“Even today we hear them. The world is too cool and clear for their eyes,” sings Norwegian singer Aurora words that resemble a tragic summer 2011 on the island of Utoya near Oslo. At that time, the dreams of many young people disappeared for hatred that is unprecedented.
Today, the world has been commemorated fourteen years since the worst terrorist attack in the history of Norway and the largest attack with civilian victims in its territory since World War II. It started on 22 July 2011 in the center of Oslo, where the bomb explosion in front of the headquarters of the Prime Minister lost his life for eight people. A few hours later, the attacker moved to the island of Utøya, where the summer camp of the youth youth league was held.
Anders Behring Breivik murdered 69 people, mostly teenagers. In police uniform he started shooting at young people who believed in democracy and open society.
Norway has changed since then, but questions about extremism, safe and silent society remain.
A man in a police uniform shot into children
The city was still smoking. A bomb has just exploded in the donkey center. People ran from the surrounding offices, rescuers treated the injured, journalists tried to find out who was behind the tragedy. Nobody had it yet, but it was only the first half of the attack.
One hundred kilometers away, in the bay on the island of Utøya, he was still peace. Young people talked, sat by the water, ate, some still checked phones for news from the capital. Many camp participants watched the situation in Oslo, but they said that Utøya is safe and isolated, so nothing can happen there.
Shortly before half past six, a man appeared on the shore. He had a police uniform, shortly cut hair and a certain step. He claimed to be from the police. Some believed him. Some asked him if he knew something about an explosion in Oslo. There was nothing strange about the man until the first shots fell. The man in uniform was Anders Breivik, the same who a few hours before detonated a bomb in Oslo.
There were about 600 participants in the summer camp of the AUF youth organization, mostly teenagers. When he started shooting, some ran into the forest, others tried to hide in a building on an island or under rocks. Some jumped into the water and floated. The shooter, however, also shot at them, and headed to those who were already injured on the ground.
He walked, searched, charged again. He continued for more than an hour and a half. The attacker stopped the arrival of the police a little before seven in the evening.
Some bodies were pulled out of the water before dark. Others found the next day. Shoes, towels, mobiles remained on the shore. Everything else disappeared under the surface.
The attack has been prepared for years
This act was not impulsive. The terrorist has been preparing for it for years. Already in 2009, under the false pretext, he registered a barn in the remote countryside. He claimed that he was planning to grow vegetables. In fact, he collected chemicals for bombing.
Gradually he disappeared from public life. He left his work, interrupted contacts, closed into his own world. He spent a year in seclusion, wrote a manifesto, trained shooting, played military simulations, studied instructions and watched the attacks of other extremists.
The bomb attack in Oslo was supposed to be only the beginning. He originally planned more explosions, but complications forced him to change the plan. He had a single goal on Utøyi – to kill as many people as possible. He perceived the surrounding water as a natural barrier. He later described it as a “weapon” that was supposed to interfere with the escape.
He wants out of the country. Claims that he is no longer a human
Breivik is no longer known for his efforts to get out of prison. At the end of 2024, the Norwegian court again ruled that the mass murderer from Oslo and Utøye remained in prison. The second application for conditional release was dismissed by the Ringerica court on December 5, 2024. A convicted man who murdered 77 people in 2011 remains strict isolation.
The hearing was held in the gym of the prison with a maximum degree of guarding. There he appealed to the judges with his head, cut so that it shows the shaved letter Z. This is a sign of support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
He carried a sign with political slogans and hail at the entrance. He claimed that he was not a human, but a “collectivist” and “a soldier of the faction” – the ideology for which he acted in 2011. He did not show regret.
The prosecutor’s office in court argued that it was still a dangerous individual. According to expert opinions, he does not suffer from depression or suicidal tendencies, but his beliefs have not changed. Rehabilitation programs have not shown sufficient shift, so it should remain isolated.
In Norway, he is serving a sentence of 21 years with the possibility of repeated extension if the court acknowledges that he poses a threat to society. This type of punishment is called “forvaring” and is one of the strictest the legal system there.
For the first time he asked for release in 2022. Failed. He also lost the lawsuit, claiming that isolation violated his human rights. At that time, the court stated that his separation from other prisoners is appropriate and did not represent torture.
77 names that Norway remembers
A total of 77 people died on the island of Utøya and in the center of Oslo. Most of them were young participants of the Summer Camp of the Youth Organization of the Labor Party. The youngest victim was 14 years old. Several worked in municipal politics, others were members of the school councils or volunteers in local associations.
Their names today know the whole of Norway. Every year they read them out loud at memorial events in Oslo and Utøyi. Symbolically, they remain present, not as statistics, but as specific people whose lives have ended politically motivated hatred.
In several places in the country there are memorials that remind them. The National Memorial Center was established on the bank of the island on 22 July. The names of all victims are engraved on his walls.
Every year, when Norway commemorates the victims of the attack, people bring flowers, read the names of the victims, discussions are held. The memory is still a warning that extremist ideas can quickly become violence.
