Witnesses' accounts as texts and other materials

Pål had an office located vis-avis the bomb truck in the R4 Government Building. In this letter, written on 26 July 2011, he tells friends and acquaintances that he is safe. The letter is reproduced here with permission from Pål.

Lisbeth lost her daughter Synne on Utøya on 22 July 2011. This text is an excerpt from a radio script (03.07.2016), which Lisbeth shared with the 22 July Centre.

Natia was on Utøya as an international guest from Georgia on 22 July 2011. This text was printed in the newspaper Morgenbladet on 28 July 2017 and is reproduced with permission from the author.

When Synnøve was 16, she wrote this poem about the terror attack on Utøya. Her brother survived the attack.

Nille was at work in the Y-block and survived the bomb in the Government Quarter. In this text, she talks about life after 22 July – about getting PTSD, and getting well again.

Stian was 17 in 2011, and one of those who survived the attack on Utøya. In August 2011, Stian's witness account was written by journalist Hege Holm, in connection with a book project.

Tonje was 19 in 2011, and survived the terror on Utøya. Tonje wrote this text in 2016, as part of a bachelor's thesis about the teacher's role in dealing with traumatized students.

Kine's son was 8 years old when he witnessed the terror on Utøya while on holiday with his grandparents at Utvika camping. In this poem, Kine describes her son's experiences on 22 July 2011, and her own, as she was the one who lost a child.

Steinar Barstad worked at the Ministry of Health and Care. On 22 July, he left his office in the S block, and walked across Einar Gerhardsen's place a few minutes before the bomb went off. A few weeks later, he wrote the poem "The Year of the Rose", as part of his work on processing grief and anger.

Steven Wiee is from Stavanger. He joined AUF in 2008 and participated in the summer camp on Utøya in 2011 for the first time. He was then 18 years old. He was very much looking forward to the summer idyll and politics on the island. But it ended up being a nightmare. He is currently a stand-up comedian and will finish his nursing education in a few years.

On 22 July, Henrik was killed on Utøya, and Mona had to live on without her little brother. Through a Twitter thread that she opened on 3 August 2020, we get to know Henrik André Pedersen. The thread is reproduced here in its entirety, by agreement with Mona Johannessen.

Ida was 25 when she survived the attack at AUF's summer camp at Utøya in 2011. Here, she tells her story to participants in Democracy teaching at Utøya, together with Lill-Hege and Oddvar who she met that day in 2011.