Julia Grnnevet: Ruins For The Future

April 2, 2014 One writer's reflections on countrys resilience, a bombers sanity, a governments inertia. http !!www.guernicamag.com!wp"content!uploa#s!2014!04!$%&'1((1"e1)*+)*)+2(++0.,pg -.yblo//a 0uil#ing. &ourtesy of 1ulia 2r.nnevet. 0y 1ulia 2r.nnevet 3here is a tall green fence aroun# the bomb site, but you can actually wal/ straight up to groun# 4ero the government high"rise /nown as -.yblo//a, 5the high bloc/.6 3he buil#ing, which house# the offices of the 7orwegian 8rime 9inister an# also the 9inistry of 1ustice an# of the police, was the target of An#ers 0ehring 0reivi/s terrorist attac/ in Oslo, 7orway on 1uly 22, 2011. -e set off his O/lahoma &ity"style bomb ,ust outsi#e the lobby, par/ing a van there with the bomb in the bac/. :ight people were /ille#, but the buil#ing still stan#s. ;ts an empty shell, an# what use# to be a bus stop ,ust in front of the buil#ing has been turne# into a real"worl# version of those little museum te<ts place# ne<t to the wor/s of art on #isplay a short piece poste# in 7orwegian an# :nglish about what too/ place in 2011. 5=uins for the future,6 says the note. 5=elocating the past.6 Accor#ing to state broa#caster 7=>, neighbors of the planne# memorial are now consi#ering legal action to bloc/ the construction. 3he news story reports that they have engage# a lawyer, calling the planne# memorial a 5rape of nature6 an# a 5re"traumati4ation of innocent witnesses to the 22 1uly trage#y.6 ;mme#iately after the monument was reveale#, the victims families starte# protesting. 3hey ha#nt been consulte# on the #esign, an# were ta/en abac/ when they saw it?its not subtle. 3he buil#ing is empty because nobo#y can #eci#e what to #o with it. 3ear it #own an# rebuil# a stronger structure, because it ma/es financial sense@ Or woul# 7orways resilience be better #emonstrate# by renovating the #amage# buil#ing an# putting it bac/ into #aily use@ 3he bureaucracy tas/e# with this #ecision is unable to live up to its tas/. Attempting to write a news story about the case, ; Auestione# the relevant authorities an# was given a #iagram of the #ecision"ma/ing process. ;t loo/e# li/e a multi"stage roc/et, with no #ates or numbers on it to in#icate when any #ecision woul# be ta/en. A 1anuary 2014 #ea#line to choose between five possible re#esigns was not met Be nee#e# to wait for a report authori4ing the menu of options first. 3hen, on 9arch 1, a report that woul# pass ver#ict on whether preservation was feasible from a safety stan#point was release#?but though it was positive, no #ecision was ta/en. 7ow, into spring 2014, we are still at the very beginning of the planning roc/et. :very #ea#line so far has turne# out to be a mirage, an# this is not li/ely to change any time soon. ;n the meantime, the monument for the Ct.ya victims was chosen so swiftly that nobo#y ha# time to as/ the victims families for approval. 3he memorial was or#ere# by the 9inistry of &ulture, the 9inistry of Docal 2overnment an# 9o#ernisation was responsible for facilitating an# preparing the groun#s for a permanent national memorial after the attac/s, an# a committee

