (c. p. 95, n. 41), citing PKI claims that in October 1962 its four mass or
Angkatan Bersendjata, 5 August 1967
Angkatan Bersendjata, 5 Agustus 1967. Siliwangi commander Dharsono hands West Java prosecutors case files of 141 'G.30.S/PKI persons' from Pemuda Rakyat, BTI, SOBSI, Gerwani and Lekra; Sukarno confined to Bogor.
Angkatan Bersendjata, 21 November 1967. 'Operasi Tjakra' in North Sumatra: 215 PKI members arrested for an alleged 'Gerakan 12 Nopember'; Pemuda Rakyat, BTI and Gerwani members at Tanjung Morawa and 'women members of Gerwani' among those arrested.
The Politico-Military Role of the Indonesian Armed Forces, October 1965-1968 (Fox, 1968)
Edward J. Fox, University of Chicago MA dissertation (1968; the catalogue title says PhD) on the Indonesian armed forces' control programme and the pattern of violence from October 1965 to early 1968. Gerwani appears only in passing: a footnote cites 1.75 million members and notes its self-dissolution (p.32), and one u
Legislatif Jaya: Jakarta Legislature Magazine, 1969-1970
Legislatif Jaya, the monthly magazine of the Jakarta provincial legislature (DPRD-GR DCI Jakarta), bound volume for 1969-70 under Governor Ali Sadikin. It carries council news, committee reports, regulations, speeches (including a Kartini Day address on women's duty, 1970) and a register of council decisions of 1966. T
The United States and the 'New Order' in Indonesia (Sullivan, 1969)
John H. Sullivan's 1969 American University PhD in international relations traces US-Indonesian relations c. 1963-68 and the emergence of the New Order, covering the anti-American period, the 30 September Movement and its aftermath, and regional, communist-bloc and economic relations. It is diplomatic and political his
RAND memorandum RM-5753-PR (Feb 1969), Guy J. Pauker, 'The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Indonesia'. Argues, from trial records, that Aidit planned the 30 September action against the generals and traces PKI strategy, the Chinese turn, the agrarian 'unilateral actions' and the killings (up to 300,000), and th
A Quarter Century of the Indonesian Parliament (1970)
Official institutional history, 'Seperempat Abad DPR RI', compiled by the DPR-GR Secretariat for the 25th anniversary in August 1970; it traces parliament from the KNIP to 1970 with membership rosters. For Gerwani it matters in the 1965-66 chapters: it records the NU demand (5 Oct 1965) to ban Gerwani, the 15 Oct 1965
Youth and the Wane of Soekarno's Government (Paget, 1970)
Roger Paget's 1970 Cornell PhD thesis on how student and youth action groups, culminating in KAMI, emerged after 1 October 1965 and helped undermine Sukarno. Gerwani appears in several passages: action fronts demanded its banning (p. 44) and its offices were ransacked (p. 63); Herlina denounced it for not fighting Mala
The revolution passes Indonesia by: interview with Ernst Utrecht
Second half of a De Volkskrant interview (29 Aug 1970) with Prof. Ernst Utrecht on his book on Indonesia ahead of Suharto's Dutch visit. Utrecht says the Jakarta branches of Gerwani and Pemuda Rakyat "wanted to take part and did take part" in the 1965 coup, that the PKI leadership said these were independent organisati
Social Conditions Leading to Military Dominance: the case of Indonesia (Kahane, 1974)
Journal article by Reuven Kahane (Contributions to Asian Studies, vol. 5, 1974) giving a structural-sociological explanation of the 1965 coup and army dominance in Indonesia: religious-class polarisation, failing Sukarno-era control mechanisms, and the army's rise. Gerwani appears only in a footnote listing PKI-affilia
Dunántúli Napló, 12 Feb 1974: former Indonesian women's movement chair sentenced to life
Dunántúli Napló, 12 Feb 1974, brief Jakarta report (via radio): the former chairwoman of the Indonesian women's movement, name garbled in OCR as 'Amnah', was sentenced to life imprisonment for taking part in the September 1965 events; a former BTI chairman got twenty years. The translator's guess of Umi Sardjono is uns
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
TAPOL Bulletin no. 6, August 1974. Covers the Hariman Siregar (Malari) trial, tapol forced labour on the Cilacap oil pipeline and Nusakambangan cement works, prison conditions, Australian and British military links and trials of 1965 detainees. It reports on Plantungan women's camp (food, commander Major Prayoga, death
TAPOL Bulletin no. 9, March 1975: Women on Trial
TAPOL Bulletin no. 9 (March 1975) front page 'Women on Trial': photo of Sulami, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar Rukmiati and Suharti Harsono at their 3 Feb 1975 trial for subversion, with a Lubang Buaya sewing-and-cooking allegation. Early international attention to Gerwani trials.
