Thousands unite to mark Norway massacre anniversary:
Prime minister tells vigil that gunman Anders Behring Breivik failed to alter Norway's attitude to open society
Thousands of Norwegians gathered on Sunday at sombre memorials to the 77 people killed a year ago by gunman Anders Behring Breivik to show his bloody rampage had done nothing to change their dedication to an open society.
"The bomb and the shots were intended to change Norway. People responded by embracing our values. He failed, the people won," the prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, told the crowds carrying red and white roses at the memorial in central Oslo.
Breivik, who said his mostly teenage victims were traitors because they supported multiculturalism and Muslim immigration, detonated a bomb outside parliament that killed eight people, then shot dead 69 at the ruling Labour party's youth camp on Utøya island.
"Very few people can go through a day without thinking of the events of July 22," said Vegard Groeslie Wennesland, a Utøya survivor, who escaped Breivik by barricading himself in a cabin with about 50 others.
"You know, a person you miss, someone you were supposed to hang out with or seek advice from or anything like this. Or something that just reminds you of what happened."
On the island, Stoltenberg and most cabinet members joined around 1,000 survivors in songs, speeches and commemoration that included releasing a large, heart-shaped helium balloon to which they had attached personal messages.
"In the past year, young people joined the service of democracy and responded to violence with activism," Stoltenberg said.
"By meeting blind hatred with knowledge and reason, we have shown that democracy is stronger than its biggest threat."
Signs left beside flowers around Oslo Cathedral and the bombed government building repeated one after the other what has become Norway's battle cry in the past year: "If one man can create so much hatred, imagine how much love we can create together."
Closure has been difficult to achieve as Breivik's 10-week trial this year forced Norwegians to relive chilling horrors in detail day after day. A verdict is due on 24 August and a commission report on the events is expected in the coming weeks.
Breivik faces either indefinite mental care or a 21-year prison term with the possibility of indefinite extension.
Thousands of Norwegians gathered on Sunday at sombre memorials to the 77 people killed a year ago by gunman Anders Behring Breivik to show his bloody rampage had done nothing to change their dedication to an open society.
"The bomb and the shots were intended to change Norway. People responded by embracing our values. He failed, the people won," the prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, told the crowds carrying red and white roses at the memorial in central Oslo.
Breivik, who said his mostly teenage victims were traitors because they supported multiculturalism and Muslim immigration, detonated a bomb outside parliament that killed eight people, then shot dead 69 at the ruling Labour party's youth camp on Utøya island.
"Very few people can go through a day without thinking of the events of July 22," said Vegard Groeslie Wennesland, a Utøya survivor, who escaped Breivik by barricading himself in a cabin with about 50 others.
"You know, a person you miss, someone you were supposed to hang out with or seek advice from or anything like this. Or something that just reminds you of what happened."
On the island, Stoltenberg and most cabinet members joined around 1,000 survivors in songs, speeches and commemoration that included releasing a large, heart-shaped helium balloon to which they had attached personal messages.
"In the past year, young people joined the service of democracy and responded to violence with activism," Stoltenberg said.
"By meeting blind hatred with knowledge and reason, we have shown that democracy is stronger than its biggest threat."
Signs left beside flowers around Oslo Cathedral and the bombed government building repeated one after the other what has become Norway's battle cry in the past year: "If one man can create so much hatred, imagine how much love we can create together."
Closure has been difficult to achieve as Breivik's 10-week trial this year forced Norwegians to relive chilling horrors in detail day after day. A verdict is due on 24 August and a commission report on the events is expected in the coming weeks.
Breivik faces either indefinite mental care or a 21-year prison term with the possibility of indefinite extension.
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