Truth Will Out: Indonesian Accounts of the 1965 Mass Violence

by Baskara T. Wardaya (Editor), Jennifer Lindsay (Translator)

This striking compilation of essays surveys a variety of views about the 1965 mass violence in Indonesia and the current efforts to understand this event. Truth Will Out is the product of an oral history project involving senior and young researchers from Yogyakarta. The accounts presented include: a military man who continues to see the violence as justified, and who refuses survivors the status of victim; two Muslims who believe that the Communists were and continue to remain a threat to society; and a Catholic activist who reflects on how they were manipulated to support the violence. These accounts are complemented by the views of survivors of the violence, some of whom see this as a national problem that goes far beyond individual suffering. Truth Will Out provides a valuable window into why this past event still remains contested today, as well as why obstacles to reconciliation and full rehabilitation of the survivors still exist. (Series: Herb Feith Translation Series)

Genres: Indonesian Literature, History

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Stella Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75