Airdate: The Day Stockholm Became a Syndrome

Feature documentary The Day Stockholm Became a Syndrome, on iwonder, tells the story of the 1973 Swedish bank robbery in which hostages began to side with their captors.

Adrian Chia, Head of Content at iwonder says: “This is a remarkable story of an extraordinary event which left an enduring mark on psychology, criminality, and even pop culture. Fifty years on, to hear from the charismatic lead robber, his accomplice, and the hostages who became their defenders, offers a compelling insight into a phenomenon that continues to capture the imagination of storytellers and students of the mind.”

On August 23, 1973, one of Sweden’s most notorious criminals of the 20th Century entered a bank in central Stockholm wearing makeup, a ladies’ wig and a pair of sunglasses. He took out a submachine gun and fired a round into the ceiling, shouting “The party starts!”. Over the course of the six day siege that followed, the psychological impression he made on the six hostages he took gave birth to a new phenomenon, explored in The Day Stockholm Became a Syndrome, only on iwonder from Thursday.

Stockholm Syndrome is a way of describing the emotional bonds which some people can form with a captor or abuser. And it all started in that bank in Stockholm.

During the siege, despite being held against their will in a dangerous situation, the four hostages bonded with the bank robbers and turned against the police. They continued to defend their captors after their release and refused to testify against them. In fact, they even raised money for the bank robbers’ defence. This survival mechanism came to be known as “Stockholm Syndrome.”

In this film, fifty years after the events, we hear directly from the hostages, the bank robbers and the police, to understand more about what happened during those six eventful days.

Thursday 18th August on iwonder.