HONORABLE: Trond H. Blattmann and Lisbeth K. Røyneland from the 22 July Support Group receive the King’s Medal of Merit at the 22 July Center on Friday. Photo: Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB Photo: Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB
Synne Røyneland (18) was shot and killed at AUF’s summer camp on 22 July twelve years ago. Today her mother, Lisbeth Røyneland, received the king’s merit medal.
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– I have come to terms with the fact that the most cruel thing has happened, says Røyneland to NTB.
She looks out over the iron roses at Oslo Cathedral. Twelve years ago there was a sea of real roses here.
It is July, and Oslo’s streets are full of tourists. They do not know that the woman outside the church experienced the worst moment of her life almost twelve years ago.
On 22 July 2011, her youngest stepdaughter Synne was taken from her – shot and killed at AUF’s summer camp on Utøya by the far-right terrorist Anders Behring Breivik.
77 people were killed in the terrorist attacks, 69 on Utøya and eight in the government quarter.
– I feel the grief almost as strongly now as in the early years, she says.
– During these days in July, I walk around and have the feeling that I am waiting for something, and there is restlessness in my body. Although I know what happens when I get to the anniversary.
LOST SYNNE: Lisbeth Røyneland lost her daughter Synne in the terrorist attack on Utøya twelve years ago. Photo: Terje Bendiksby / NTB
Everything has its price
Even twelve years after the terrorist attack, many survivors are still struggling. One in three parents who lost a child on Utøya is today fully or partially disabled, according to a 2021 survey from Center for crisis psychology.
Many struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder or prolonged grief.
In the time after the terrorist attack, there were several times when Røyneland wanted most of all to disappear and hide from the world. But then she became involved in the Support Group after 22 July.
UTØYA: Synne Røyneland was only 18 years old. She is one of a total of 69 victims of the terrorist attack on Utøya on 22 July 2011. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB
There she found a community that gave her strength, and in 2015 she took over the leadership role from Trond Blattmann.
– I am made in such a way that I have to do something with things. I can’t just hide under the covers, even though I’ve wanted to several times, says Røyneland.
– It has cost me something, but it has also given me a lot, she admits.
MEMORY: Lisbeth Røyneland finds it easier to visit Utøya now that she can go to the memorial site to think about Synne. Photo: Jon Olav Nesvold / NTB
Røyneland today describes several of the colleagues in the Support Group as good friends and conversation partners – together they became what she describes as “involuntary experts” on the aftermath of terror. In their shared grief they found a community.
– The support group helped me keep my head above water. At the same time, I have another daughter for whom I felt I had to be strong, says Røyneland.
Medal of Honor from the King
The national support group after 22 July was established around two months after the terrorist attack in 2011. The aim was to promote the interests of those affected by the explosion in the government quarter and the shooting on Utøya.
Among other things, they work to help survivors, those affected and those left behind gain access to targeted psychosocial follow-up and arrangements for peer support in grief.
THE KING’S MERIT: Trond H. Blattmann and Lisbeth K. Røyneland from the 22 July Support Group receive the King’s Merit Medal at the 22 July center on Friday. Photo: Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB
At the same time, the Support Group is a point of contact for the public, the media and the authorities in conversations about extremism.
On Friday, Røyneland, together with former leader Trond Blattmann, was awarded the King’s Medal of Merit for his work related to the Support Group.
Overwhelmed
– I was completely overwhelmed when I found out and didn’t know whether to laugh, jump for joy or cry, says Røyneland about the award.
– I get it for my role, but it is a medal for the entire Support Group and all those who have contributed to the boards both centrally and locally for twelve years, she says.
TWELVE YEARS AGO: Roses in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack on 22 July 2011 in the Government Quarter and on Utøya. Saturday marks twelve years since the tragedy. Photo: Trond Reidar Teigen / NTB
Blattmann, who was the leader of the group in the first critical phase after the terrorist attack, is also grateful for the recognition.
– I think it’s really great. It is recognition of the work done in the Support Group, and I appreciate that, he says to NTB.
– At the same time, I wish I never had to get this medal.
Blattmann lost his son Torjus on Utøya – he was only 17 years old.
The big miss
Life has changed a lot for Røyneland in recent years. Today, she is the one who receives ministers and royalty on Utøya, and she has given a speech at the UN with Secretary-General António Guterres in the hall. She has also become a grandmother.
– The pain doesn’t go away, but it becomes more of a loss than just grief, says Røyneland.
– But when I see that Synne’s friends get married and have children, I always think about what it would have been like for Synne. You often get thoughts like that, about what it would be like if things were different, she says.
THINKING OFTEN OF THE DAUGHTER: 18-year-old Synne Røyneland was killed on Utøya. Photo: Private
If Synne had lived today, she would have been 30 years old.
When she was killed at Stoltenberget on Utøya twelve years ago, she was at the start of adulthood – she was 18, loved cats and Christmas, and wrote openly and honestly about her youth in her own blog.
Back on Utøya
Today, Røyneland visits Utøya every year, but at the beginning it was difficult to be where Synne was killed.
– Before the memorial was in place, we survivors always went to the places where our children were killed. But there I couldn’t just think about Synne. The terrorist and the executions he carried out were always there like a shadow, she says and continues:
– But now that we have a memorial, I go there. Then I can only think about Synne and don’t have to have him in the back of my mind.
IRON ROSES: Lisbeth Røyneland, leader of the Support Group after 22 July, at the “Jernrosene” memorial at Oslo Cathedral. Photo: Terje Bendiksby / NTB
On Saturday, the journey goes again to Utøya. Then Røyneland has already received the King’s Medal of Merit. She is moved by thinking about what her youngest stepdaughter would say about it.
– I hope Synne is very proud of me and that she thinks “good job, mum!”
Published:
Published: 21.07.23 at 19:48
Updated: 21.07.23 at 20:04
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2023-07-21 17:48:13
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