Oslo - Day 2 - Utoya Island

After visiting the parliament building, we took a bus out of town about 45 min drive to Utoya Island.  

The wildflowers along the side of the road were beautiful.

I knew a little bit of the history, but not much.  There was a mass shooting at a youth camp there in 2011.  I remember the event in the news, but with so many mass shootings in the US and the every changing news cycle, it didn't make a deep impression on me.  This is really sad to acknowledge.  I'm glad I got a chance to visit the island and talk with Norweigans who were deeply and personally impacted by the terrible tragedy.

The ferry ride was 5 short minutes just standing like cattle on this small ferry.

The island is owned by the Workers Youth League, affiliated with the Labor Party.  Youth have been attending events, camps, and democracy workshops there since the 1950's.  Events are run by the Youth League not the Party (you can be a member till you are 35 our guide said).  It is not a big island (about 26 acres) and is just a short hop across the water in a small ferry. 

We started our visit in the recently built conference building, listening to the story of Jorgen Frydnes, the current head of the Nobel Peace Committee.  He was appointed in 2011 after the shootings to help restore and bring healing to Utoya.  He told about how he visited each family who lost a loved one and listened to them tell stories of their loved one and talk about what they would like the future of Utoya to be.  He describe how hard this was, "standing through the discomfort" and listening well.  He shared how they eventually came to agreement that the camp should re-open and continue to serve youth who were passionate about upholding democratic principles, but they needed to find a way to honor the dead and heal some of the pain that the survivors and the bereaved faced. [Frydnes has written a book about this: No Man is an Island].

There were lots of youth groups there when we arrived. 

We then got to begin our tour around the island, learning more about the day of the shooting and the steps the country has taken since that time.  We began on a steep grassy hillside, looking down at a simple covered stage.  Our guide (one of the camp staff members) told about how hundreds of teens attend political debates and discussions in this space.  They sit on the hillside and listen to each other and to invited guests discuss a wide range of political and other topics ranging from Ukraine to Gaza to whether video refs should be used in soccer matches (lol).  Our guide recounted when the current Prime Minister (from the Labor Party), visited the camp and spoke.  He then sat down in the light rain on the muddy grass and more than 10 youth took turns at the podium telling him directly what they didn't like about his current policies.  He listened and then returned to the podium to respond to their criticisms.  This is what democracy and accountability should look like.  I couldn't help by contrast this in my mind with current members of Congress in the US who won't even hold town hall meetings with their constituents right now because they are afraid of people protesting their lack of leadership. I can't even imagine them going out to a youth camp and listening to critical teens in the rain and taking time to respond to them!  The youth educate themselves, debate with each other, and advocate for their policy preferences with political leaders.  We can only dream of this level of engagement and defense of democratic values in the US right now. 

Looking up the hillside (stage to the right)

Looking down the hill to the stage

We then walked through an older building that had been turned into a history site with lots of background on the founding of the camp.  

We then walked along a path and came to the 'school building' - a bunk house and meeting space not far from the cafeteria.  The attacks on July 22, 2011 began with a massive car bomb attack on a government building in Oslo.  The attacker then drove to the camp.  Dressed as a policeman, he had the ferryman take him across to 'make sure the kids were ok'.  Once on the island, he shot the ferryman, the camp manager and several guards and then headed to the cafeteria.  Those at the school house building realized something was wrong and pulled as many as they could inside, barricaded the door and pushed the youngest kids under the beds.  The shooter briefly tried to get in, but decided against it.  We were told he considered lighting a fire to smoke them out, but was captured before that could happen.

The 'school house' - which has been renovated with the helping hands of the bereaved families.

We continued along the 'love trail' that goes around the island and heard about how the kids had fled the cafeteria for the woods to hide.  Some entered the water, swam around the island toward the mainland and swam across or were picked up by local residents in their boats.  Some were shot in the water and one was killed.  As we walked the path, we saw two memorials where people had been killed trying to escape. 

Further along the path, our guide told us about why the path was called the love trail...apparently many youth fall in love while at the camp and they will walk hand in hand on the trail.  He told one story of an 18 year old who had proposed to his future wife with pineapple can lid ring.  Our guide wanted us to know that there were many happy memories at this place too. He actually first asked his partner to start dating on the path.  He described it as a place filled with complex emotions for people.

We then visited the "value tree" where everyone who attends a workshop or event visits before they leave the island.  They hang their "values" on the tree.  Most were written in Norweigan, but he read several for us.  Love for others, hope, justice, all came out as themes. 

The Value Tree

You only live once.  Live every day fully. 

We finally approached the cafeteria that has been preserved. There had been a lot of debate about what to do with this site where 13 kids had been gunned down.  Some had wanted to burn down the building, others wanted it preserved.  People were concerned that leaving as it was would be a visual trauma for visitors, so they came up with an elegant solution - they built another building around the cafeteria.  It symbolically has 495 vertical wooden slates in the walls - symbolizing the 495 survivors of the attack.  Inside there are 69 pillars that uphold the shell roof above the older building.  They represent those who were killed.  The cafeteria remains with bullet holes in the walls and pictures of those killed in the spots where they fell.  One of the most poinant displays was a list of the texts between the children at the camp with their families while the gunman was hunting for more victims.  Parents were checking in with their kids after the bombing in Oslo and the kids were like "we're at a remote came, the safest place in the world", only it wasn't in the end.  The terror they felt was palpable in the texts.  Outside of the original building, there is an education area with activities related to many aspects of strengthening democracy.

The windows are slightly reflective so you can't see the older building inside.  This is a protection for the survivors who don't want to see it and be reminded of what happened on that day. 

You can see the larger pillars supporting the new roof here, and the older building inside the new one.

It is a very peaceful view out the large windows.

Our last stop was in the final memorial to all of those who were lost that day. It is on the one part of the island where no one was killed.  The families of the victims came together to create a clearing and lay paving stones for the space.  The central metal ring contains the names of all of the victims.  They chose the ring design because there is no first or last name on a list.  On each victim's birthday each year, a flower is placed through the engraving of their name.  It's a beautiful memorial and very peaceful.  We were told that initially only 60 of the 69 families gave permission to place their child's name on the memorial, but the other 9 eventually reached a point in their grieving where they chose to include their child's name too.  I was struck throughout by the care that people took for the Bereaved.  It seems in the news that you hear about victims, and sometimes survivors, but very little attention is placed on those who lost a loved one, especially as time goes by, but the entire country (and especially Jorgen) seemed zeroed in on helping these families heal.  Jorgen mentioned that the land heals itself (you can't see much evidence of the violence in the landscape), but people need more care.  

The camp closed for 3 years while people discussed what should be done.  Since the gunman had taken action to try to silence the Labor Party youth and prevent them from recruiting new members, everyone felt strongly that the camp needed to reopen and continue its work. Following the Norweigan concept of "dugnad" or voluntary community work for a common purpose, many families came together to build not only the memorial, but a new main building.  This felt very restorative.  The guide shared that many more youth visit the island for workshops now than before 2011. 

Although no one asked about and no one offered info about the perpetrator, I did look him up. Anders Breivik surrendered to authorities when they arrived at the island.  He was tried and convicted (and not found incompetent to stand trial).  He opposed the policies of the Labor Party for letting in too many immigrants (particularly Muslims).  He was sentenced to 21 years with a possible extension of 5 years if he is found to still be a threat to society. 

A day well spent.  It's truly one of those "you had to be there" moments, but I hope my words have given people some idea of the power of this place.