Sudirman
In his 5th year of school, Sudirman asked to leave his studies, concerned with the ridicule he faced at the government-run school;[d] this request was at 1st refused, but Sudirman was transferred to a junior high school run by Taman Siswa in his 7th year of school. In his eighth year, Sudirman transferred to Wirotomo Junior High School[e] after the Taman Siswa School was found to be unregistered and closed under the Wild School Ordinance. Many of Sudirman's teachers at Wirotomo were Indonesian nationalists, which influenced his views of the Dutch colonists. Sudirman studied diligently at school; his teacher Suwarjo Tirtosupono later recalled that Sudirman would already be studying second-term lessons while the class was still in term one. Although he performed poorly in Javanese calligraphy, Sudirman was strong in mathematics, science, and writing in both Dutch and Indonesian. Sudirman also became more religious under the guidance of his teacher Raden Mohamad Kholil; his classmates named him "hajji" because of his devotion to his prayers, and Sudirman took up preaching to other students. Aside from his studies and religious activities, Sudirman also served in the school's musical troupe and on the football team, on which he was a defender. Although Cokrosunaryo's death in 1934 left the family poor, Sudirman was allowed to continue his studies without paying until he graduated later that year; after his step-father's death, Sudirman also devoted more time to studying the Sunnah and prayer. By age 19, Sudirman had become a pupil teacher at Wirotomo.While at Wirotomo Sudirman was a member of the Wirotomo Student Union, drama club, and band. He helped establish a branch of the Hizboel Wathan, an organisation similar to the Boy Scouts, which was run by the Islamic establishment Muhammadiyah. Sudirman became the leader of the Cilacap division after graduating from Wirotomo; he was tasked with deciding and planning his groups' activities. He emphasised the need for religious studies, insisting that the contingents from Cilacap attend Muhammadiyah conferences throughout Java. He taught the younger members[f] about the history of Islam and the importance of morality, while with older members he enforced near-military discipline.
After graduating from Wirotomo, Sudirman spent a year at a Muhammadiyah-run teacher's college in Surakarta, but later dropped out owing to a lack of funds. In 1936 he returned to Cilacap to teach at a Muhammadiyah-run elementary school, having been trained by his teachers at Wirotomo; that year he married Alfiah, a former schoolmate and the daughter of the rich batik merchant Raden Sastroatmojo. After the marriage Sudirman lived at his father-in-law's house in Cilacap so he could save money for his own home. The couple went on to have three sons, Ahmad Tidarwono, Muhammad Teguh Bambang Tjahjadi, and Taufik Effendi, and four daughters, Didi Praptiastuti, Didi Sutjiati, Didi Pudjiati, and Titi Wahjuti Satyaningrum.
As a teacher, Sudirman taught his students lessons on morality using examples from the lives of the prophets and traditional wayang stories. One of his students later recalled that Sudirman was an even-handed and patient teacher who would mix humour and nationalism in his lessons; this made him popular with the students. A hard-working teacher despite poor pay, within several years Sudirman had become headmaster despite not having a teacher's certificate. As a result, his monthly wages quadrupled from three gulden to twelve and a half. As headmaster, Sudirman worked on numerous administrative duties, including finding middle ground between feuding teachers. A coworker later recalled that Sudirman was a moderate, democratic leader. He was also active in fundraising, both for the needs of his school and the construction of others.
During this time Sudirman also continued to serve as a member of the Muhammadiyah Youth Group. Within the group he was known as a keen negotiator and mediator, working to resolve issues between members; he also preached at the local mosque. He was elected as Chair of the Banyumas District of the Muhammadiyah Youth Group at the end of 1937. In this role he enacted policies facilitating members' studies and activities, both religious and secular. He was later put in charge of Youth Group activities throughout Central Java and spent much of his free time travelling and preaching Islam, putting an emphasis on self-awareness. Alfiah was also active in Muhammadiyah-sponsored activities through the group's branch for women, Nasyiatul Aisyiyah.
