Editing Norrmalmstorg robbery

{{Short description|1973 bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title            = Norrmalmstorg robbery
| partof           = 
| image            = Former Kreditbanken Norrmalmstorg Stockholm Sweden.jpg
| caption          = Front view of the former [[Kreditbanken]] building at [[Norrmalmstorg]] in 2005
| location         = [[Norrmalmstorg]], [[Stockholm]], Sweden
| date             = 23–28 August 1973
| time             = 
| timezone         = 
| type             = [[Bank robbery]], [[hostage taking]]
| fatalities       = 
| injuries         = 2
| perps            = [[Jan-Erik Olsson]] and [[Clark Olofsson]]
| weapons          = Various
}}

The '''Norrmalmstorg robbery''' was a bank robbery and hostage crisis that occurred at the [[Norrmalmstorg]] Square in [[Stockholm]], [[Sweden]], in August 1973 and was the first crime in Sweden to be covered by live television.  It is best known as the origin of the term ''[[Stockholm syndrome]]''.<ref name="40-ar-sedan"/>

[[Jan-Erik Olsson]] was a convicted criminal who had disappeared while on [[Prison furlough|furlough from prison]] and then held up the [[Kreditbanken]] bank, taking four hostages in the process. During the negotiations that followed, Swedish Minister of Justice [[Lennart Geijer]] allowed Olsson's former cellmate and friend [[Clark Olofsson]] to be brought from prison to the bank. Although Olofsson was a long-time career criminal, it was deemed unlikely that he was in league with Olsson.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WgtzDQAAQBAJ&q=Lennart+Geijer+%26+Norrmalmstorg&pg=PT38 |title = Dramat på Norrmalmstorg: 23 till 28 augusti 1973|isbn = 978-9100169350|last1 = Svensson|first1 = Per|date = 2016| publisher=Albert Bonniers Förlag }}</ref> In the popular account, the hostages then bonded with their captors and refused to cooperate with police. However, it has also been argued that the hostages were simply distrustful of the police given the latter's willingness to risk the hostages' safety.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hill|first=Jess|title=See What You Made Me Do: Power, Control and Domestic Abuse|publisher=Black Inc.|year=2019|isbn=978-1760641405|oclc=1246246503|location=Melbourne}}</ref> Police finally mounted a tear-gas attack five days into the crisis, and the robbers surrendered.

Olsson was sentenced to 10 years for the robbery, and Olofsson was ultimately acquitted. The counter-intuitive actions of the hostages led to a great deal of academic and public interest in the case, including a 2003 Swedish television film titled ''Norrmalmstorg'', a 2018 Canadian film titled ''[[Stockholm (2018 film)|Stockholm]]'' and a 2022 Swedish Netflix television series ''[[Clark (TV series)|Clark]]''.<ref name=netflix>{{Cite web|url=https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/swedish-crime-drama-series-clark-on-netflix-everything-we-know-so-far|title=Swedish Crime-Drama Series 'Clark' on Netflix: Everything We Know So Far|date=14 December 2021|website=Netflix}}</ref>

== Events ==
Jan-Erik Olsson was on leave from prison on August 23, 1973, when he went into [[Kreditbanken]] on [[Norrmalmstorg]], [[Stockholm]] and attempted to rob it.<ref name="ne">{{cite encyclopedia |title = Norrmalmstorgsdramat|encyclopedia = [[Nationalencyklopedin]]|language = sv|url = http://www.ne.se/norrmalmstorgsdramat|accessdate = 30 October 2010|url-access=subscription}}</ref> [[Swedish police]] were notified shortly after and arrived on the scene. One officer, Ingemar Warpefeldt, suffered injuries to his hand after Olsson opened fire,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url = http://wwwc.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/9905/02/clark.html|title = Rånarens krav: släpp Clark fri|last = Karlsson|first = Jan|date = 2 May 1999|work = [[Aftonbladet]]|access-date = 16 June 2015|language = sv|trans-title = The robbers demand: set Clark free|page = 17}}</ref> while another was ordered to sit in a chair and sing a song.<ref name=":0"/> Olsson then took four bank employees hostage: Birgitta Lundblad, Elisabeth Oldgren, Kristin Enmark, and Sven Säfström.<ref name="the-bank-drama"/> He demanded his friend Clark Olofsson be brought there,<ref>{{cite news |title=Stockholm Police Lock Gunman, Others in a Vault |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/26/archives/stockholm-police-lock-gunman-others-in-a-vault.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |issue=42218|volume=122 |date=26 August 1973}}</ref> along with three million [[Swedish kronor]], two guns, bulletproof vests, helmets and a [[Ford Mustang]].<ref name=ne /><ref>Serena, Katie. [https://allthatsinteresting.com/stockholm-syndrome Stockholm Syndrome And The Strange Bank Robbery Behind It] ''All That’s Interesting'', February 19, 2018, updated May 1, 2019.</ref>

