-
Appendixes
- University of Wisconsin Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Appendix 1 Some Factors That Influenced the Defeat of “the September 30th Movement” as Viewed from a Military Perspective (1966) brigadier general supardjo A Note on the Translation The nonstandard grammar of Supardjo’s prose and its mixing of terms from different languages makes this a difficult document to translate. The translation that follows aims to adhere as closely as possible to the original phrasing. This translation is based on the document included in the records of the military court that tried Supardjo in 1967. Military officers obtained a copy of the original document either when they captured Supardjo in January 1967 or when they intercepted documents being smuggled into prisons by the friends and families of political prisoners. A staff member of the military court typed a copy of the original document. It is that copy that is contained in the court’s records. I have not been able to find the original document. One person who read the original document (while in prison), Heru Atmodjo, confirms that the military court’s copy, which I showed him, is identical to the original. Suparjdo’s son, Sugiarto, on reading the military court’s copy, recognized his father’s style of writing and the arguments that his father communicated orally to his family while in prison. The military court’s typist might have introduced some typographical errors. The typist probably added the parenthetical Indonesian translations of Dutch terms. The parenthetical remarks that are more substantive and are longer than one or two words appear to have been Supardjo’s. All comments in brackets are mine. Words from five different languages appear in the text. To differentiate them, I use the following abbreviations: 227 [E] English [D] Dutch [J] Javanese [I] Indonesian [S] Sundanese Defeat contains the elements of victory. Motto: “When one falls, two rise.” Comrades of the leadership, I was with the “September 30th Movement ” for one day before the event, “when the event was occurring,” and “one day after the event occurred.”1 Compared to the length of time of all the preparations, the time of my involvement was very brief. Although what I know is only my experience during those three days, it was an experience of very decisive moments—moments when the guns began speaking and military matters determined the defeat or victory of subsequent actions. With this I am conveying some opinions, viewed from a military perspective, about the errors that were made, in order to complete materials for a comprehensive analysis by the leadership in the framework of surveying the incident of the September 30th Movement.2 The method of analysis: I will first present the facts of the event as I saw and experienced them, and then I will convey my opinion on those facts. Facts about the First Night before the Action Began 1. When I met the comrades of the military leadership group on the night before the action began, they were worn out from lack of sleep. For example, Comrade Untung had attended the meetings of Bung Karno at Senayan for three straight days as part of his security duties.3 2. When the reports arrived about the individual troops in the regions, Bandung, for instance, it turned out they were forced to report they were ready, when in fact they were not. 3. Because there was no clear explanation of how the action would be carried out, there was a lack of agreement about the movement itself among the officer comrades in the army. It 228 Appendix 1 t [54.160.244.62] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 11:31 GMT) reached the point where one officer comrade who had been kept on the leadership team clearly stated, at that decisive moment, that he was resigning.4 4. If the movement is reexamined, it is found that, actually, the only unit that was fully with us was just one company from the palace guard. Doubts had already emerged at that time, but they were suppressed with the slogan “Whatever happens, we can’t turn back.” 5. With the resignation of one comrade officer, one could sense a prejudice from the leadership team toward the other comrades of that group. Suggestions and questions were responded to by pointing out the irresolution of the questioner. For instance, if someone asked about the strength of the opponent, he was answered in a dismissive tone: “Yeah, brother, if you want a revolution, a lot of people want...