1957 – 2022
English typescript prison memoir by Sudjinah, Gerwani translator and journalist (c. 2000): courier in 1945-49, WIDF secretariat in Berlin, Gerwani HQ in 1965, capture in 1967, torture and detention at Bukit Duri and Tangerang. Key Gerwani survivor memoir.
1957 'Letter to an Unknown Friend' by Sudjinah (Gerwani) on Indonesian children's conditions, framed by colonial history, Japanese occupation and the Round Table agreement. Gives statistics (15-20% infant mortality, one doctor per 59,000, illiteracy 65%, 5 of 12 million children in school) and notes Gerwani, with the I
US Monthly Indonesian Press Survey (1958) extracts: Kowani secretariat (Maria Ulfah Santoso chair, Mudigdio of Gerwani treasurer); Harian Rakjat's 30 Dec 1957 list of Gerwani's working council (Umi Sardjono chair; Mudigdio, Suharti, S.K. Trimurti deputies; Kartinah secretary-general; Sulami deputy; Suwati Sutrimo Sudji
Fourth issue of Api Kartini (1959). Editorial praises Sukarno's Political Manifesto; features a report on peasant women's economic conditions (land tenure, usury, wage discrimination), ethnography, recipes and household advice; contributors include S.K. Trimurti and Sudjinah.
Page 5 of Pravda (Moscow, 6 May 1959) with a piece headed 'The Indonesian people on guard for peace', signed 'Sudjina, Djakarta' (identified by the sweep as Sudjinah). It reports the Indonesian Peace Supporters Committee: Prof. Purbodiningrat's statements, an April special session demanding the dissolution of SEATO, su
February 1961 issue tied to Sukarno's speech at the Indonesian Women's Congress (6 Feb 1961); a cluster of pieces mourning the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, with editorial calls for land reform and socialist society.
March 1961 issue for International Women's Day: Sudjinah on the Algerian war and WIDF solidarity, Sugiarti Siswadi's open letter to Pauline Lumumba, and features on revolutionary couples (Lumumbas, Fuciks, Rosenbergs).
January 1962 issue opening with a report on Gerwani's Fourth Congress (Dec 1961; 400 delegates), where Sukarno urged it to stay a revolutionary mass movement not a 'ladies movement'; WIDF foreign guests, Mudigdio, Sulami and Sudjinah appear.
ANP radio bulletin, 17 Feb 1967: four prominent banned-PKI members arrested in Jakarta, three of them Central Committee members (Rachmat, 'Mrs Soedjimah' [Sudjinah] and Mrs Soelami [Sulami]). The last two were also leading figures in Gerwani. Documents the arrest of two top Gerwani leaders.
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.
Short FBIS item (Jakarta radio, 3 Feb 1975): four leaders of the PKI-affiliated Gerwani, Mrs Sri Ambar, Sujinah, Sulami and Suharti, went on trial in the Central Jakarta district court on subversion, conspiracy and rebellion charges linked to Gestapu-PKI. The report calls them the first PKI woman leaders to be tried.
De Waarheid, 25 Apr 1975, article by Joop Morrien on nearly ten years of Suharto's dictatorship. It reports the military tribunal trial of Gerwani and PKI women Sulami, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar Rukmiati and Suharti Harsono, who went underground after 1965 and were arrested in late 1966; life is demanded for Sulami and 20 ye
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
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
De Waarheid, 2 Jun 1975, p. 1: report that the NVB's Women's Action Day '75 sent a protest letter to the Suharto regime (copy to minister Pronk) demanding release of four Gerwani women: life imprisonment demanded against Sulami, secretary of Gerwani, and 20 years each against Sri Ambar Rukmijati, Sudjinah and Suharti H
ANP item in De Volkskrant (19 Jun 1975): the Dutch Women's Movement demanded immediate release of four Indonesian women, Sulami, Sri Ruhimirjati (probably Sri Ambar Rukmiati), Sudjinah and Suharti (surname garbled), for whom prosecutors sought 20 years to life after about seven years of detention, partly for collecting
Full De Waarheid page, 21 Jun 1975 (p. 5), mostly unrelated (Mokum 700 festival, EEC steel output, farmers' protests). The relevant article reports the NVB's call to protest the Jakarta trial of four Gerwani women: life demanded for Sulami (about 50), 20 years for Suharti Harsono, Sri Ambar Rukmijati and Sudjinah, accu
De Waarheid, 21 Jun 1975, p. 5: boxed text on the Jakarta trial of four Gerwani women: life demanded against Gerwani secretary Sulami (aged 50) for helping reorganise the PKI after 1965; with Suharti Harsono, Sri Ambar Rukmijati and Sudjinah accused of typing and passing on pamphlets, forging ID papers and aiding priso
De Waarheid, 21 Jun 1975, p. 5: boxed NVB appeal to protest the sentences on four Gerwani women, noting Sri Ambar and Sudjinah were officials of the banned SOBSI and that all four are internationally known for women's and union work. Calls for halting financial aid to the Suharto regime, restoring democratic rights and
De Waarheid, 21 Jun 1975, p. 5: boxed text 'Stop support for the Suharto regime' from the NVB monthly 'Vrouwen': the IGGI group (US, Japan, West Germany, Netherlands) gives up to 880 million dollars yearly to the regime; its April meeting was postponed amid confusion over Indochina; Suharto fears liberation victories.