Olsson was initially misidentified as Kaj Hansson,<ref>{{cite news |title=Swedish Robber Holds Hostages 2d Day |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=24 August 1973|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/25/archives/swedish-robber-holds-hostages-2d-day.html }}</ref> another escaped prisoner, and someone who specialized in bank robberies.<ref name="the-bank-drama">{{cite magazine |last= Lang|first= Daniel|date= November 18, 1974|title= The Bank Drama|magazine= [[The New Yorker]]|url= https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1974/11/25/the-bank-drama|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221023020818/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1974/11/25/the-bank-drama|archive-date= Oct 23, 2022}}</ref> Olsson was a repeat offender who had committed several armed robberies and acts of violence, the first when he was 16.<ref name="40-ar-sedan">{{Cite web|url=https://www.expressen.se/tv/nyheter/40-ar-sedan-dramat-vid-norrmalmstorg/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701071332/http://www.expressen.se/tv/nyheter/inrikes/40-ar-sedan-dramat-vid-norrmalmstorg/|url-status=dead|title=40 år sedan dramat vid Norrmalmstorg|archivedate=July 1, 2015|website=[[Expressen]]}}</ref>

The government gave permission for Olofsson to be brought as a communication link with the police negotiators. The hostage Kristin Enmark said that she felt safe with Olsson and Olofsson but feared that the police might escalate the situation by using violent methods.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.com/news/stockholm-syndrome|title=The Birth of "Stockholm Syndrome," 40 Years Ago – History in the Headlines|access-date=14 August 2016}}</ref> Olsson and Olofsson barricaded the inner main vault in which they kept the hostages. Negotiators agreed that they could have a car to escape but would not allow them to take hostages with them if they tried to leave.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nilsbejerot.se/sexdagar.pdf |title=Nils Bejerot: Strategin i sexdagarskriget vid Norrmalmstorg |accessdate=2019-08-05 |archive-date=2016-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418131500/http://www.nilsbejerot.se/sexdagar.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Olsson called [[Swedish Prime Minister]] [[Olof Palme]] and said that he would kill the hostages and backed up his threat by grabbing one of them in a stranglehold. She was heard screaming as he hung up.<ref name=":0"/> The next day, the hostage Kristin Enmark called Palme and said that she was very displeased with his attitude and asked him to let the robbers and the hostages leave.<ref name=":0"/><ref>{{cite web|website= [[Sveriges Radio]]|language=sv |title= Lyssna på Kristin Enmark prata med Olof Palme under gisslandramat|trans-title= Listen to Kristin Enmark talk to Olof Palme during the hostage drama|date= 5 Oct 2015|url= https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/6270898}}</ref>

Olofsson walked around the vault and sang [[Roberta Flack]]'s "[[Killing Me Softly with His Song|Killing Me Softly]]".<ref name=":0"/> On August 26, the police drilled a hole into the main vault from the apartment above and took a widely circulated photograph of the hostages with Olofsson.<ref>https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1974/11/25/the-bank-drama</ref> Olsson fired his weapon into the hole on two occasions and wounded a police officer in the hand and face.<ref name="40-ar-sedan"/>

Olsson had fired his weapon and threatened to kill the hostages if any gas attack was attempted.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=1602&artikel=5622207|title=40 år sedan Norrmalmstorgsdramat – Avgörande ögonblick|website=[[Sveriges Radio]]|language=sv|access-date=2019-06-07}}</ref> Nonetheless, on August 28 police used [[tear gas]], and Olsson and Olofsson surrendered after an hour. None of the hostages sustained permanent injuries.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kamm |first1=Henry |title=Stockholm Police Seize 2 in Vault, Free 4 Hostages |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/29/archives/stockholm-police-seize-2-in-vault-free-4-hostages-3-women-leave.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |issue=42221|volume=122 |date=29 August 1973}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
Both Olsson and Olofsson were convicted, and Olofsson was sentenced to an extended prison term for the robbery. He claimed, however, that he had not helped Olsson but had only tried to save the hostages by keeping the situation calm. He was later acquitted in the [[Svea Court of Appeal]] and served only the remainder of his prior sentence. He went on to meet the hostage Kristin Enmark several times, and their families became friends. He also committed several more crimes.<ref name="AB 2000-05-21">{{cite news |url=http://wwwc.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/0005/21/clark.html |newspaper=[[Aftonbladet]] |title=Exklusiv intervju med Clark Olofsson |first=Suzanne |last=Kordon |date=21 May 2000 |accessdate=21 July 2008 |language=sv |archive-date=7 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107195412/https://wwwc.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/0005/21/clark.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Olsson was sentenced to 10 years in prison.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldcrunch.com/default/forty-years-ago-a-swedish-bank-robber-gave-us-quot-stockholm-syndrome-quot-/stockholm-syndrome-jan-erik-olsson-hostage-hostages/c0s13206/ |website=Worldcrunch|title=Forty Years Ago, A Swedish Bank Robber Gave Us "Stockholm Syndrome"|accessdate=2013-08-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011004222/http://www.worldcrunch.com/default/forty-years-ago-a-swedish-bank-robber-gave-us-quot-stockholm-syndrome-quot-/stockholm-syndrome-jan-erik-olsson-hostage-hostages/c0s13206/ |archive-date=2014-10-11}}</ref> He received many admiring letters from women who found him attractive. He later got engaged to a woman who was not, despite what some state, one of the former hostages.<ref name="annin1985">{{cite magazine |last=Annin |first=Peter |date=8 July 1985 |title=Hostages: Living in The Aftermath |magazine=U.S. News & World Report |page=34 |quote=Two women even became engaged to two of the hostage takers.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2013-08-21 |title=What is Stockholm syndrome? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22447726 |access-date=2025-02-11 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> After his release, he is alleged to have committed further crimes. After having been on the run from Swedish authorities for ten years for alleged financial crimes, he turned himself in to police in 2006, only to be told that the charges were no longer being actively pursued.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.expressen.se/kvallsposten/janne-olsson-anmalde-sig-sjalv/|title=Janne Olsson anmälde sig själv {{!}} Kvällsposten|website=[[Expressen]]|language=sv|access-date=2019-06-07}}</ref>

