Palme--Unknown Man on Street

Prime Minister Olof Palme shunned the trappings that would be due him as his nation’s highest government official, and nowhere was this more evident than at the time of his death at the hands of an assassin.

Like ordinary Swedes, Palme and his wife, Lisbeth, had decided to take in a movie on the spur of the moment. They traveled part of the way from their home on the subway, and after the show, a Swedish comedy called “The Mozart Brothers,” they were walking alone, arm-in-arm, from the theater when the prime minister was struck down at about 11:30 p.m. Friday. A student nurse in a passing car who saw the killing rushed out to try to revive Palme with heart massage. Another bystander tried to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but too much blood was gushing from his mouth.

Nurse Ann Hage said Sunday that neither she nor the other Good Samaritan knew the identity of the world-renowned figure they were trying to help.

Neither did police officers when they arrived in response to a call for help. When they asked Lisbeth Palme for her identity documents, she replied, according to Hage:

“Don’t you recognize me? I’m Lisbeth Palme and this is my Olof who’s been shot.”