Siswondo Parman
Encyclopedia
Indonesian Army
The Indonesian Army , the land component of the Indonesian Armed Forces, has an estimated strength of 328,517 regular personnel. The force's history began in 1945 when the Tentara Keamanan Rakyat "Civil Security Forces" served as paramilitary and police.Since the nation's independence struggle,...
, and was kidnapped from his home in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
by members of the 30 September Movement
30 September Movement
The Thirtieth of September Movement ) was a self-proclaimed organization of Indonesian National Armed Forces members who, in the early hours of 1 October 1965, assassinated six Indonesian Army generals in an abortive coup d'état. Later that morning, the organization declared that it was in control...
in the early hours of October 1. He was later killed at Lubang Buaya
Lubang Buaya
Lubang Buaya is the site of the murder of seven army officers during the 1 October coup attempt of the 30 September Movement...
.
Early life
Parman was born in Wonosobo, Central JavaCentral Java
Central Java is a province of Indonesia. The administrative capital is Semarang. It is one of six provinces on the island of Java.This province is the province of high Human Development in Indonesia and its Points Development Index countries is equivalent to Lebanon. The province of Central Java...
. He graduated from the town's Dutch high school in 1940 and entered medical school, but had to leave when the Japanese invaded
Japanese Occupation of Indonesia
The Japanese Empire occupied Indonesia, known then as the Dutch East Indies, during World War II from March 1942 until after the end of War in 1945...
. He then worked for the Japanese Kempeitai
Kempeitai
The was the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1881 to 1945. It was not an English-style military police, but a French-style gendarmerie...
military police. However, he was arrested because of doubts over his loyalty, but was later freed. Following his release, he was sent to Japan for intelligence training, and worked again for the Kempeitai on his return until the end of the war, working as a translator in Yogykarta.
Career with the Indonesian Military
After the Indonesian Declaration of IndependenceIndonesian Declaration of Independence
The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence was read at 10.00 a.m. on Friday, August 17, 1945. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic and armed-resistance of the Indonesian National Revolution, fighting against the forces of the Netherlands until the latter officially acknowledged...
, Soeprapto joined the People's Security Army (TKR), the forerunner of the Indonesian Military. At the end of December 1945, he was appointed chief of staff of the Military Police in Yogyakarta. Four years later he became chief of staff to the Greater Jakarta military governor and was promoted to major. In this capacity, he managed to foil a plot by the "Just King Armed Forces" (Angkatan Perang Ratu Adil, APRA), a rebel military group led by Raymond Westerling
Raymond Westerling
Raymond Pierre Paul Westerling , nicknamed the Turk, was a Dutch military officer. He waged a bloody occupation campaign in Sulawesi during the Indonesian National Revolution after the Second World War, and staged a coup d'état in Bandung and Jakarta in January 1950.-South Sulawesi:Westerling...
, to kill the defense minister and armed forces commander.
In 1951, Parman was sent to the Military Police School in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for further training, and on November 11 that year, was appointed commander of the Jakarta Military Police. he then occupied a number of positions at National Military Police HQ, and the Indonesian Defense Ministry before being sent to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
as military attache to the Indonesian Embassy there. On June 28, with the rank of Major General, he was appointed 1st assistant with responsibility for intelligence to Army chief of staff Lieutenant General Ahmad Yani
Ahmad Yani
General Ahmad Yani was the commander of the Indonesian Army, and was killed by members of the 30 September Movement during an attempt to kidnap him from his house.-Early life:...
.
Death
Parman was one of six army generals killed by members of the 30 September Movement30 September Movement
The Thirtieth of September Movement ) was a self-proclaimed organization of Indonesian National Armed Forces members who, in the early hours of 1 October 1965, assassinated six Indonesian Army generals in an abortive coup d'état. Later that morning, the organization declared that it was in control...
on the night of 30 September-1 October 1965. He had be warned several days before of possible Communist moves. On the night of 30 September-1 October, no guards watching over the house.
According to Parman's wife, the couple were woken from their sleep at about 4.10 in the morning by the noise of a number of people at the side of the house. Parman went to investigate and twenty-four men in the uniform of the Tjakrabirawa (Palace Guard) burst into the living room. The men told him he was to appear before President Sukarno
Sukarno
Sukarno, born Kusno Sosrodihardjo was the first President of Indonesia.Sukarno was the leader of his country's struggle for independence from the Netherlands and was Indonesia's first President from 1945 to 1967...
as "something interesting had happened". About 10 men went into the bedroom while Parman got dressed. His wife was more suspicious of the men, and questioned whether they had an authorising letter, to which one of the men replied he had a letter while tapping his chest pocket.
Parman asked his wife to report what had happened to his commander, Yani, but the telephone wires had been cut. Parman was put into a truck and taken to the movement's base at Lubang Buaya
Lubang Buaya
Lubang Buaya is the site of the murder of seven army officers during the 1 October coup attempt of the 30 September Movement...
. Later that night, along with the other soldiers who had been taken alive, Parman was shot dead and his body dumped in a disused well.
The bodies of all the victims were recovered on October 4 and the men were given a state funeral the next day, Armed Forces Day. The same day, all were created Heroes of the Revolution by President Sukarno The bodies were recovered and all were given a state funeral on October 5, before being buried at the Heroes Cemetery, Kalibata. On the same day, via Presidential Decision No. 111/KOTI/1965, President Sukarno formerly made Soeprapto a Hero of the Revolution.