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
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 (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
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
Issue of the New York media magazine [MORE] (January 1976) with Barbara Sproul's Amnesty-linked article on writers jailed by repressive regimes. Its Indonesia list describes Sudjinah as a writer who contributed short stories to Harian Rakjat and worked on the editorial staff of Api Kartini, journal of Gerwani; arrested
Issue of the New York media magazine [MORE] (January 1976) with Barbara Sproul's Amnesty-linked article on writers jailed by repressive regimes. Its Indonesia list describes Sudjinah as a writer who contributed short stories to Harian Rakjat and worked on the editorial staff of Api Kartini, journal of Gerwani; arrested
TAPOL Bulletin no. 16, June 1976, issued before the IGGI meeting. Contents: smuggled letter on prison torture including sexual torture of women (some miscarried), Fraser congressional hearings with Benedict Anderson, Sudomo interview on categories A/B/C and Buru, analysis of Oei Tju Tat's trial, Papuan killings, Amnest
Two-page Amnesty-based list of journalists detained or missing as of 23 April 1976, in New Internationalist (October 1976). Its Indonesia entries include 'Mrs Rusijati '65', 'Miss Sudjinah '66' and 'Lies Sukatno '66', giving only arrest years; no Gerwani link is stated. OCR is rough and the layout mixes countries.
Norwegian regional newspaper page (Stavanger, 17 June 1977) with a piece by Reidun Nydal on Amnesty International's list of 104 imprisoned journalists. Among four women, it names Indonesia's Sudjinah, 42, who worked for papers banned after the 1965 coup attempt, was charged with aiding the attempt and rebuilding the In
De Waarheid, 9 Mar 1978, p. 1: report that NVB women on International Women's Day wrapped the Van Heutsz monument in Amsterdam in white cloth marked 'Gerwani'. The item summarises Gerwani's pre-1965 work (clinics, crèches, kindergartens, courses, anti-polygamy campaigns) and the 1975 trials: Sulami life, Suharti, Sudji
TAPOL Bulletin no. 27 (London, April 1978) with a Special Supplement on press freedom. Covers student repression, prisoner-release figures, trials and a Buru letter. The supplement notes that in 1965–66 the press published sensational reports of sexual orgies by leftwing organisations, and its list of jailed journalist
Issue of the Montreal listings magazine Virus (vol. 2 no. 7, 1979) with a short Amnesty International appeal. It says four women, Sulami, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar Rukmiati and Suharti Harsono (OCR garbles the last name), members of a 'slightly leftist women's organisation' (not named, but Gerwani is meant), were arrested in
Issue of the Montreal listings magazine Virus (vol. 2 no. 7, 1979) with a short Amnesty International appeal. It says four women, Sulami, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar Rukmiati and Suharti Harsono (OCR garbles the last name), members of a 'slightly leftist women's organisation' (not named, but Gerwani is meant), were arrested in
De Waarheid, 24 Mar 1979, p. 8: sidebar on the clinic Gerwani opened on International Women's Day, 8 March 1958, a polyclinic and advice bureau for women in its building (destroyed in 1965), run by Tanti Aidit, now 12 years in pre-trial detention. Annie van Ommeren recalls the 1975 trial of Sulami (life), Suharti Harso
De Waarheid, 4 Apr 1979, p. 1: report on a picket line at Amsterdam's Amstel Hotel against the IGGI conference where donors and Suharto regime ministers set aid for the year; organisations including CPN, PPR, PvdA Amsterdam, Komitee Indonesie, ANJV and NVB carried boards demanding 'Sulami, Suharti, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar,
De Waarheid, 24 Apr 1979, p. 4: review of the BZZLLETIN issue on 'books under restraint', arguing that Indonesian literature is little translated while many writers are jailed under Suharto: Pramoedya on Buru, Bandar Harahap, Buyung Saleh and writer Sudjinah, held since 1966 in Bukit Duri women's prison. Covers Rendra
