On this day, 13 April 1985, Danuta Danielsson, a woman of Polish-Jewish origin whose mother had been put in a concentration camp during World War II
On this day, 13 April 1985, Danuta Danielsson, a woman of Polish-Jewish origin whose mother had been put in a concentration camp during World War II
, hit a neo-nazi on the head with her handbag in Växjö, Sweden.
, hit a neo-nazi on the head with her handbag in Växjö, Sweden.
The Nordic Reich Party (NRP), originally named Sweden’s National Socialist Struggle, had organised a march in the town. Especially in the 1980s, many members of the party involved in carrying out acts of terrorism, and crimes including murder, bombings, harassment and assault.
During their march, photographer Hans Runesson captured this iconic image of 38-year-old Danielsson hitting one of the Nazis.
Approximately 2500 residents of the town many left-wingers, also took to the streets and attacked the Nazis. First they threw eggs and tomatoes, then fights broke out. One Nazi was kicked unconscious, and in the end the Nazis fled, and had to be escorted out of the town by police for their own safety.
Local authorities in Växjö blocked plans to erect a monument to Danielsson, on the grounds that it might be seen to be "advocating aggression". Instead, a sculpture of her was built in the town of Alingsås.
The Nazi hit by Danielsson subsequently murdered a gay Jewish man, and was imprisoned.
The NRP folded in 2009, but some of its members were involved, with other fascists and white supremacists, in forming the Sweden Democrats in 1988. As of 2024, the Sweden Democrats are the largest member of Sweden’s right-wing governing bloc.
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