The story of the hostage-taking, after which the term "Stockholm syndrome" appeared

The term "Stockholm syndrome" means a mental state that allows a person who has been abducted or abused to feel sympathy and sympathy for the aggressor instead of fear and hatred. This is based on the mechanism of psychological protection. The term itself was first used by criminologist and psychiatrist Nils Beyerut, when he analyzed an unusual situation during the hostage-taking and robbery of the Kreditbanken bank, which struck the whole world. On August 23, 1973, escaped criminal Jan-Erik Olsson entered the bank building on Norrmalmstorg Square in central Stockholm, intending to rob him, and shouted:

"The party is just beginning."

The robber took three women hostage — Birgitta Lundblad, Kristin Enmark, Elisabeth Oldgren — and a man Sven Sefstrom and held them for 131 hours. He hung the hostages with explosive devices and sent them to the bank's vault. The criminal demanded that his friend and cellmate Clark Olofsson be delivered. He also asked for three million Swedish kronor, two rifles, bulletproof vests, helmets and a fast car. Olsson was no stranger to the criminal world. He has already been accused of violent acts, and he committed his first robbery at the age of 16.

Cellmate Clark Olofsson was brought in the day after the conditions were presented. Olsson demanded a car to escape, but was refused. At noon of the same day, the criminal was connected with the current Prime Minister, Olof Palme. One of the hostages, Kristin Enmark, said during a telephone conversation: "You upset me, I'm not afraid of these two men, they protect us." Moreover, she begged to be allowed to join the criminals. The whole of Sweden was confused and confused because of the girl's behavior.

On the third day of the abduction, radio channels reported that the police were planning to drill a hole in the wall to carry out a gas attack. Of course, the kidnappers and their victims also listened to the radio. On August 28, Jan-Erik Olsson began to lose patience and lost his temper, shooting the ceiling and wounding a policeman.

At the same time, the hostages completely obeyed the kidnappers, carried out all their orders, even sympathizing with them. Olsson later stated in court that "they made it so that we just couldn't kill them." In his memoirs, Olsson also wrote that "several times the hostages stood up as a human shield so that the police could not shoot us."

At 9 o'clock, the gas attack still took place, the agents were able to break into the bank building and neutralize the criminals. During the rescue operation, Kristin Enmark shouted: "Don't touch them, they didn't do anything to us." And already on the way out of the bank, in front of hundreds of press cameras aimed at them, she threw to Clark Olofsson: "See you soon."

The behavior of Enmark and the other victims of the abduction plunged the country into contradictions. "I'm not afraid of them anymore, but I'm afraid of the police," Enmark said. Elisabeth Oldgren later admitted that she thought Olsson was "very kind" because he allowed her to move while she was lying on the floor of the bank. Sefstrom said that he was even grateful to the kidnappers. "When Olsson treated us well, we considered him almost a god."

Jan-Erik Olsson (pictured) was granted amnesty after 8 years in prison and, after taking up his old ways and being on the national and international wanted list, moved to Thailand with his family. By the way, in prison Olsson received many letters from fans, one of whom he later married.

Later, the girl quit the bank, studied sociology and became a psychotherapist for drug addicts, wrote and published the book "I Had Stockholm Syndrome" (I Had Stockholm Syndrome).

Enmark admitted that she had special feelings for one of the criminals, Clark Olofsson. Even a few months after the abduction, she continued to visit him regularly in prison, exchanging letters.