Norrmalmstorg robbery - August 23, 1973

On this day in 1973, a bank robbery and hostage crisis in Stockholm, Sweden, led to the coining of the term "Stockholm Syndrome."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class. It's a production of I
Heart Radio. Hey guys, welcome to this Day in History class,
where we bring you a new tidbit from history. Every day.
Today is August. The day was August nineteen seventy three.

(00:28):
On leave from prison, Jan Eric Olsen entered this Veryages
Credit Bank, a busy bank in Stockholm, Sweden. He was
equipped with a submachine gun, ammunition, explosives, a knife, walkie talkies,
a transistor radio, and other materials to assist him in
his planned bank robbery. The robbery turned into a six

(00:50):
day hostage crisis that led to the coining of the
term Stockholm syndrome. When he entered the bank, Olsen wore
toy glasses, a brown wig, and makeup to disguise his appearance.
He spoke English with an American accent, hoping he would
be mistaken for a foreigner. He fired his submachine gun

(01:12):
at the ceiling, saying the party has just begun. Olsen
took four bank employees hostage. Over the following days, Olsen
would make more references to US pop culture. He demanded
seven dred and ten thousand dollars from the police and
a getaway car. He also called for his friend Clark

(01:34):
Olofsson to be released from prison. All Offsen was in
prison for armed robbery and being an accessory in the
murder of a police officer. Law enforcement did honor most
of Olsen's requests. Olafson was released from prison and escorted
into the bank, and police got them a blue Ford

(01:56):
Mustang and the ransom, but police refus used to let
the hostages ride in the car with Olson and helmets
and bulletproof vests as he demanded for safe passage, so
a standoff ensued. The hostage crisis was covered extensively in
print and on television. People gave police unsolicited suggestions on

(02:18):
how to end the standoff. Meanwhile, inside the bank, the
hostages were held inside a vault. One of the hostages
said that she was more afraid of the policeman than
Olsen and Olafson, and that they were having a good
time in the bank. Olsen gave one hostage a wool
jacket when she was cold, and he consoled another when

(02:42):
she could not get in touch with her family over
the phone. He let another leave the vault attached to
a rope so she could have some relief from the
cramped space. Hostage spin Softstrom said that when Olsen treated
them well, they could quote think of him as an
emergency god. When the police commissioner went into the bank

(03:04):
to check on the hostages health, he noted that they
were more hostile toward him than their captors. They trusted
Olsen and Oliveson to take them away in the car safely,
but we're scared that the police's actions would cause their death.
The captors threatened to harm their hostages, but they never did,
although Oliveson did wound a police officer by firing into

(03:28):
a hole the police had drilled into the vault. On
the night of August, the police sent tear gas into
the bank vault and the robbers surrendered. As they exited
the building, the hostages wanted to walk out in front
so police would not shoot the robbers. The police and
the public were confused by the hostages attachment to their captors.

(03:51):
Psychiatrists said that the hostages were grateful that their captors
did not kill them and were emotionally indebted to them.
Once I colleges coined the term Stockholm syndrome to describe
the phenomenon, though it wasn't widely used until later. Olson
and Oliveson. Both were sentenced to prison, but Oliveson's conviction

(04:12):
was overturned in appeals court. I'm Eves Jeff Cote, and
hopefully you know a little more about history today than
you did yesterday. If there are any upcoming days in
history that you'd really like me to cover on the show,
give us a shout on social media at t D
I h C podcast. Thanks for joining me on this

(04:35):
trip through history. See you here, same place tomorrow. For
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