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User:Dan Carkner/Achmad Soemadi

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Achmad Soemadi was an Indonesian communist politician and political prisoner. He was interned by the Dutch in Boven-Digoel concentration camp from 1938 to 1943, under Sukarno in 1949 and 1951, and under Suharto from 1967 to 1977.

Biography

[edit]

Achmad Soemadi was born to wealthy parents.[1] He studied at STOVIA in Batavia.[1]

PKI leader Musso returned from the USSR to Surabaya in November 1935, sent by the Soviets to rebuild an illegal PKI party since the party had been banned in the Indies and its leaders exiled.[2][3] Soemadi became one of the leaders of this new Surabaya-based Illegal-PKI cell along with Mas Ruskak, Pamudji and Djokosoedjono.[4][5][6] Having educated this small cadre in communist principles and popular front planning, Musso left the Indies for Shanghai in May 1936.[2] When Musso left the PKI was refounded with Ruskak as chairman, Soemadi as secretary, Djokosoedjono in charge of cadre formation and Siti Larang became head of the women's wing.[2] They focused their recruitment effort among the nationalist youth movements in Java.[2]

The group recruited about 30 members, but soon attracted the attention of the Dutch secret police.[2] The police started to surveil and arrest their members, until they had all been captured by February 1937.[2] Soemadi and Djokosoedjono were arrested in December 1936 on their way from Gresik to Surabaya.[7] Soemadi and eleven other arrested PKI members were exiled without charge to Boven-Digoel concentration camp in New Guinea in 1938, joining hundreds of PKI members who had been sent in the late 1920s.[8][2][9] Their arrival in the camp somewhat revitalized the political situation there among older PKI exiles.[6][10]

The camp at Digoel was not immediately evacuated even after the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies, since it was so remote. When there was a rumour of a Japanese invasion in 1943, most of the Digoel prisoners were evacuated to Australia where the Indies government in exile was located.[11] Due to the alliance between the USSR and Western countries at that time, most of the PKI ex-Digoel internees in Australia agreed to work for the Indies government in exile in propagandizing against the Japanese.[6] Achmad Soemadi, Djokosoedjono, and Hardjono and worked for the Dutch through SIBAR (Serikat Indonesia Baroe, New Indonesia Association).[11] After the end of the war, Soemadi returned to Indonesia.

Musso returned to Indonesia and reorganized communists and socialists under his leadership in the Front Demokrasi Rakjat (democratic people's front, FDR); Djokosoedjono joined the new PKI worker's secretariat along with his former Digoel companions Hardjono and Achmad Soemadi.[12][6][13] After the Madiun Affair, Djokosoedjono was arrested along with many other party members, journalists, and so on. He denied any knowledge of the uprising and was not seriously punished.[14]

When the Provisional House of Representatives was created in August 1950, he was appointed(?) to its membership representing the Communist Party faction under the leadership of Sakirman and Peris Pardede.[15][16] In the same month he was also elected chairman of the Dockworkers Union (Indonesian: Serikat Buruh Laut Pelabuhan).[17]

In August 1951, following communist unrest in Tanjung Priok, the Indonesian military carried out mass arrests of 950 political figures who it placed in Preventive detention.[18][19] Soemadi was arrested along with Djokosoedjono, parliamentarians like Siauw Giok Tjhan, and journalists from Sin Po including editor Ang Jan Goan; the offices of the PKI and SOBSI were also searched.[18][20][21] The arrests caused a scandal in the House and led to criticism of the army's impunity and the violation of parliamentary immunity.[19][18]

D. N. Aidit took over the leadership of the Communist Party in 1951 and by 1953 had purged many leaders who were not in his clique, including Tan Ling Djie. Soemadi was promoted to the central committee which also included Djokosoedjono, Jusuf Adjitorop, Alimin, Peris Pardede, and others.[22][23]

He was arrested during the anti-communist crackdown. He was released in the mid-1970s; by that point his health had seriously deteriorated.[1]

