The objective of the oral history project In Search of Silenced Voices was to collect individual life histories by interviewing those Indonesian political emigrés still living in Western Europe, China, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The life histories describe their activities as members of the Indonesian leftist intelligentsia before 1965 as well as the diaspora they experienced after 1965. The recordings include political roles as well as personal experiences over three successive periods:

• in Indonesia before 30 September 1965
• abroad after 30 September 1965
• as emigrés in the countries they now make their homes.

The interviews, recorded by Hersri Setiawan, are mostly in Indonesian.

In total, the IISH now has a collection of more than 200 tapes, comprising an archive of about 300 hours of oral history. The interviews and other recordings were given to the IISH by the interviewer and researcher of the project, Hersri Setiawan, and are for most part free for consultation.

For more information please visit the project website (web address provided below).