1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,160 Speaker 1: Hey everyone, it's Eaves. I just wanted to let you 2 00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: know that you'll be hearing an episode from me and 3 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: an episode from Tracy V. Wilson today. I hope you 4 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,920 Speaker 1: enjoyed the show. Welcome to This Day in History Class 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: from how Stuff Works dot com and from the desk 6 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:15,600 Speaker 1: of Stuff you Missed in History Class. It's the show 7 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:17,919 Speaker 1: where we explore the past one day at a time 8 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 1: with a quick look at what happened today in history. Hello, 9 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and 10 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 1: it's August. Nicolas Saco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed on 11 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 1: this day in What's happened after World War One in 12 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: the United States, and tensions in the country were really high, 13 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: Unemployment was really high, the economy was struggling. There's a 14 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: lot of anti immigrant sentiment. This also happened during the 15 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: First Red Scare that was an anti Bolshevik, anti anarchist panic. 16 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: One hallmark of the First Red Scare was Attorney General A. 17 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 1: Mitchell Palmer's massive series of raids and planned deep or 18 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 1: pations of suspected anarchists and radical leftists. The thing that 19 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: eventually led to these two men being executed. Was that 20 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:10,400 Speaker 1: on April fifteenth, two men were shot and killed outside 21 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: of a shoe factory in South Braintree, Massachusetts, that is 22 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,520 Speaker 1: southeast of Boston. One of the men was the paymaster 23 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: at this shoe factory. He had the money for the 24 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:24,320 Speaker 1: payroll with him. The other was his guard, and this 25 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: payroll money, which was more than fifteen thousand dollars, was stolen. 26 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:31,120 Speaker 1: Witnesses said that the group of men who committed this 27 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 1: murder and robbery looked Italian. Psacho and Vanzetti were arrested 28 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:38,399 Speaker 1: after a police officer saw them on a trolley a 29 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: couple of weeks later and thought that they looked suspicious. 30 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:45,760 Speaker 1: Law enforcement also thought that another shoe factory robbery was 31 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 1: also connected to the one in Braintree, and these were 32 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: connected through a series of abandoned cars. The Ssacho and 33 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 1: Vinzetti trial continues to be regarded as a massive miscarriage 34 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 1: of justice. These two men did not speak English very well, 35 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: and it was very clear from trial transcripts that they 36 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: did not always understand the questions being asked of them, 37 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 1: and the first interpreter that they had was also accused 38 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: of feeding them inaccurate translations. The judge allowed the prosecutors 39 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 1: to present extensive information about the two defendants having refused 40 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 1: to register for the draft in World War One, about 41 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 1: their anarchist activities. All of these were things that would 42 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: deeply prejudice the jury against them. The judge also made 43 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:33,079 Speaker 1: a number of statements that showed that he was biased 44 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: against them and already thought that they were guilty, and 45 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 1: witnesses for the defense faced a lot of intimidation on 46 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: the stand. Neither of these men had a criminal record, 47 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 1: the evidence against them was all circumstantial, and nobody could 48 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 1: explain what happened to this fifteen thousand dollars after it 49 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: had been stolen. Neither of the two men had it, 50 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:55,360 Speaker 1: neither of them had made any major purchases to explain 51 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 1: what happened to it. But in spite of all that, 52 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:00,680 Speaker 1: they were found guilty on July for teenth of nineteen 53 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: twenty one, and they were sentenced to death. There were 54 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 1: huge protests after this that asked for clemency, asked for 55 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: a new trial, and the process of appeals dragged on 56 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: for years. During that time, another man actually confessed to 57 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,239 Speaker 1: the crime in n but once this whole long appeal 58 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: process had reached its end. Adjudged sentenced the men to 59 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 1: die on April ninth, ninety seven. At that point, they've 60 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:28,800 Speaker 1: been on death row for seven years. At first, the 61 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: execution was scheduled for July tenth, and then it was 62 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 1: postponed for later in the summer. And this once again, 63 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:38,920 Speaker 1: this sentence prompted huge protests all around the world. The 64 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: Governor of Massachusetts established an advisory committee that included the 65 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: presidents of Harvard and of m i T. The Governor 66 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: wound up refusing to exercise his power of clemency in 67 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: this case, and that was something the advisory committee ultimately 68 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 1: agreed with. So in the end, Saco and Vinzitti were 69 00:03:55,760 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: executed on auguste ninety seven. The consensus is that this 70 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: trial was not fair, but there is still debate about 71 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 1: the two men's guilt. The FBI tested Ssacho's gun in 72 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty one, and the results suggested that it was 73 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: used to kill the guard in this crime, but there 74 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,800 Speaker 1: is no clear evidence tying Vanzetti to the crime at all. 75 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 1: In nineteen seventy seven, leading up to the fiftieth anniversary 76 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: of their executions, Massachusetts Governor at Michael Dcoccus named August 77 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:26,799 Speaker 1: twenty three of that year Nicolas Echo and Bartelomeo Venzetti 78 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 1: Memorial Day, and went on to say quote that any 79 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 1: stigma and disgrace should be forever removed for the names 80 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 1: Nicolas Echo and Bartelomeo Venzetti, from the names of their 81 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:39,840 Speaker 1: families and descendants, and so from the name of the 82 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:43,920 Speaker 1: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. And I hereby call upon all the 83 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 1: people of Massachusetts to pause in their daily endeavors to 84 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: reflect upon these tragic events that draw from their historic lessons. 