Thousands of Indonesian women still languish in Suharto's prisons
Tribune (Sydney), 20 May 1975, p. 7, abridged from the British magazine TAPOL (Mar 1975): thousands of women remain among about 100,000 political prisoners. Describes Gerwani's work, its banning, the sexual slander ('sex-maniacs', mutilation claims) as fuelling the massacres, torture and rape of women tapols, Plantunga
Thousands of Indonesian women still languish in Suharto's prisons
Tribune (Sydney), 20 May 1975, p. 7, abridged from the British magazine TAPOL (Mar 1975): thousands of women remain among about 100,000 political prisoners. Describes Gerwani's work, its banning, the sexual slander ('sex-maniacs', mutilation claims) as fuelling the massacres, torture and rape of women tapols, Plantunga
Brave stance before tribunal: 'No regret for activities': heavy sentences against Indonesian women
De Waarheid, 11 Jul 1975, p. 1: report that the Jakarta tribunal sentenced four women: Sulami, secretary of the banned Gerwani, to twenty years; Sudjinah, editor of the organisation's paper, 18 years; Sri Ambar, SOBSI board member, and Suharti, BTI board member, 15 years each. Headlined as courageous conduct before the
Brave stance before tribunal: heavy sentences against Indonesian women (reprint 12 Jul 1975)
De Waarheid, 12 Jul 1975, p. 1: reprint of the report that the Jakarta tribunal sentenced four women: Sulami, secretary of the banned Gerwani, to twenty years; Sudjinah, editor of the organisation's paper, 18 years; Sri Ambar (SOBSI board) and Suharti (BTI board) 15 years each. Headlined 'courageous conduct before the
Daily World, 26 July 1975: Women leaders jailed by Indonesian junta
Daily World (New York), 26 July 1975, p. 9: Foreign Department report that a Jakarta court on 16 June 1975 sentenced four women after a five-month trial: Sulami (general secretary of the Indonesian Women's Movement, 20 years), Sudjinah (magazine editor, 18), Sri Ambar (SOBSI women's section, 15) and Suharti Alimarkaban
Indonesian Women (Tharunka, 30 July 1975)
Tharunka (UNSW student paper), 30 July 1975, p. 8, article 'Indonesian Women' on women political prisoners after 1965. It describes Gerwani as the largest left women's organisation, targeted by a press campaign depicting members as sex-maniacs and Lubang Buaya participants, and banned in October 1965. It reports at lea
Indonesian Women: The Banned Women's Organisation (Tharunka, 30 July 1975)
Tharunka (UNSW student paper), 30 July 1975, p. 8, clean OCR of the article 'Indonesian Women: The Banned Women's Organisation' (same article as GA-00274). It presents Gerwani as unaffiliated with the PKI, then attacked in 1965 by press stories of 'Gerwani prostitutes', 'obscene sex-dancing' and genital mutilation of g
TAPOL Bulletin no. 11, August 1975, on the 'show trials' ahead of the tenth anniversary. Key item (p.3): four women, including Gerwani General Secretary Sulami, sentenced after a five-month trial to 15-20 years for subversion (helping the PKPS movement, illegal cells, alleged recruitment of cooks and seamstresses for L
Women, mothers (what Suharto's envoys kept silent about)
De Waarheid, 20 Sep 1975, p. 3: article asking what the Indonesian parliamentary delegation did not mention: Plantungan women's camp in Central Java (386 women), Bukit Duri and Semarang prisons, and named women prisoners: Umi Sardjono, chair of the underground Gerwani, vice-chairs Salawati Daud and Mudigdio, Maasje Siw
