Category: History

THE INDONESIAN GENOCIDE: 1965- 1966

THE GENOCIDE

During the Indonesian Genocide Major General Sukarno and the Indonesian army killed more than 500,000-1,000,000 Indonesians (most were members of the Partai Komunis Indonesia) (Indonesiangenocie.weebly.com, Breech 2017).  People were also enslaved, deprived of liberty, persecuted or forced to disappear (Indonesiangenocie.weebly.com).

The Indonesian Genocide was an anti-communist purge of a failed coup in Indonesia that were involved in the 30 September Movement (Indonesiangenocie.weebly.com). It is believed that there were several causes of the genocide: ideological conflicts, competition among political parties, land disputes, economic setbacks, hyper inflation and high-risk foreign policies (Indonesiangenocie.weebly.com).

Figure 1.1

IMAGING GENOCIDE

The photo on the right, (Figure 1.1) exhibits two communist men who await certain death, while a non-communist soldier bayonets people at his feet. This photo was taken in October 1965. (Indonesiangenocie.weebly.com). A bayonet is a rifle with a blade fitted to the muzzle (The Free Dictionary). What this photo does show is how else people were treated during the Indonesian genocide. This photo does not show is exactly where the photo is taking place, or if there are more victims or anti-Communist Soldiers in the background. This photo sheds some insight on how it was for the targeted communist citizens during the genocide. As you can see, they were treated as they weren’t human , and were killed or tortured only because they were communists.

Figure 1.2

This photo (Figure 1.2) exhibits President John F. Kennedy of the United States of America (left), and President Sukarno of Indonesia (right) (Breech, 2017). This photo was taken in the United States of America, in 1961 (Breech, 2017).  The United States government stayed stayed silent as the death toll continued to rise during the anti-Communist purge in Indonesia (Breech, 2017). This photo allows us to see that the two presidents got along with each other, and that the US did not particularly care about what was going on in Indonesia at the time. This photo does not show exactly where they are or where they are going.

Figure 1.3

The image on the left (Figure 1.3) taken in 1965, displays a student being led away after a raid on a university in (Human Rights Watch, 2017).  This photo does not show us what horrible things are going to happen to the student. I am afraid that it was not something good.  Imagine getting a surprise attack at your school and being taken away, and how terrifying it would be.

Figure 1.4

The image on the right (Figure 1.4) exhibits the genocide victims in Indonesia, taken in 1965 (Charles, 2017). Some were thrown into mass graves as shown, or thrown into rivers (Charles, 2017). I think that this image has a large impact on viewers, and is a good example to show how horrible the Indonesian Genocide was or genocide in general.

There is no sugar coating to describe the in-imaginable events that occurred during the genocide, as you saw a glimpse of what the Indonesian Genocide was like. The Indonesian Genocide or just genocide in general is a sensitive topic, but it is important to know the events are a part of history. People all around the world should gain awareness and realize that these horrible things happened, learn from them, and hope that they will never be repeated in the future.

About the Author:

The author is a grade 11 student attending Musquodoboit Rural High School in Nova Scotia, CA, who wrote this as an assignment in Global History 12.

Works Cited

Beech, Hannah. “U.S. Stood By as Indonesia Killed a Half-Million People, Papers Show.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 Oct. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/10/18/world/asia/indonesia-cables-communist-massacres.html.

Charles, Lima. “Indonesia Mass Murders Were Known to U.S. Officials.” Lima Charlie World, 28 Oct. 2017, https://limacharlienews.com/se-asia/us-indonesia-genocide-documents/

Human Rights Watch. “Indonesia Again Silences 1965 Massacre Victims.” Human Rights Watch, 8 Aug. 2017, www.hrw.org/news/2017/08/07/indonesia-again-silences-1965-massacre-victims.

Indonesiangenocie.weebly.com. “Indonesian Genocide Intro.” The Indonesian Genocide, https://indonesiagenocide.weebly.com/indonesian-genocide-intro.html.

Human Rights Watch. “Indonesia Again Silences 1965 Massacre Victims.” Human Rights Watch, 8 Aug. 2017, www.hrw.org/news/2017/08/07/indonesia-again-silences-1965-massacre-victims.

The Free Dictionary. “Bayoneting.” The Free Dictionary, Farlex, www.thefreedictionary.com/bayoneting.