The Observer, 12 Aug 1979, p.8, 'Prisoners of Conscience': Amnesty International notes up to 20,000 untried political prisoners remain in Indonesia and takes up four women active in Gerwani, arrested 1966 and tried nine years later: Sulami (20 years), Sudjinah (18), Sri Ambar Rukmiati and Suharti Harsono (15 each). It
Issue of the Montreal listings magazine Virus (vol. 2 no. 8, October 1979) with a short Amnesty International appeal. It says four women, Sulami, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar Rukmiati and Suharti Harsono (OCR garbles the last name), members of a 'slightly leftist women's organisation' (not named, but Gerwani is meant), were arr
Issue of the Montreal listings magazine Virus (vol. 2 no. 8, October 1979) with a short Amnesty International appeal. It says four women, Sulami, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar Rukmiati and Suharti Harsono (OCR garbles the last name), members of a 'slightly leftist women's organisation' (not named, but Gerwani is meant), were arr
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 (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
Short De Waarheid item (6 Mar 1980, p.9): the planned trial of Tanti Aidit after twelve years' detention will not go ahead. It argues she had nothing to do with the 'CIA-organised coup' and her only offence was Gerwani board membership, naming Suharti, Sudjinah and Shri Ambar as fellow Gerwani women who also paid.
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
Page of the Norwegian regional daily Ostlendingen (13 October 1981) with an article on Amnesty International's Prisoners of Conscience Week. It profiles three prisoners, including Sudjinah, 47, described as active in what was once Indonesia's largest women's movement, arrested early 1967, held eight years before trial
Norwegian local newspaper (14 October 1981) reporting Amnesty groups' stand at Sandvika during 'Prisoners of Conscience Week'. The week's focus is three prisoners, including the Indonesian woman Sudjinah, sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment for 'subversive activity'. The rest of the page is church lists and adverts; OC
Norwegian local newspaper (14 October 1981) reporting Amnesty groups' stand at Sandvika during 'Prisoners of Conscience Week'. The week's focus is three prisoners, including the Indonesian woman Sudjinah, sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment for 'subversive activity'. The rest of the page is church lists and adverts; OC
IISG photograph (1982): visit of Dutch visitors Alle and Aukje Hoekema to Sudjinah in Tangerang women's prison. Shows people seated on the floor around teapots and cups. Documents solidarity contact with a Gerwani leader imprisoned after 1965.
Gjengangeren (Horten, Norway), 9 Mar 1984: a column on women prisoners of conscience for International Women's Day, from the Horten/Borre Amnesty group. It cites Sudjinah, 'formerly active in what was then Indonesia's largest women's movement' (presumably Gerwani; not named), held eight years before a 1975 trial and a
Gjengangeren (Horten, Norway), 9 Mar 1984: a column on women prisoners of conscience for International Women's Day, from the Horten/Borre Amnesty group. It cites Sudjinah, 'formerly active in what was then Indonesia's largest women's movement' (presumably Gerwani; not named), held eight years before a 1975 trial and a
South China Sunday Morning Post, 23 Apr 2000, p.10, Vaudine England: profile of Sudjinah Halina (72), former Gerwani activist and political prisoner, as Indonesia reopens debate on 1965. She recounts Solo childhood, guerrilla courier work (1947-49), study at Gadjah Mada, the 1955 Prague youth festival, a job with the W
IISG portrait photograph of Sudjinah (no. 1 of 3, dated 2001, collection Ibu Sudjina): colour photograph of an elderly grey-haired woman seated at a table with a microphone, plants behind. Sudjinah is identified only by the file title; useful as visual documentation of a Gerwani leader later in life.
IISG portrait photograph of Sudjinah (no. 2 of 3, dated 2001, collection Ibu Sudjina): colour snapshot of an elderly woman in a brown blouse and white skirt on a garden path. Sudjinah is identified only by the file title; useful as visual documentation of a Gerwani leader later in life.
