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I was 13 years old. It was 1962. I was in my hometown dentist's building and went to the bathroom before my appointment. (Yes, I was by myself, when i was a teenager, in Sweden, one could move freely around town - or so we thought...)
Someone tried to open the bathroom door, knocked on the door. I got nervous. I came out from the bathroom and a man in perhaps his 20's was standing outside. Dark hair, sharply dressed in a grey suit. He said something to me about waiting for me, i can't remember exactly.
I went in for my dentist appointment and when I came out he was there, waiting for me. I was very scared and didn't know how to act. He said "let's go for a walk" and took my hand. I, in my youth's innocence and not knowing I had a voice, walked with him. He entered the downtown cemetery and walked to the back of it, where we entered another street named Kanongatan.
He still had my hand and I still dutifully followed him, although reluctant, nervous and scared. Men were sitting outside a business and saw us. After we passed the men, he, the perpetrator, quickly moved to the left into a grove of trees where he took my purse and hung it high up in a tree. He then threw me on the ground.
From then on, it's somewhat of a blur but I got strength from above, got up, jumped to fetch my bag and ran in my clogs toward downtown. The men at that business were still sitting outside and saw me. Nobody said anything.
I didn't tell my mother but I told teenage friends. To this day, when I am in my hometown and drive by, I remember.