The Times of India, 6 Sep 1977, p.11 (Reuter, London, 4 Sep): Amnesty International lists 62 imprisoned or missing parliamentarians in 17 countries; Indonesia tops the list with 23, most held without trial since 1965 for links with the PKI, SOBSI, BTI or the women's organisation Gerwani. Named are Subandrio, Oei Tjoe T
After 12 Years Freedom (Post-Courier, 19 January 1978)
Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, 19 January 1978, p. 5, feature by George Oliver on the release of 10,000 political prisoners held since the 1965 coup, with PKI members forced to swear loyalty. It describes the Category A, B, C system, the 1965-66 massacres (estimates up to half a million killed), Amnesty International's
After 12 Years Freedom (Post-Courier, 19 January 1978), clean OCR
Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, 19 January 1978, p. 5, clean OCR of George Oliver's feature on the release of 10,000 political prisoners held since the 1965 coup (same article as GA-00267). It covers the official and alternative accounts of 30 September, killings of perhaps half a million, half to three-quarters of a mi
FCO 15/2701: Political Detainees in Indonesia (1980)
British FCO file FCO 15/2701 (1980), 'Political detainees in Indonesia': Amnesty International's April 1980 letter and memorandum to the UK government before the IGGI meeting, on release of B-category prisoners, restrictions on ex-detainees, missing persons and unfair A-category trials, plus TAPOL Bulletin extracts (No
TAPOL Bulletin No. 37, January 1980: Indonesia's Political Trials
TAPOL Bulletin no. 37 (London, January 1980): editorial on the end of KOPKAMTIB's release plan, plus Julie Southwood's long study of 1,014 political trials since 1966. It notes the 1965 Lubang Buaya claim that communist women castrated the generals, and the 1975 subversion trial of Gerwani's Sulami and Sudjinah, with S
TAPOL Bulletin no. 44 (London, March 1981): army takeover of the legal sector, Free-Aceh trials, Pramoedya's Buru novels harassed, East Timor, US human rights report. A short item (p.4) reports that eight women political prisoners long held in Bukit Duri were moved to Tangerang women's prison: Sulami (20 years), Sudjin
Harian Rakjat, Daily Newspaper of the Communist Party of Indonesia (Groves, 1983)
Kerry Groves's ANU MA thesis (1983) on Harian Rakjat, the PKI daily: its stance on press freedom, administration, polemics (e.g. with Merdeka, 1964), content and treatment of leaders, drawing on Indonesian sources and interviews with ex-prisoners. Gerwani appears in Chapter VI (pp.142-149) on the paper's women's column
Losing a Revolution: The PKI versus the Army in Indonesia, 1949-1965 (Sutley, 1988)
Stewart K. Sutley's MA thesis (Political Science, McGill, 1988) applies Tilly and Aya's 'political conflict' model to the PKI-Army struggle of 1949-65, arguing the PKI's state-within-a-state depended on Sukarno and was destroyed after the army struck at the president. Gerwani is treated only as the PKI's 'women's front
Harian Neraca serial 'Siapa menabur angin akan menuai badai' (103): Marsudi's testimony on volunteer training at Luba...
Harian Neraca, 2 Mei 1989, p. 10: instalment 103 of Soegiarso Soerojo's serial. Mahmilub testimony incl. Serma Marsudi (1976) on training 3,000 volunteers from Lekra, PR, Gerwani, CGMI, BTI and others at Lubang Buaya.