IISG portrait photograph of Sudjinah (no. 3 of 3, dated 2001, collection Ibu Sudjina): black-and-white head-and-shoulders portrait of an elderly woman with glasses in a white blouse. Sudjinah is identified only by the file title; useful as visual documentation of a Gerwani leader later in life.
Saskia Wieringa's 2002 monograph, the foundational history of Gerwani: a semi-autonomous organisation with triple loyalty to feminism, nationalism and socialism, and the New Order's founding on manipulation of sexual symbols through the 1965 slander. Based on interviews with Umi Sardjono, Sulami, Sudjinah, Trimurti and
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
Annie Pohlman's 2004 article on what happened to Gerwani women and other tapol at arrest, trial, detention and release, using Sulami's and Sudjinah's memoirs and interviews; notes no woman arrested over Lubang Buaya was ever tried for it. Early study of women prisoners.
McGregor and Hearman (2007) read Gerwani leaders Sulami's and Sudjinah's memoirs as political rehabilitation: distancing from the PKI, rebutting the Lubang Buaya slander, socialist critique and claims to citizenship. Key scholarly analysis of survivor memoirs.
McGregor and Hearman's 2007 article reading Sulami's and Sudjinah's memoirs as political rehabilitation: both arrested 1967, tried 1975 for subversion; they distance Gerwani from the PKI and answer the sexual slander. Second copy of the paper (South East Asia Research).
IndoPROGRESS in memoriam (11 Sep 2007) for Sudjinah (1929-2007), Gerwani leader, WIDF secretariat worker and political prisoner, based on a 2000 interview: court-official family, anti-Japanese courier work, and later life. Obituary profile.
TAPOL Bulletin no. 186 (April 2007). A feature (p. 19) notes Sulami's exhumation campaign and that Gerwani, before 1965 'the most active women's organisation', was banned and its members singled out. A review (pp. 21-24) of the book Kembang-kembang Genjer (foreword by Saskia Wieringa) summarises Sumilah, Tami (Njoto's
Katharine McGregor's 2012 article on Indonesian women's ties with the WIDF 1946-65: the federation gave Gerwani a 'political compass', and Gerwani used it to win support for anti-imperialist domestic struggles and by the early 1960s shaped WIDF priorities. Core source on Gerwani and the WIDF.
Tempo feature (2 Oct 2021, Dini Pramita and Bagja Hidayat) on why Gerwani chair Umi Sardjono (Suharti Sumodiwiryo) said little after 13 years in Bukit Duri (to 1978). Drawn from Ita Nadia, Ruth Indiah Rahayu, others: she wept at accounts of rape and Sudjinah's injury, 'it is my responsibility'; friendships with Fransis
Tempo English cover story 'Traumatic Burden of 1965' (4 Oct 2021, Dini Pramita) on Umi Sardjono's silence and guilt after release in 1978. Ita Fatia Nadia read her a Medan woman's testimony of gang rape and public parading, and showed Sudjinah's X-ray; Umi wept, saying it was her responsibility. It covers her life in t
Tempo English infographic 'Women Warriors' (4 Oct 2021, text by Hussein Abri Dongoran) summarising Gerwani: founded 1954 from Gerwis (1950), disbanded 1965 after New Order accusations. It lists the central board (Umi Sardjono chair, Mudikdio, Suharti, S.K. Trimurti, Sulami Djojoprawiro, Sudjinah and others), the jasmin
Pohlman's chapter on the interrogation and torture centres ('devil's houses') in the army's 1965-70 detention system, opening with Sudjinah's account of capture with Sulami in Feb 1967 and torture at Gunung Sahari. Evidence from a handful of survivor testimonies.
Brill edited volume (2022) on detention camps in modern Asia; the chapter 'Torture Camps in Indonesia, 1965-1970' (Annie Pohlman, pp. 137-155) opens with Sudjinah's memoir Terempas Gelombang Pasang. It names Sudjinah and Sulami as fellow leaders of Gerwani who, after eighteen months underground and a clandestine pamphl
Brill edited volume (2022) on detention camps in modern Asia; the chapter 'Torture Camps in Indonesia, 1965-1970' (Annie Pohlman, pp. 137-155) opens with Sudjinah's memoir Terempas Gelombang Pasang. It names Sudjinah and Sulami as fellow leaders of Gerwani who, after eighteen months underground and a clandestine pamphl