At around 3:15 am on 1 October, seven detachments of troops in trucks and buses dispatched by Lieutenant Col. Untung Syamsuri (commander of Sukarno's palace guard), comprising soldiers from the Tjakrabirawa (Presidential Guard) the Diponegoro (Central Java) and Brawijaya (East Java) Divisions, left the movement's base at Halim Perdanakusumah Air Force Base, just south of Jakarta to kidnap seven generals, all members of the Army General Staff.[6][7] Three of the intended victims, (Minister/Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Ahmad Yani, Major General M. T. Haryono and Brigadier General D.I. Panjaitan) were killed at their homes, while three more (Major General Soeprapto, Major General S. Parman and Brigadier General Sutoyo) were taken alive. Meanwhile the main target, Coordinating Minister for Defense and Security and Armed Forces Chief of Staff, General Abdul Harris Nasution managed to escape the kidnap attempt by jumping over a wall into the Iraqi embassy garden. However his personal aide, First Lieutenant Pierre Tendean, was captured by mistake after being mistaken for Nasution in the dark.[6][8] Nasution's five-year-old daughter, Ade Irma Suryani Nasution, was shot by the assault group and died on 6 October.[9] In addition a police officer guarding Nasution's neighbour, Second Inspector Karel Satsuit Tubun, was shot and killed by the kidnapping group. A final victim was Albert Naiborhu, General Pandjaitan's nephew, who was killed during the raid on the General's home. The generals and the bodies of their dead colleagues were taken to a place known as Lubang Buaya near Halim where those still alive were shot. The bodies of all the victims were then thrown down a disused well near the base.[6][10][11]
Takeover in Jakarta[edit]
Key locations around Merdeka Square (now Monas) on 30 September 1965.[7]
Later that morning, around 2,000 troops from two Java-based divisions (the 454th Battalion from the Diponegoro Division and the 530th Battalion from the Brawijaya Division) occupied what is now Lapangan Merdeka, the park around the National Monument in central Jakarta, and three sides of the square, including the RRI (Radio Republik Indonesia) building. They did not occupy the east side of the square – the location of the armed forces strategic reserve (KOSTRAD) headquarters, commanded at the time by Major General Suharto. At some time during the night, D.N. Aidit, the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) leader and Air Vice-Marshal Omar Dhani, the Air Force commander both went to Halim pointing at their involvement.
Following the news at 7 am, RRI broadcast a message from Lieutenant-Colonel Untung Syamsuri, commander of the Cakrabirawa, Presidential guard regiment, to the effect that the 30 September Movement, an internal army organization, had taken control of strategic locations in Jakarta, with the help of other military units. They proclaimed that this was to forestall a coup attempt by a 'General's Council' aided by the Central Intelligence Agency, intent on removing Sukarno on Armed Forces Day, 5 October.[12] It was also stated that President Sukarno was under the movement's protection. Sukarno traveled to Halim 'after learning that there were troops near the Palace on the north side of Lapangan Merdeka' and also claimed (later) 'that this was so he could be near an aircraft should he need to leave Jakarta'. Further radio announcements from RRI later that day listed 45 members of the G30S Movement and stated that all army ranks above Lieutenant Colonel would be abolished.[13][14]
The end of the movement in Jakarta[edit]
At 5.30 am, Suharto, commander of the Army's Strategic Reserve, was woken up by his neighbor[15] and told of the disappearances of the generals and the shootings at their homes. He went to KOSTRAD HQ and tried to contact other senior officers. He managed to contact the Naval and Police commanders, but was unable to contact the Air Force Commander. He then took command of the Army and issued orders confining all troops to barracks. He was not targeted by the coup and overlooked, probably because he was a quiet, non-political figure at that time.[citation needed]
Because of poor planning, the coup leaders had failed to provide provisions for the troops on Lapangan Merdeka, who were becoming hot and thirsty. They were under the impression that they were guarding the president in the palace. Over the course of the afternoon, Suharto persuaded both battalions to give up without a fight, first the Brawijaya troops, who came to Kostrad HQ, then the Diponegoro troops, who withdrew to Halim. His troops gave Untung's forces inside the radio station an ultimatum and they also withdrew. By 7 pm Suharto was in control of all the installations previously held by 30 September Movement's forces. Now joined by Nasution, at 9 pm he announced over the radio that he was now in command of the Army and that he would destroy the counter-revolutionary forces and save Sukarno. He then issued another ultimatum, this time to the troops at Halim. Later that evening, Sukarno left Halim and arrived in Bogor, where there was another presidential palace.[16][17]
Most of the rebel troops fled, and after a minor battle in the early hours of 2 October, the Army regained control of Halim, Aidit flew to Yogyakarta and Dani to Madiun before the soldiers arrived.[17]
It was only on 3 October when the bodies of all 7 who were killed were recovered from the well in which they were thrown at Lubang Buaya. They were buried in a state burial on 5 October, Armed Forces Day.
Events in Central Java[edit]
Following the 7 am radio broadcast on RRI, troops from the Diponegoro Division in Central Java took control of five of the seven divisions in the name of the 30 September movement .[18] The PKI mayor of Solo issued a statement in support of the movement. Rebel troops in Yogyakarta, led by Major Muljono, kidnapped and later killed Col. Katamso and his chief of staff Lt. Col. Sugijono. However, once news of the movement's failure in Jakarta became known, most of its followers in Central Java gave themselves up.[17]
Aftermath[edit]
Anti-communist purge[edit]
Main article: Indonesian killings of 1965–1966
Contemporary anti-PKI literature blaming the party for the coup attempt
Suharto and his associates immediately blamed the PKI as masterminds of the 30 September Movement. With the support of the Army, and fueled by horrific tales of the alleged torture and mutilation of the generals at Lubang Buaya, anti-PKI demonstrations and then violence soon broke out. Violent mass action started in Aceh, then shifted to Central and East Java.[19] (see Indonesian killings of 1965–66) Suharto then sent the RPKAD paratroops under Col. Sarwo Edhie to Central Java. When they arrived in Semarang, locals burned the PKI headquarters to the ground.[20] The army swept through the countryside and were aided by locals in killing suspected communists. In East Java, members of Ansor, the youth wing of the Nahdlatul Ulama went on a killing frenzy, and the slaughter later spread to Bali. Figures given for the number of people killed across Indonesia vary from 78,000 to one million.[21] Among the dead was Aidit, who was captured by the Army on 25 November and summarily executed shortly after.[22][23]
Several hundred or thousand Indonesian leftists travelling abroad were unable to return to their homeland.[24] Djawoto, the ambassador to China, refused to be recalled and spent the rest of his life outside of Indonesia.[25] Some of these exiles, writers by trade, continued writing. This Indonesian exile literature was full of hatred for the new government and written simply, for general consumption, but necessarily published internationally.[26]