Pravda, 30 Oct 1990: 'Indonesia: strokes to a tragedy of 35 years ago' (V. Shurygin)
Pravda, 30 October 1990 (No. 303), p. 5: V. Shurygin's retrospective 'Indonesia: strokes to a tragedy of 35 years ago' on the 1965 coup, Suharto's rise and the destruction of the PKI by a Pravda correspondent who was in Indonesia. Gerwani appears once, listed as the PKI's women's organisation alongside SOBSI, BTI, Pemu
Pravda, 1990: Shurygin, 'Indonesia: strokes to a tragedy of 35 years ago' (excerpt)
Pravda (Nov/Dec 1990, No. 303) archive.org OCR excerpt of V. Shurygin's retrospective 'Indonesia: strokes to a tragedy of 35 years ago'. Lists Gerwani among PKI-affiliated mass organisations, cites up to 500,000 killed, notes slander turned opinion against communists, and says ~50,000 of 1.4 million ex-prisoners may vo
Pravda, 30 Oct 1990, p. 5: Shurygin, 'Indonesia: strokes to a tragedy of 35 years ago' (full page)
Pravda, 30 Oct 1990, p. 5: full page with V. Shurygin's (Pravda-TASS) article 'Indonesia: strokes to a tragedy of 35 years ago', a Soviet correspondent's retrospective on the 1965 coup, Sukarno's choice at Halim, up to 500,000 communists killed, and slander-driven anti-communist propaganda. Gerwani appears once, listed
Destruction of the Indonesian Communist Party: East Java and Bali compared (Sudjatmiko, 1992)
Iwan Gardono Sudjatmiko's 1992 Harvard sociology PhD thesis compares East Java and Bali to explain the PKI's destruction after 1965, arguing that it followed from the party's 1963 revolutionary strategy and that violence depended on public figures, army units and PKI size. It covers mobilisation, land reform and local
Banyuwangi, the first spark that burned out G30S/PKI
Bali Post, 30 Sept 1992, p. 6: G30S-anniversary opinion page; a feature lists Gerwani among communist masses backing Madiun 1948 and retells the Cemetuk clash of 18 Oct 1965 as PKI poisoning.
Spread of Islam in Majapahit and Blambangan (serial, part 50)
Bali Post, 24 Dec 1993, p. 5: a serial instalment rejecting the claim that the 1926 Bedewang peasant revolt was a PKI product with its mass organisations including Gerwani.
Berita Yudha, 24 October 1994: White Book on G30S (part 12)
Berita Yudha, 24 Oct 1994, p. 4: White Book instalment on PKI infiltration of IPPI and PGRI and the 'Angkatan V', with volunteers from Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani.
Berita Yudha, 25 October 1994: White Book on G30S (part 13)
Berita Yudha, 25 Oct 1994, p. 4: White Book instalment on BTI/PR 'mass actions' and the anti-American campaign; Gerwani named twice, including among a PR/CGMI/Gerwani crowd at the East Java governor's office.
Berita Yudha, 9 November 1994: White Book on G30S (part 26)
Berita Yudha, 9 Nov 1994, p. 4: White Book instalment on Central Java and Yogyakarta, naming Gerwani among PKI mass organisations issuing a support resolution in Wonogiri on 1 Oct 1965; editorial honours Fatmawati.
The Forgotten Years: Mass Slaughter in Jombang-Kediri 1965-1966 (Sulistyo, 1997)
Hermawan Sulistyo's 1997 Arizona State history PhD, 'The Forgotten Years', studies the 1965-66 killings in Jombang-Kediri, East Java, from interviews and documents, finding no single national pattern and stressing local conflict and military-backed operations. Gerwani appears in passing: its claimed 1.75 million member
Waspada, 7 October 2002: Commemoration at the Sudjono monument, Bandar Betsy
Waspada, 7 Oct 2002, p. 11: feature on the 1 Oct 2002 commemoration at the Sudjono monument in Bandarbetsy, retelling the 1965 killing of Peltu Sudjono by BTI squatters joined by Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani and Lekra who 'sang and danced'.
