Historical Facts of Soekarno's Life, and Is the Treasure of 57 tons of Gold in Swiss Banks Still Stored?

 

Indonesia's first president, Ir. Soekarno, is said to still have 57 tons of gold, which is stored abroad at the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), Switzerland. It is said that all the wealth of the figure born on June 6, 1901, was once borrowed by John, F. Kennedy (JFK), President of the United States (US), in 1963 for US development.

Thus, what are the historical facts of Soekarno's life?

The figure of Ir. Soekarno, if you refer to historical data, he will not have that much wealth. On the contrary, historical facts show that Soekarno lived in simplicity and even difficulty while serving as the number one person in Indonesia at that time.

This can be seen during an interview with Cindy Adams, a journalist from the US, Soekarno admitted that his salary during his presidency was only US $ 220 or the equivalent of Rp.3.4 million with reference to today's exchange rate assumption, which is Rp.15,466 / US $. Not only that, he also admitted that he did not own a house and land.

So it is only natural that the proclaimer is often seen and stops by from palace to palace owned by the state. In fact, because of Soekarno's simplicity, he also claimed to have wanted to buy pajamas by one of the ambassadors during a visit abroad, because Soekarno used a torn nightgown. In addition, Soekarno was also given a building jointly by the people, but he refused on the grounds that he did not want to be troublesome or troublesome.

"Is there a Head of State who is poor like me and often borrows from his aide?", said Soekarno to Cindy Adams, quoted from Bung Karno (1964): The Indonesian People's Tongue, Saturday (23/12/2023).

Guntur Soekarnoputra, Soekarno's first son, confirmed his father's statement. In an opinion column in Media Indonesia, published on September 26, 2020, he said that Soekarno's pockets were "always thin" even since his father was before becoming president.

"As president, Bung Karno was probably the poorest president in the world. He has no land, no house, let alone precious metals as rumored by people so far, "said Guntur.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, he also said that it was not surprising that his father had borrowed money from one of his friends from the movement era, namely Agoes Moesin Dasaad.

Debate About The Book "Soekarno's Treasure"

Quoting from news.detik.com on Thursday, (01/30/2020) revealed that Asvi Warman Adam, a professional historian at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, regarding the issue of Soekarno's wealth still stored in Switzerland was a hoax. Also including the book 'Harta Amanah Soekarno' which according to him is one of the works of Safari ANS, published in 2014, which according to him also needs to be tested by the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia (ANRI). Not only that, Asvi also observed that the story about The Green Hilton Memorial Agreement has been circulating on the internet since 2009, while the bibliotecapleyades site has published the issue since November 28, 2008.

It should be noted that one of the books 'Harta Amanah Soekarno' by Safari ANS, is one of the books that contains a story about The Green Hilton Memorial Agreement. With rumors that the agreement signed by Bung Karno and Kennedy, as well as a witness from Switzerland named William Vouker, was held on November 14, 1963 in Geneva, Switzerland.

This became controversial because Safari ANS said that in the agreement the US agreed and recognized that the country's wealth in the form of gold, which amounted to 57 thousand tons of gold, came from Indonesia. And the funds in the form of gold, Bung Karno once claimed to America as war booty. Meanwhile, another source said, as reported by detikcom in 2014, Safari, as the author of the book, claimed to have copies of documents as proof of his writing. He also believes that Soekarno's assets in the Swiss UBS Bank can be disbursed. Not only that, he also believes that several Indonesian officials had tried to secretly withdraw the treasure.

Due to doubts regarding the document used as a reference by Safari, Asvi still tries to straighten out the truth with several arguments that should be re-examined from his observations.

First, Asvi saw and observed the stamp used by the President of Indonesia, which should have a picture of rice, cotton and stars. However, in The Green Hilton Memorial Agreement document, the Indonesian President's stamp is different, namely with the image of Garuda Pancasila. Second, the US side has never spoken about The Green Hilton Memorial Agreement at all. In a search conducted by detikcom, via the Google search site, indeed discussions related to The Green Hilton Memorial Agreement, mostly from Indonesians, both through the media blogs, forums, and books. Basically, Soekarno and Kennedy had met, but did not discuss the agreement.

"Soekarno and Kennedy met, but what was discussed was related to US support for the return of West Irian in exchange for the release of Allen Pope (a pilot) who was arrested by the Air Force, in the PRRI Permesta case," said Asvi. His meeting with Kennedy in the US also did not take place on November 14, 1963, but on April 24, 1961.

Then, if The Green Hilton Memorial Agreement in Geneva Switzerland on November 14, 1963 is in fact true, it is possible that Kennedy must have been in Geneva on November 14, 1963. In fact, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum website states otherwise. On November 14, 1963, Kennedy held a press conference at the US State Department Auditorium, Washington, DC. On that date, Kennedy answered several questions from journalists regarding several issues, including the arrest of professor, at one of Yale University Frederick C Barghoorn in Moscow, for being a spy, about the Vietnam issue, about the US Congress rejecting international aid programs, pending legislation, and the issue of recognition of Honduras and the Dominican Republic.

Royalty Rumors

Regarding the issue of Soekarno storing 57 tons of gold in Switzerland, it did not end just like that. The reason is, there are also rumors of Soekarno's mountain of wealth. However, one of the Indonesian historians, Ong Hok Ham, denied this. Through writing Power and State in 1983, Ong denied the story. And try to reveal the true historical facts. As for one of the stories that was refuted, such as the case that Soekarno had inherited royal wealth from Islamic Mataram.

"It is impossible for someone to inherit property from an ancient kingdom, let alone inherit gold bars. The problem is, the treasures of the ancient kingdom are not as much as imagined. In fact, at that time Islamic Mataram was still said to have debts to the VOC," said Ong.

Not only that, Ong also said that if the story of Soekarno's wealth can actually still be broken with simple arguments such as: if he has gold, Soekarno should not be poor or miserable until the end of his life.

From the various information that has been circulating, it can be concluded that the treasure story in the form of 57 tons of gold owned by Soekarno, which is still stored in Switzerland, is inaccurate or untrue information. Soekarno, if you look at the history of his life, he is one of the simple figures. Even so, it does not reduce the sense of pride for future generations for what he once fought for the Indonesian people.

 

 

Thank you, hopefully this information can be useful!

 Intervier with Cindy Adams about Soekarno's belief in Heaven and Hell?

Reference:

CNBC Indonesia. (23/12/23).

Detik News, (01/30/20).