85 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 1: The resolve to prevent the forces of intolerance, fear, and 86 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: hatred from ever again uniting to overcome rash anality, wisdom, 87 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:04,599 Speaker 1: and fairness to which our legal system aspires. Thanks to 88 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 1: Tari Harrison for her audio work on this podcast, and 89 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:10,600 Speaker 1: you can learn more about this in the August five, 90 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:13,520 Speaker 1: two thousand nine episode of Stuff You Missed in History Class. 91 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:16,479 Speaker 1: You can subscribe to This Day in History Class on 92 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:20,000 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and wherever else you get your podcasts, 93 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:22,680 Speaker 1: and you can tune in tomorrow for an infamous eruption. 94 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: Hey guys, welcome to This Day in History Class, where 95 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: we bring you a new tidbit from history every day. 96 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: The day was August twenty three, nineteen seventy three. On 97 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 1: leave from prison, Jan Eric Olsen entered this veryages Credit 98 00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: bank busy bank in Stockholm, Sweden. He was equipped with 99 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: a submachine gun, ammunition, explosives, a knife, walkie talkies, a transistor, radio, 100 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,839 Speaker 1: and other materials to assist him in his planned bank robbery. 101 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:16,680 Speaker 1: The robbery turned into a six day hostage crisis that 102 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:21,480 Speaker 1: led to the coining of the term Stockholm syndrome. When 103 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:25,600 Speaker 1: he entered the bank, Olson wore toy glasses, a brown wig, 104 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:29,880 Speaker 1: and makeup to disguise his appearance. He spoke English with 105 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:33,960 Speaker 1: an American accent, hoping he would be mistaken for a foreigner. 106 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:38,479 Speaker 1: He fired his submachine gun at the ceiling, saying the 107 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 1: party has just begun. Olsen took four bank employees hostage. 108 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:48,000 Speaker 1: Over the following days, Olsen would make more references to 109 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 1: US pop culture. He demanded seven dred and ten thousand 110 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 1: dollars from the police and a getaway car. He also 111 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 1: called for his friend Clark Olafson to be released from prison. 112 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: Olafson was in prison for armed robbery and being an 113 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: accessory in the murder of a police officer. Law enforcement 114 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 1: did honor in most of Olsen's requests. Olafson was released 115 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:18,760 Speaker 1: from prison and escorted into the bank, and police got 116 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: them a blue Ford Mustang and the ransom, but police 117 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 1: refused to let the hostages ride in the car with 118 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: Olsen in helmets and bulletproof vests as he demanded for 119 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: safe passage, so a standoff ensued. The hostage crisis was 120 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:40,840 Speaker 1: covered extensively in print and on television. People gave police 121 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: unsolicited suggestions on how to end the standoff. Meanwhile, inside 122 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:51,160 Speaker 1: the bank, the hostages were held inside a vault. One 123 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:53,840 Speaker 1: of the hostages said that she was more afraid of 124 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:57,880 Speaker 1: the policeman than Olsen and Olafson, and that they were 125 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:01,640 Speaker 1: having a good time in the bank. Olsen gave one 126 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: hostage a wool jacket when she was cold, and he 127 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: consoled another when she could not get in touch with 128 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: her family over the phone. He let another leave the 129 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: vault attached to a rope so she could have some 130 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: relief from the cramped space. Hostage spin Softstrom said that 131 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: when Olsen treated them well, they could quote think of 132 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:28,240 Speaker 1: him as an emergency god. When the police commissioner went 133 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:30,840 Speaker 1: into the bank to check on the hostages health. He 134 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,559 Speaker 1: noted that they were more hostile toward him than their captors. 135 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: They trusted Olsen and Oliveson to take them away in 136 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:41,680 Speaker 1: the car safely, but we're scared that the police's actions 137 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:46,319 Speaker 1: would cause their death. The captors threatened to harm their hostages, 138 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:50,439 Speaker 1: but they never did, although Oliveson did wound a police 139 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:53,440 Speaker 1: officer by firing into a hole the police had drilled 140 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:58,080 Speaker 1: into the vault. On the night of August, the police 141 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:01,840 Speaker 1: sent tear gas into the bank ball and the robbers surrendered. 142 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: As they exited the building, the hostages wanted to walk 143 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 1: out in front so police would not shoot the robbers. 144 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:13,319 Speaker 1: The police and the public were confused by the hostages 145 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:17,679 Speaker 1: attachment to their captors. Psychiatrists said that the hostages were 146 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 1: grateful that their captors did not kill them and were 147 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 1: emotionally indebted to them. One psychologist coined the term Stockholm 148 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 1: syndrome to describe the phenomenon, though it wasn't widely used 149 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:34,600 Speaker 1: until later. Olson and Oliveson both were sentenced to prison, 150 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:40,040 Speaker 1: but Olipson's conviction was overturned in appeals court. I'm Eve 151 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: Jeff Coote and hopefully you know a little more about 152 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:47,040 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. If there are any 153 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: upcoming days in history that you'd really like me to 154 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:52,400 Speaker 1: cover on the show, give us a shout on social 155 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: media at t D I HC podcast. Thanks for joining 156 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 1: me on this trip through history. See you here, same 157 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:12,680 Speaker 1: place tomorrow. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit 158 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:15,120 Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 159 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:16,280 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.