A Jawbone in Gua Tikus

Almost every night toward the end of 1967, the sounds of heavy boots could be heard in Lorejo village, Bakung District, Blitar, East Java. They steered their “charges”, barefoot and bound, to Gua Tikus—The Rats’ Cave. There, the men, considered activists of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), were beaten, then thrown into the cave, never to be seen again.

Thirty-five years later, last August, the Kasut Perdamaian Foundation attempted to excavate the cave, searching for the bodies of the victims. When they came upon a jawbone, the Regent of Blitar hastily stopped them. What stories are still buried at the bottom of Gua Tikus?

October 8, 2002

ONE afternoon, mid-August. Location: Kedunganti hamlet, Kaliwaru, Lorejo village, Bakung District, Blitar, East Java. On a barren limestone hill, beneath the scorching sun, a number of residents could be seen crowding a hole—a cave to be precise. The locals call it Luweng Tikus but some also call it Gua Tikus (The Rats’ Cave).

In the stillness, several people were swinging hoes and crowbars, excavating the cave. They stopped only whe

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