Abstract
In the early hours of 1 October 1965 six Indonesian Army generals were assassinated by a self-proclaimed organisation of Indonesian National Armed Forces members who were attempting to seize control of the Indonesian government. By the end of the same day this 30 September 1965 Movement had failed. The largely overlooked, five-part memoir of Army Air Command pilot Colonel Sudjai provides testimony from the days immediately following the collapse of the Movement. Hurriedly planned and ill-executed by a small group of mainly middle-ranking army officers, the movement was immediately branded by General Suharto as a communist coup attempt, presenting a raison detre for his own seizure of power and subsequent campaign of mass killing. The memoir sheds further light on the process through which Suharto sought to bring the commanders of the three key military divisions of Java into line behind his systematic plan to destroy the Communist Party of Indonesia (Partai Komunis Indonesia; PKI) and ultimately the authority of President Sukarno.
Original language | English |
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Pages | 1-4 |
No. | Vo. 124 |
Specialist publication | Inside Indonesia |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |