Norway opens new memorial for victims of 2011 Breivik massacre
Norway has unveiled a memorial for the 77 victims of the 2011 terror attacks by Anders Breivik, days before the 15th anniversary. The artwork, located in Oslo's government district, features a bird native to Utoeya island.
Norway on Sunday opened a new memorial for the 77 people killed in the country's deadliest peacetime terror attack, days before its 15th anniversary. On 22 July 2011, neo-Nazi Anders Breivik killed eight people with a car bomb in Oslo and shot dead another 69, mostly teenagers, on Utoeya island. Hundreds more were injured.
The memorial, called "Upholding," is located in Oslo's renovated government district, close to the site of the bomb blast. It features a large blue steel frame holding a stone mosaic of a small wading bird native to Utoeya, with straw and sticks reflected in water. Artist Matias Faldbakken said he saw the bird on the island. The names of all 77 victims are engraved on the memorial.
Survivors, relatives, Crown Prince Haakon, and government officials attended the unveiling. "July 22, 2011 was a brutal attack not only on individuals, but also on our democracy," said Merete Stamneshagen, head of a support group for victims.
Haakon also visited the new 22 July Centre, Norway's national memorial and education centre dedicated to the attacks.
In 2012, Breivik was sentenced to 21 years in prison, the maximum in Norway, but it can be extended if he remains a threat. He has challenged his sentence: in 2016 he partially won a human rights case, overturned in 2017. In 2022 he failed in a parole bid, and in 2024 he unsuccessfully sued the government over his isolation from other prisoners.
