The author of this term is the Swedish criminalist Nils Beyert, who assisted in the release of the hostages in Stockholm in 1973. Stockholm Syndrome is a psychological condition in which the victim begins to feel empathy for the aggressor.
Examples of Stockholm Syndrome
Sweden
In 1973, Jan Erik Ulsson escaped from prison. On August 23 of the same year, he took four hostages (three women and a man) in a Stockholm bank. Ulsson put forward demands: money, car, weapons and freedom for cellmate Clark Olafsson.
Bring Olafsson to him immediately, but they did not provide cash, a car or weapons. Now the hostages were in the company of two criminals at once and they spent more than five days in the room.
In the event of an assault, Ulsson promised to kill all the hostages. The offender confirmed the seriousness of his intentions by wounding a police officer who tried to enter the premises, and making the second one, at gunpoint, to sing a song.
For two days, the situation inside the bank remained extremely tense, but after a while more trusting and even friendly relations began to develop between the hostages and robbers.
The prisoners suddenly began to sympathize with their guards and even openly criticized the police. One hostage even interceded in front of the Swedish Prime Minister, telling him during the telephone talks that she did not feel unhappy at all and that she was very good to Jan Eric. She even asked the government forces to fulfill all their demands and give them free rein.
On the sixth day, the assault began, during which all the hostages were released, and the criminals surrendered to the authorities.
The hostages, once free, began to declare in numerous interviews that they were not at all afraid of Ulsson and Ulafsson. Everyone was frightened only by the storming of the police.
Clark Ulafsson managed to avoid criminal prosecution, but Ulsson was sentenced to ten years in prison.
This story became so popular that Ian Erik had crowds of fans eager to take possession of his heart. While serving his sentence, he married one of them.
Clark Olafsson met with one of the hostages at large, and they became friends with families.
Capture of the Japanese embassy in Peru
On December 17, 1998, a magnificent reception was held at the Japanese Embassy in Peru, where, under the guise of waiters, members of the Tupac Omar Revolutionary Movement entered the ambassador's residence. More than 500 high-ranking guests were taken hostage along with the ambassador. The invaders demanded that the Japanese authorities release all their supporters who were in prisons.
Of course, under the circumstances, there could be no question of any storming of the building, because the hostages were not mere mortals, but high-ranking government officials.
Two weeks later, the terrorists released 220 hostages. Their statements after their release surprised the Peruvian authorities somewhat. Most of the freed had a clear sympathy for the terrorists, and were afraid of the authorities, who might go to storm the building.
The hostage-taking lasted four months. At this time, the Japanese government seemed to be inactive, but in fact, experts were digging a tunnel under the residence building. The capture team sat in this secret tunnel for more than 48 hours, waiting for the right moment. The assault itself took only 16 minutes. All hostages were rescued, and all terrorists were eliminated.