He died in 1986 at age 77. According to De Waarheid, he may have been the last surviving ex-Digoel internee by that point.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Laatste oud-Digoelgevangene Achmad Soemadi overleden". De waarheid (in Dutch). Amsterdam. 4 January 1986. p. 6.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Poeze, Harry A. (1976). Tan Malaka: strijder voor Indonesië's vrijheid: Levensloop van 1897 tot 1945 (in Dutch). 's-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff. pp. 470–2. ISBN 9789004287099.
  3. ^ Brackman, Arnold (1963). Indonesian communism: a history. New York: Praeger. p. 29.
  4. ^ Brackman, Arnold (1963). Indonesian communism: a history. New York: Praeger. p. 30.
  5. ^ Swift, Ann (1989). The road to Madiun : the Indonesian Communist uprising of 1948. Ithaca: Cornell Modern Indonesia Project, Southeast Asia Program. p. 52.
  6. ^ a b c d Setyarso, Budi (2013). "Back from the Dead". Musso and the Madiun Movement. Indonesia: Tempo. ISBN 9781301369683.
  7. ^ "Laatste oud-Digoelgevangene Achmad Soemadi overleden". De waarheid (in Dutch). Amsterdam. 4 January 1986. p. 6.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference SP38 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Nieuwe verbanning naar Digoel Indonesische arbeiders naar het malariaoord gezonden Maar fascisten mogen vrij hun ondermijnend werk op Indonesische bodem bedrijven". Het volksdagblad: dagblad voor Nederland (in Dutch). Amsterdam. 13 August 1938. p. 5.
  10. ^ Shiraishi, Takashi (2021). The Phantom World of Digul: Policing as politics in Colonial Indonesia, 1926-1941. Singapore: NUS Press. p. 40. ISBN 9784814003624.
  11. ^ a b Poeze, Harry A. (2012). "From Foe to Partner to Foe Again: The Strange Alliance of the Dutch Authorities and Digoel Exiles in Australia, 1943-1945". Indonesia. 94 (1): 57–84. doi:10.1353/ind.2012.a488361. ISSN 2164-8654.
  12. ^ "In zee met de communisten". Indische courant voor Nederland (in Dutch). Amsterdam. 11 September 1948. p. 3.
  13. ^ Toer, Pramoedya Ananta; Toer, Koesalah Toebago; Kamil, E. (2020). Kronik Revolusi Indonesia 4 (1948) (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia. p. 580. ISBN 9786024249557.
  14. ^ Nordholt, Henk Schulte; Poeze, Harry (2023). Merdeka - Perang Kemerdekaan dan Kebangkitan Republik yang Tak Pasti (1945-1950) (in Indonesian). Yayasan Pustaka Obor Indonesia. p. 304. ISBN 9786233212366.
  15. ^ Seperempat abad Dewan Perwakilan Rakjat Republik Indonesia (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Dewan Perwakilan Rakjat. p. 594.
  16. ^ Fractions and sections in the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia and a short biography of the chairman, vice chairmen and members of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia on August 1, 1954. Jakarta: Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat. 1954. p. 4.
  17. ^ "S.B.L.P.-congres". De vrije pers: ochtendbulletin (in Dutch). Surabaya. 1 August 1950. p. 2.
  18. ^ a b c "1,000 Jailed in Indonesia after Phony 'Uprising'". Daily Worker. No. 182. New York. 11 September 1951. p. 8.
  19. ^ a b "Bezwaar tegen opneming bepaalde namen". Indische courant voor Nederland (in Dutch). Amsterdam. 15 August 1951. p. 3.
  20. ^ "Regering grijpt in Belangrijke arrestaties in de hoofdstad". De vrije pers: ochtendbulletin (in Dutch). Surabaya. 1951-08-16.
  21. ^ [Werkend Nederland. Geraadpleegd op Delpher op 28-11-2024, https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMIISG17:021205055:00001 "Terreur in Indonesie"] (in Dutch). 7 (9). Amsterdam. 8 September 1951: 6. {{cite journal}}: Check |url= value (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  22. ^ "Ook in communistische partij Indonesië een „zuivering"". Het nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (in Dutch). Medan. 12 October 1953. p. 3.
  23. ^ Brackman, Arnold (1963). Indonesian communism: a history. New York: Praeger. p. 208.
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