TAPOL Bulletin No. 169/170, Jan/Feb 2003: obituary of Sulami (Gerwani deputy secretary-general)
TAPOL Bulletin no. 169/170 (Jan/Feb 2003), with Carmel Budiardjo's obituary of Sulami (pp. 13-15). Born Sragen 15 Aug 1926, she joined Gerwis (Gerwani from 1951), became East Java executive member (1954) and second deputy secretary-general (1957), attended WIDF meetings, and was deputy secretary-general in 1965. Arrest
Communism in Indonesia, Vol. IV: The G30S/PKI Rebellion and its Suppression (1960-1965), Pusjarah TNI, 2009
Official Army history (Pusjarah TNI, Jakarta 2009), vol. IV of 'Komunisme di Indonesia', presenting Gerwani as a PKI mass organisation in the 1960-65 build-up and the G30S. It reports Gerwani's Nov-Dec 1964 housewives' seminar (p. 70), 'unilateral actions' (p. 122), the 27 Sept 1965 Surabaya governor's-office raid unde
Communism in Indonesia, Vol. IV: The G30S/PKI Rebellion and its Suppression (1960-1965), Pusjarah TNI, 2009
Official Army history (Pusjarah TNI, Jakarta 2009), vol. IV of 'Komunisme di Indonesia', presenting Gerwani as a PKI mass organisation in the 1960-65 build-up and the G30S. It reports Gerwani's Nov-Dec 1964 housewives' seminar (p. 70), 'unilateral actions' (p. 122), the 27 Sept 1965 Surabaya governor's-office raid unde
Generating History: Violence and the Risks of Remembering for Families of Former Political Prisoners (Conroe, 2012)
PhD dissertation (University of Michigan, 2012) by Andrew Conroe: an ethnography of former political prisoners (eks-tapol) and their children and grandchildren in Yogyakarta, centred on the group Fopperham, on memory, silence and uncertain family histories. Gerwani appears through family accounts and events: Bu Marni,
Tempo, 1 October 2012: Bangsawan Karaeng Lira - 'Crushing one's own family'
Tempo testimony (1 Oct 2012) of Bangsawan Karaeng Lira, 72, who led the mob that destroyed the BTI leader's house in Bontolanrang, Takalar (South Sulawesi), in late 1965. Describes forced labour (irrigation, roads) by detained PKI/BTI members, with a BTI survivor, Kamaruddin Bella, who lost relatives. Gerwani not menti
Tempo, 1 October 2012: Erwin's rice and tajin porridge (1965 detention in Jakarta)
Tempo piece (1 Oct 2012) on conditions of 1965 political prisoners in Jakarta: torture and tiny rations at Cipinang, Salemba, Kalong HQ and Bukit Duri, with testimony of Eko Wardoyo, Bedjo Untung, Jawito. Includes Gerwani member and journalist Sri Sukatno, jailed years at Bukit Duri, describing electric torture at 'Gan
Tempo, 1 October 2012: Anwar Congo's confession
Tempo piece (1 Oct 2012) on how Joshua Oppenheimer met perpetrators, from Matapao plantation workers to Anwar Congo and the Pasukan Kodok / Pemuda Pancasila in Medan. It cites Amir Hasan's pamphlet 'Embun Berdarah' on Teluk Mengkudu, which lists 702 PKI-linked villagers by affiliation, including Gerwani, and records an
Ex-PKI political prisoners and government control: Moncongloe community, South Sulawesi (Ahmad, 2013)
2013 article by Taufik Ahmad on about 911 ex-political prisoners (BTI, Lekra, CGMI, Gerwani activists) held at Moncongloe, South Sulawesi: their 1975-77 release and post-release control through reporting, Pancasila courses, ET identity-card code and screening. Context on stigma.
The Cold War in the City of Heroes: US-Indonesian Relations and Anti-Communist Operations in Surabaya (Setiyawan, 2014)
PhD dissertation in History (UCLA, 2014) by Dahlia Gratia Setiyawan on U.S. anti-communist operations and the 1965-66 purge in Surabaya. Gerwani appears in context: as the PKI's women's affiliate (ch. 1), through the Surabaya women's coalition GOWS in the 27 September 1965 Grahadi demonstration (ch. 4), and in the Army
Surviving in Impunity: Stories of Women Survivors Still Denied Justice (AJAR/Komnas Perempuan, 2015)
Book by AJAR with Komnas Perempuan (Oct 2015) from participatory research with women survivors. In the 1965 context chapter (pp. 39-40) it describes false rumours about Gerwani and the sexual slander of the generals, with violence against Gerwani members. Survivor testimonies name Christina Sumarmiyati (arrested again
Surviving in Impunity: Stories of Women Survivors Still Denied Justice (AJAR/Komnas Perempuan, 2015)
Book by AJAR with Komnas Perempuan (Oct 2015) from participatory research with women survivors. In the 1965 context chapter (pp. 39-40) it describes false rumours about Gerwani and the sexual slander of the generals, with violence against Gerwani members. Survivor testimonies name Christina Sumarmiyati (arrested again
