Defiant: Tess Asplund, 42, stepped out in front of 300 Nazis marching through the city of Borlange, Sweden, and faced its leaders with her fist in the air.,TT News Agency Press Association Images // Daily Mail
The photograph of her brave and defiant action has been shared by thousands of Scandinavians on Twitter and Facebook, and the snap is already being hailed as an iconic moment in modern Swedish history.
Ms Asplund had been taking part in a counter demonstration, organised by Dalarna Against Racism, to protest the Nazi march in Borlange on Sunday.
Speaking to local media, Ms Asplund, from Stockholm, says she is shocked that the photograph has had such spread online in the past few days.
'I normally stand with a raised fist at demonstrations, this is not new to me,' Ms Asplund, who has been an activist for 26 years, told P4 Dalarna.
'I just felt when they came walking that "you shouldn't be here" and then one of them stared at me and I stared back. He said nothing and I said nothing, and then the police came and removed me.'
The militant right-wing extremist organisation calling itself Nordiska motståndsrörelsen (Nordic Resistance Movement) had gathered a total of around 330 people in its demonstration on May Day in Borlange
Brave: Ms Asplund faced the right-wing extremists as they marched down the street before she was removed by police
Protester: The 42-year-old was taking part in a counter-demonstration taking action against the right-wing extremists
When asked if she had been scared to face the Nordic Resistance Movement - many of whom have convictions for violent crimes - Ms Asplund simply said: 'I am not afraid of them.'
Photographer David Lagerlof, who captured Ms Asplund's action, wrote on his Facebook page about the snap: 'A single woman steps out into the street and stands in front of Sweden's most violent Nazi organisation.
'The place is Borlänge, 1st May, where the Nazi's have gotten a demonstration permit. In a single gesture, the woman then raises her fist and refuses to move. "What is she thinking?" is my surprised reaction while I raise the camera to take the picture
'In front of her, the organisations leader set moves closer in solemn silence. The woman's gaze meets that of the man in the middle, the leader of the nazi organisation who appears to stare back at her
'There is a short "battle of the gazes" before the police steps in and removes the woman.'
Despite knowing that members of Nordic Resistance Movement have convictions of violent crimes, Ms Asplund said that she had not been afraid to take a stand against the Nazis
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