In late August,[k] Sukarno established the People's Safety Body, which united troops from the former PETA, HeihÅ, and KNIL. The BKR served mostly as a police organisation, partly because the political leadership were intent on using diplomacy to garner international recognition of the new country and partly to avoid appearing overly aggressive to the Japanese forces still in the archipelago. Sudirman and several of his fellow PETA soldiers formed a BKR branch in Banyumas in late August, after stopping at Kroya and discovering that his battalion had been disbanded. In a meeting with the Japanese commander for the region, Saburo Tamura, and the resident of Banyumas, Iwashige, Sudirman and Iskak Cokroadisuryo forced the Japanese to surrender and hand over their weapons while a crowd of armed Indonesians encircled the Japanese camp. Many of these weapons were later used by Sudirman's BKR unit, making it one of the best equipped in the country; surplus weapons were distributed to other battalions.
The leftist Minister of Defence Amir Sjarifuddin, who had received greater power in the reorganisation, began collecting socialist and communist troops under his direct control, as well as leftist paramilitary units that were funded by and loyal to the various political parties.[s] The minister instituted political education programmes in the army, which were meant to spread leftist ideology. This use of the military for political manoeverings disappointed both Sudirman and Oerip, who were at the time busy ensuring equal treatment for soldiers from different military backgrounds. However, rumours among the populace had spread that Sudirman was preparing for a coup d'xtat; although an attempt did occur in early July 1946, Sudirman's role, if any, isn't certain.[t] In July Sudirman addressed these rumours through a speech broadcast on Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI), stating that he, like all Indonesians, was a servant of the State, and that, if he were offered the presidency, he would refuse it. In his later career he stated that the military had no place in politics, and vice versa.
Sudirman 1st went to his official home and gathered sensitive documents, which he burned to prevent them falling into Dutch hands. His convoy, consisting of Sudirman, a small group of soldiers, and his personal doctor, then made their way south, towards Kretek, Parangtritis, Bantul. There they were received by the district head at 18:00. After several days in Kretek, during which time Sudirman sent undercover troops into the Dutch-occupied city for reconnaissance and to ask his wife for jewellery to sell and help fund the guerrilla movement, he and his group travelled east along the south coast to Wonogiri. Before the Dutch attack it had already been decided that Sudirman would be able to better control the guerrillas from eastern Java, where there were still several bases. Meanwhile, Alfiah and the children were ordered to stay in the Kraton. Aware that he was being pursued by the Dutch, on 23 December Sudirman ordered his troops to continue to Ponorogo, where they stopped at the home of Mahfuz, a kyai and Islamic religious leader; Mahfuz gave the general a cane to help him walk, although Sudirman was, and continued to be, carried on a litter. They then continued east.
Sudirman received numerous awards from the national government posthumously, including the Bintang Sakti, Bintang Gerilya, Bintang Mahaputera Adipurna, Bintang Mahaputera Pratama, Bintang Republik Indonesia Adipurna, and Bintang Republik Indonesia Adipradana.[ae] On 10 December 1964 Sudirman was declared a National Hero of Indonesia by Presidential Decree 314 of 1964. Oerip was declared a National Hero by the same decree. He was promoted to General of the Army in 1997.
According to McGregor, the military increasingly used Sudirman's image as a symbol of leadership as it gained more political power. An image of Sudirman was featured on every denomination of the 1968 series of rupiah.[af] He featured as a major character in several war films, including Janur Kuning and Serangan Fajar (Dawn Attack; 1982).
Numerous museums have been dedicated to Sudirman. His childhood home in Purbalingga is now the Sudirman Museum, while his official home in Yogyakarta is now the Sasmitaloka Museum to General Sudirman. The house in Magelang where he died is also now the Sudirman Museum, established on 18 May 1967 and containing artefacts belonging to the general. Other museums, including the Monument Yogya Kembali in Yogyakarta and the Satria Mandala Museum in Jakarta have rooms dedicated to him. Numerous streets are named after Sudirman, including a major street in Jakarta; McGregor states that nearly every city in the country has a General Sudirman Street. Statues and monuments to him are spread throughout the archipelago, most of which were built after 1970. Jenderal Soedirman University in Banyumas, established in 1963, is named after him.
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