Free English-language magazine issue edited by Soe Tjen Marching (Bhinneka Nusantara, Surabaya), October 2015, of victim testimonies. Ex-women prisoners Hartiti, Maria Goretti Sumilah and Theresia Kadmiyanti describe Gerwani-related interrogation: nude-dance and genital-mutilation accusations, searches for a 'Gerwani m
Free English-language magazine issue edited by Soe Tjen Marching (Bhinneka Nusantara, Surabaya), October 2015, of victim testimonies. Ex-women prisoners Hartiti, Maria Goretti Sumilah and Theresia Kadmiyanti describe Gerwani-related interrogation: nude-dance and genital-mutilation accusations, searches for a 'Gerwani m
Bhinneka, October 2015: Half a Century of the 1965 Genocide (Indonesian edition, women ex-prisoners' testimonies)
Bhinneka, October 2015 (Surabaya; ed. Soe Tjen Marching), a 1965 anniversary issue. Women ex-prisoners testify: Hartiti, a Gerwani member, was asked whether she joined the 'naked dance' and castrated the generals; Maria Goretti Sumilah was beaten and burned to confess she was Gerwani; Theresia Kadmiyanti ran a TK Melat
Bhinneka, October 2015: Half a Century of the 1965 Genocide (Indonesian edition, women ex-prisoners' testimonies)
Bhinneka, October 2015 (Surabaya; ed. Soe Tjen Marching), a 1965 anniversary issue. Women ex-prisoners testify: Hartiti, a Gerwani member, was asked whether she joined the 'naked dance' and castrated the generals; Maria Goretti Sumilah was beaten and burned to confess she was Gerwani; Theresia Kadmiyanti ran a TK Melat
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.
Years of Dressing Dangerously: Modern Women, National Identity and Moral Crisis in Sukarno's Indonesia (Sullivan, 2020)
Charles P. Sullivan's PhD dissertation (History, University of Michigan, 2020) reads Indonesian women's magazines (Wanita, Puspa Wanita, Varia) from 1945-66 to argue that the Lubang Buaya narrative about Gerwani worked as a 'post-text' of long-running anxieties over modernity, moral crisis and the 'Mother of the Nation
Tale of two Lekra writers: S. Rukiah Kertapati (Tempo, 1 May 2021)
Tempo feature, 1 May 2021, by Moyang Kasih Dewi Merdeka and Hardian Putra Pratama, on the forgotten Lekra writer S. Rukiah Kertapati: poet and novelist, Lekra leadership member from the 1959 congress, wife of BTI leader Sidik Kertapati. Soldiers took her from Purwakarta (article dates the arrest 1969; she was held at C
Gerwani as a political school of Islam in the Sukarno era (Rahmanudin, 2022)
Deden Rahmanudin, 'Gerwani Mazhab Politik Islam Era Soekarno' (Jurnal Kewarganegaraan 6:2, 2022), a literature-based article presenting Gerwani as a feminist movement and discussing it from an Islamic viewpoint (Sukarno's Sarinah, Hamka). Drawing on Wieringa and Lestariningsih, it recounts Gerwani's 1950 founding, MPs
Remembering through Fragmented Narratives: third generation and the 1965 violence (Leksana and Subekti, 2022)
Leksana and Subekti (2022) on how 1965 memory reaches third-generation members of three survivor families, arguing family silence is a survival strategy preserving memory via fragmented narratives, mysticism and depoliticisation; one case has Gerwani grandparents.
Fashioning Authoritarianism: Militarization of Society in Indonesia, 1930-1966 (Joshua, 2023)
PhD dissertation (Northwestern, 2023) by Norman Joshua on the militarization of Indonesian society, 1930-1966. It argues the Army intervened in non-military affairs through the 'twin logics' of emergency powers and counterinsurgency, culminating in the New Order. Gerwani appears only in passing: p. 428 gives its claime
From the Men They Took Their Labor, from the Women They Took Everything (Sarbinatun, transl. Florida, 2025)
Nancy Florida's annotated English translation (Indonesia, Oct 2025) of Sarbinatun's testimony: Lekra dancer and IPPI president, married at 17 to a PKI Special Bureau man, tortured in Solo and Semarang, held at Plantungan until 1979 and accused as Gerwani though never a member.
Red Nanyang: Chinese-Language Literature of Indonesia, 1945-1965 (Borgonjon, 2025)
Columbia PhD dissertation (2025) by David Borgonjon, the first full-length study of Chinese-language (yinhua) literature in Indonesia 1945-65, set within Sino-Indonesian friendship, Afro-Asian translation and Guided Democracy-era debates on labour and schooling. Gerwani is barely present: a glossary entry gives Gerwani