Norway remembers the massacre of July 22

CandlePhoto: David Tomaseti / Unsplash

On July 22, 2011, two terrorist attacks were committed in Norway. In one day, 77 lives were taken by a single perpetrator.

This article intends to inform readers about the facts surrounding one of the worst days in Norway’s history, a decade later.

Facts about the terrorist attacks of July 22, 2011

  • Just after 2:00 PM on July 22, 2011, Norwegian Anders Breivik (then 32 years old) emailed a neo-nazi manifesto to over 1000 people, including Norwegian politicians and journalists.
  • At 3:17 PM on July 22, 2011, Breivik parked a white van with a 950-kilogram bomb inside at the Government Quarter (Regjeringskvartalet) in central Oslo. He then left in a different vehicle toward Utøya island.
  • At 3:25 PM on July 22, 2011, the bomb exploded. Eight people were killed and around 30 were injured. Government buildings were extensively damaged.
  • Breivik arrived to Utøya Island two hours later.
  • At 5:21 PM on July 22, 2011, Breivik, dressed as a police officer, began carrying out a shooting massacre on the island. At the time of the shooting, a Labor Party youth summer camp was ongoing. 69 people, most of whom were teenagers and young adults, were killed. Around 60 were injured. There were 564 people on the island during the massacre.
  • At 6:34 PM on July 22, 2011, Breivik gave himself up to law enforcement. He was the single perpetrator of the attacks.
  • On July 25, 2011, over 150,000 Norwegians gathered in Oslo carrying white and red roses in memory of the 77 people who were killed.
  • On April 16, 2012, Breivik, who in 2017 changed his name to Fjotolf Hansen, was put on trial for the attacks. Seven days later, the domestic terrorist was found guilty and sentenced to Norway’s maximum 21 years in prison (with the possibility of indefinite extension).

Facts about Utøya Island

  • Utøya is an island on Lake Tyrifjord in Buskerud.
  • The island is owned by Arbeidernes ungdomsfylking (AUF), which is the social-democratic Labor Party’s youth organization.
  • In 1950, Utøya was donated to AUF by a trade union, which had owned the island from 1933.
  • The island has since been one of the country’s most important campsites. It’s best known as the site of the Labor Party’s annual youth summer camp.
  • In August of 2015, the youth of the Labor Party “reclaimed” their island, with the annual summer camp recommencing for the first time since the attacks.

Now, it’s been a full decade since the day that left a scar on Norway forever.

On July 22, 2021, Oslo, Utøya, all of Norway, and beyond, grieve.

Today, and every day, we remember the lives that were lost a decade ago.

Source: ©️ NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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