Utoya attack 10 years ago: How Norwegian Emma Martinovic survived the terror (video)

Emma Martinovic: “When my second child, my son, was born, I said to the midwife … And I remember seeing him in front of me. I said to her: ‘I can see Breivik.’ The poor woman didn’t know who I was or what was on my mind. I still remember the look on her face: ‘Okay, what’s wrong with you?’ I later explained to her that I was there in 2011 on Utøya . I could see him and I told her so. I have no idea why he appeared there. But shortly before the end of the birth I could see him clearly in front of me. “
July 22, 2011:
A man in police uniform fires an assault rifle at participants in a Norwegian Workers’ Party summer camp on the island. The perpetrator, Anders Behring Breivik, is a right-wing extremist. More than 700 people are on the island, most of them between the ages of 16 and 22 years. Emma Martinovic leads a delegation at the political youth camp. When panic breaks out in the camp, Martinovic receives a text message from a colleague: “Swim.”
Emma Martinovic: “When I saw my colleague’s message, I thought there was probably no other option: swim or die. I said to the people I was with, ‘we have to swim’. One of them didn’t want to. He said, ‘No, I’m not going to swim here.’ I replied, ‘You have no choice.’ When we started swimming … when we got down to the water, we saw 20 more people to our left. We didn’t know that, we thought we were alone. Because of the many people who started swimming, it got very noisy. That’s why … Breivik had already turned away from us. But because of the noise he came back in our direction. “
It takes over an hour for a special unit to arrive and arrest the assassin. By then he had shot 69 people. He previously killed eight people with a bomb in the government district of Oslo. The Norwegian authorities counted 66 injured and 650 physically unharmed survivors of both attacks. Emma Martinovic survived the attack on Utøya with a graze on the arm.
Emma Martinovic: While I was swimming, I was probably halfway through … He was standing on top of the cliff and shooting into the water. Just like that … how do you say that? Random. I was lucky. A girl was hit and she started swimming shortly after me. She was hit and really badly injured.
How did the terrorist attack change your view of Norway?
Emma Martinovic: “It really opened my eyes a bit. I understood that we really have a problem with people who bring a lot of hatred into the world. They feel so angry at people they have never met . It scares me that there are so many people who support Breivik and his ideologies. And all the political views he represents. I think we have forgotten the love that was so much talked about after Utøya. The hatred is blooming more than ever. We forgot how we shook hands. I’m not saying this is the answer to everything. But Norway has changed. It’s gotten a little colder. “
How should society deal with the threat of terrorism?
Emma Martinovic: “I believe that terror does not just happen. I think that there is something that makes it possible. We humans have to find out what the causes are. Why does it happen? Why do so many people believe that this is the only way to get attention for their views? “

What does the island of Utøya mean to you today?

Emma Martinovic: “It’s a special place. A source of democracy and political thinking and love. Where important political issues come to light. It is now also a place where something terrible has happened. A man thought he could go to the island kill. But he didn’t succeed. We got her back. She’s ours. “
Emma lost ten friends on Utøya.
Emma Martinovic: “The best way to remember the dead is to go back there. Sing again, dance again and talk about politics again.”
The daughter of Bosnian war refugees and still an active member of the Norwegian Workers’ Party. For Emma Martinovic, becoming a mother was also an answer to Breivik’s act.
Emma Martinovic: “The genes that I pass on to my children … These are the genes that he talked about. The genes that shouldn’t have deserved to live in Norway. So, here you go: here are still two more migrant children. Two more people with Muslim roots. “
As soon as her children are old enough, the now 28-year-old wants to go to Utøya with them.
Emma Martinovic: “I want you to understand that the freedom we have in Norway is not something you can buy in the shop around the corner.”