Admiring Your Abusers
The “Stockholm Syndrome” story
When one falls in love with their abuser or captor, we say that they’ve caught an unfortunate case of the “Stockholm syndrome.”
While most people know this because of its use in crime dramas and psychological thrillers, not as many know the story behind its name. The term was coined from an odd hostage situation that took place back in 1973.
The Norrmalmstorg Robbery
In August 1973 in Stockholm, Sweden, an incident is now known as the “Norrmalmstorg Robbery” unfolded.
Jan-Erik Olsson, a criminal, convicted of several armed robberies in Sweden, was just released from prison. It didn’t take him long before he headed into a bank in Norrmalmstorg Square to commit a crime once again.
Inside the bank, Jan-Erik immediately fired shots, wounding one officer. He then took four innocent people hostage and made several demands to authorities.
The hostage-taker wanted his accomplice named Clark Olofsson to be brought to the bank along with two guns, bulletproof vests, helmets, a car, and three million kronor — the Swedish form of…
