Soeprapto
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
Soeprapto was born in PurwokertoPurwokerto
Purwokerto is a city on the island of Java in Indonesia. It is the capital of Banyumas Regency, Central Java region. The estimated population of the city in 2005 was 249,705.-Geography:...
, Central Java
Central 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 high school in 1941, then continued his education at the Dutch royal military academy in Bandung
Bandung
Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's third largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, with a population of 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 metres above sea level, approximately 140 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler...
, but did not graduate as 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...
. Soeprapto was detained by the Japanese, but managed to escape. Once Soeprapto realized he was not on the wanted list of 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, he signed up for military training. When this finished, he worked at the public education office.
Military career
Following the 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. He was involved in the disarming of the recently surrendered Japanese. He was later appointed adjutant to Indonesia's first military commander, General Sudirman
Sudirman
General Sudirman was the first military commander of Indonesian forces during the country's fight for independence from the Dutch in the 1940s.-Life:...
, a post he held from 1946-1947. In September 1949, he became chief of staff of the Diponegoro Division of Central Java
Central 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...
, then moved to Army Staff HQ Jakarta in 1951.On May 7, 1960 he was transferred to Medan
Medan
- Demography :The city is Indonesia's fourth most populous after Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bandung, and Indonesia's largest city outside of Java island. Much of the population lies outside its city limits, especially in Deli Serdang....
, Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
and appointed deputy Army chief of staff for Sumatra. His final post was as second deputy Army chief of staff, which he held from July 1 1962 until his death.
Death
In the early hours of the morning of 1 October 1965, Soeprapto was not able to sleep due to a toothache, and instead was painting a picture he was working on. 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...
arrived at Soeprapto's house at Jalan Besuki No. 9, in Jakarta's Menteng
Menteng
Menteng is a subdistrict of Central Jakarta, one of the administrative city which forms the special capital territory of Jakarta, Indonesia.The subdistrict is best known as the location of the Menteng residential area, a new urban design developed in the 1910s to become a residential area for Dutch...
district. The kidnappers, from the Tjakrabirawa presidential guard, told Soeprapto he was being summoned 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...
. He asked for permission to change his clothes, but was refused, and Soepraptio was taken by truck to 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...
, the movement's base on the southern outskirts of Jakarta. His wife was awakened by the family's dogs barking and came into the living room but was forced back by her husband's captors. She was forbidden to use the phone, and rushed to it when the soldiers left but it had been cut. She scribbled a note to send to the Parman's place to raise the alarm, but she did not know that General Parman had also been seized that morning.
Later that night, he was shot to death along with other members of the Army general staff who had survived their kidnapping attempts. All the bodies were thrown into an unused well. 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.
General
- Bachtiar, Harsja W. (1988), Siapa Dia?: Perwira Tinggi Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Darat (Who's Who?: Senior Officers of the Indonesian Army), Penerbit Djambatan, Jakarta, ISBN 979-428-100-X
- Mutiara Sumber Widya (publisher) (1999) Album Pahlawan Bangsa (Albam of National Heroes), Jakarta
- Sekretariat Negara Republik Indonesia (1994) Gerakan 30 September Pemberontakan Partai Komunis Indonesia: Latar Belakang, Aksi dan Penumpasannya (The 30 September Movement/Communist Party of Indonesia: Background, Actions and its Annihilation) ISBN 979-08300-025
- Sudarmanto, Y.B. (1996) Jejak-Jejak Pahlawan dari Sultan Agung hingga Syekh Yusuf (The Footsteps of Heroes from Sultan Agung to Syekh Yusuf), Penerbit Grasindo, Jakarta ISBN 979-553-111-5