The hostages sympathised{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} with their captors, which has led to academic interest in the matter. The [[Swedish language|Swedish]] term {{lang|sv|Norrmalmstorgssyndromet}} (lit. "the Norrmalmstorg syndrome"), later known as [[Stockholm syndrome]], was coined by the [[criminology|criminologist]] [[Nils Bejerot]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ne.se/uppslagsverk/encyklopedi/l%C3%A5ng/nils-bejerot|title=Nils Bejerot – Uppslagsverk – NE.se|website=www.ne.se|access-date=2019-06-07}}</ref> The hostages, although they were threatened by Olsson, never became violent toward the police or toward each other.<ref name="40-ar-sedan"/>

In 1996, Jan-Erik Olsson moved to northeastern [[Thailand]] with his wife and son,<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investigation/34810/inhuman-beast-finds-his-peace|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100323115623/http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investigation/34810/inhuman-beast-finds-his-peace|archive-date = March 23, 2010|url-status=dead|work=Bangkok Post|title ='Inhuman beast' finds his peace |date =21 March 2010 }}</ref> and moved back to Sweden in 2013. Olsson's [[autobiography]] ''Stockholms-syndromet'' was published in Sweden in 2009.<ref name="40-ar-sedan"/>

==In popular culture==
The 2003 television film ''{{Interlanguage link|Norrmalmstorg (film)|lt=Norrmalmstorg|sv}}'', directed by Håkan Lindhé, is loosely based on the events.<ref>{{cite news |title=Norrmalmstorgsdramat blir riktigt spännande tv |first=Jeanette |last=Gentele |url=http://www.svd.se/kultur/scen/norrmalmstorgsdramat-blir-riktigt-spannande-tv_107001.svd |newspaper=[[Svenska Dagbladet]] |date=1 September 2003 |accessdate=16 June 2013|language=sv}}</ref> A fictionalized version of the robbery is told in ''[[Stockholm (2018 film)|Stockholm]]'', a 2018 [[Canada|Canadian]] film directed by [[Robert Budreau]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2018/04/stockholm-ethan-hawke-noomi-rapace-tribeca-interview-news-1202371080/|title=Ethan Hawke & Noomi Rapace Learn True Meaning Of 'Stockholm' Syndrome – Tribeca Studio|last=Grobar|first=Matt|date=2018-04-19|website=Deadline|language=en|access-date=2019-02-27}}</ref>

The podcast ''[[Criminal (podcast)|Criminal]]'' spoke with Olofsson about the Norrmalmstorg robbery in the episode "Hostage".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hostage|url=https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-113-hostage-04-26-2019/|date=April 26, 2019|website=[[Criminal (podcast)|Criminal]]}}</ref>

In 2022, Netflix produced a six-episode series named ''[[Clark (TV series)|Clark]]'', directed by [[Jonas Åkerlund]] and starring [[Bill Skarsgård]] as Clark Olofsson.<ref name=netflix/>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Banks}}
*[[List of hostage crises]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.damninteresting.com/sympathy-for-the-devil Police photo of hostages and captor of Norrmalmstorg robbery]
*[http://www.nilsbejerot.se/sexdagar_eng.htm Nils Bejerot: The six day war in Stockholm, New Scientist, 1974] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505070303/http://www.nilsbejerot.se/sexdagar_eng.htm |date=2008-05-05 }}

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[[Category:1973 crimes in Sweden]]
[[Category:Bank robberies]]
[[Category:Hostage taking in Sweden]]
[[Category:Crime in Stockholm]]
[[Category:1970s in Stockholm]]
[[Category:Robberies in Sweden]]
[[Category:August 1973 in Europe]]
[[Category:Organized crime events in Sweden]]
[[Category:1973 controversies]]
[[Category:Controversies in Sweden]]
[[Category:Police misconduct in Europe]]
[[Category:Law enforcement controversies]]