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The Compass: The Cold War Legacy: The Cold War Legacy: Indonesia

Factual

Indonesia

06/11/2019 GMT

The Cold War Legacy: Indonesia

The Cold War Legacy

BBC World Service - The Compass, The Cold War Legacy, The Cold War Legacy: Indonesia

In 1965, some half a million people died in military-led killings of suspected communists

In 1965, at least half a million people died in military-led killings of suspected communist sympathisers in Indonesia.

In 1965, in a little known chapter of the Cold War, at least half a million people died in organised military-led killings of suspected communist sympathisers in Indonesia, with the blessing of the United States. For almost 50 years speaking about that time has been taboo, and school history books gloss over the killings. Attempts by the current government to start a process of truth-telling and reconciliation are reopening old wounds and have met fierce resistance from the military and old guard. Communism remains banned in Indonesia and students have been detained for reading Marxist books. But the silence is being broken. 

Rebecca Henschke travels across Java to meet some of the killers, those still seeking justice and brave members of the young generation who are seeking out the truth and trying to come to terms with what happened in one of the darkest periods of Indonesia’s history.

(Photo: Pipet’s daughter holding a photo of Pipet’s mum Ani, with others at the detention camp where they were held in the 1960s and 70s) Photo credit: Anindita Pradana – BBC Indonesia

The Compass: The Cold War Legacy

The Cold War ended 30 years ago but its impact is still being felt across the world.

After six years of fighting, the Second World War was over but the respite was brief. Soon the former allies (the USA and USSR, along with their allies) were locked into another conflict against each other, one which lasted almost four and a half decades. The Cold War was a battle of ideology, politics, spies and military supremacy, with a sometimes terrifying arms race and nuclear proliferation. Like WWII before it, the Cold War was truly global as the two camps struggled for influence and control across all continents. It may have officially ended in 1991 but its ramifications can still be felt today. 

We travel to Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia to examine what impact the Cold War had back then and how it still resonates today especially with the younger generation who may not have lived through it but are still living with its aftermath.

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