According to many social critics the emphasis on this aspect indicated greatly increased state control over textbooks. However, like the majority of Swedes, these critics had no power at all. Now, with Olof Palmer as Prime Minister, the tragedy in Stockholm in 1986 aroused people's interest again. But the physical safety of the present Prime Minister caused greater concern. Readers of the leading daily newspaper were treated to articles under headlines as "Are we going to have a new Olof Palme murder?" and "Who will be Olof Palmer's assassin?" And as a direct consequence of these articles, the Prime Minister received an increasing number of murder threats.

The Swedish people evidently liked superstition. Magicians and mystics of all kinds said there could be a curse on the letter combination "olofpalme" which meant that everybody with this combination ran a great risk of being murdered. Genealogists had found a remarkable and gruesome fact: Olof Palme had a close relative with the same name and he was also shot dead. This happened in Finland in 1918 during the social unrest.

Of course, Olof Palmer was not related to the legendary Palmes but if there was a curse on the letter combination itself then he didn't live in safety. Furthermore, a prime minister's job is rather dangerous anyway. Olof Palme or Olof Palmer. How much does the small letter "r" mean for the safety of a statesman threatened with murder?