The CIA Death Lists That Killed 1 Million Indonesians

Added: 2026-06-04

[00:00:00]Did you know the CIA handed over lists of names and those names became death sentences? In 1965, Indonesia's military launched one of the most brutal purges of the 20th century. Generals, backed by American intelligence, [music] used those lists to hunt down suspected communists neighborhood by neighborhood.

[00:00:18]Between 500,000 and 1 million people were killed in less than a year. Many were teachers, farmers, and union workers with no weapons and no trial.

[00:00:27]The CIA knew.

[00:00:28]officials later admitted the lists were shared deliberately. Cold War politics meant a communist-free Indonesia was worth any price, no matter who paid it.

[00:00:37]What followed was decades of silence.

[00:00:39]Survivors could not speak. Perpetrators walked free. Some celebrated as heroes.

[00:00:44]The outside world barely noticed. It was not until documentaries like The Act of Killing in 2012 that the truth began breaking through. Former death squad members reenacted their crimes on camera, almost proudly, because they had never faced any consequences. Justice delayed this long barely resembles justice at all. Like and subscribe to MGo TV Thumnus 60 History for deeper 360-degree historical insights.