/nown as the >levelan#"committee le# the wor/ of choosing the site for the memorial. An artists ren#ering shows a huge granite wall carving a tranche out of the lan#scape. A tunnel lea#s to a viewing platform from which an observer can see, but not reach, the other si#e, where the names of all +* Ct.ya victims are to be carve# into the stone, probably in very large letters. ;mme#iately after the monument was reveale#, two an# a half years after the attac/s, the victims families starte# protesting. 3hey ha#nt been consulte# on the #esign, an# were ta/en abac/ when they saw it?its not subtle. 7umerous families went on 3E to publicly #istance themselves from the memorial, an# to as/ that their chil#rens names were left off. ; covere# the ten"wee/"long trial of An#ers 0ehring 0reivi/ for 3he Associate# 8ress an# later wrote about it for nF1 maga4ine. After ten wee/s of testimony over the summer of 2012, as we neare# spectacles e<hauste# en#, two psychologists who speciali4e# in grief testifie# to what the families of the victims were feeling, an# woul# be feeling for years to come. $uring that time ; sat in the front row of the courtroom, ,ust a few yar#s from the terrorist. 7early two years later, ; cannot #etermine if what ; felt, sitting there, was the mans presence or his absence. 8erhaps for this reason it was a relief to focus on the victims an# their families, whose breathing, sniffling e<istence in the rows stretching behin# me was palpable an# unambiguous. An entire year ha# passe# between the terror attac/s an# the trial?actually no time at all, for the victims families. ; agree# intensely with him. ; remember the woo4y horror of that first year after my brothers #eath. As we neare# spectacles e<hauste# en#, two psychologists who speciali4e# in grief testifie# as to what the families of the victims were feeling, an# woul# be feeling for years to come. $agfinn Bin,e an# Are -olen atteste# that the bereave# families woul# e<perience intense grief for a year or two. Others among them woul# feel it longer, or #ifferently. An# a small group woul# suffer from a more complicate# grief that returne# an# fa#e# an# reappeare# again over the years. 3he two mental health e<perts ha# stu#ie# many trage#ies to come up with these facts, inclu#ing the 9Gb.#alen bus acci#ent of 1*(( which /ille# 1+, mostly chil#ren, an# the Da/sevGg bombing of 1*44, where an elementary school in 0ergen was acci#entally bombe# by the allies #uring Borl# Bar ;;. ;t was o## to consi#er the victims first as in#ivi#uals, as ; ha# been #oing for the #uration of the trial, an# then as #ata points, each of whom woul#, as time went on, #istribute themselves among the categories. Bho was fate# to en# in the 5complicate#6 category@ ; felt sorry for them alrea#y. ; felt afrai# to be one of them. ;n 2001 ; lost my little brother $avi# in a s/iing acci#ent. Bhen one of the psychologists pointe# out that the time that ha# passe# between the terror attac/s an# the trial?almost an entire year?was actually no time at all, for the victims families, ; agree# intensely with him. ; remember the woo4y horror of that first year after my brothers #eath. ;t was an entire year of no pleasure e<cept for tiny an# imme#iate sensory things li/e wa/ing up an# feeling warm in be#. %ometimes a nice cup of coffee coul# #o it. Outsi#e of that, everything was raining. %eeing people planning for their futures ma#e me incre#ibly ma#, an# this laste# beyon# the first year. $i#nt they /now they ha# no safety, that actions li/e wearing seat"belts an# getting bachelors #egrees were nonsense@ ; use# to want to wrec/ an# shre# material ob,ects that ha# laste# longer than my brother, but was also overcome by a huge tire#ness at this i#ea. 3heres too much to brea/ it allH the worl# was an# is full of stupi#, i#iotic, useless things

that are still here when he is not. 0ut now that thirteen years have passe#, ; #ont thin/ of that #aily. %ometimes ; catch myself feeling some /in# of gratitu#e, rather than what use# to feel li/e loss, an# ; #ont /now when this change snea/e# in. At which point woul# ; have been competent to #eci#e a lasting memorial to my brother@ 'eelings change. Bhich one #o we want, or nee#, to memoriali4e@ Bhether or not the Ct.ya victims architecturally #esigne# granite wall memorial gets rushe# into being, it will be locate# at %.rholmen, near the scene of the crime, a place far outsi#e town where nobo#y goes unless they have business there. -.yblo//a, the government high"rise, however, is in the mi##le of town an# unless you put in a lot of effort, you cannot avoi# catching sight of it when wal/ing aroun# Oslo. ;ve mentione# the tall green fences all aroun# it, the area seemingly turne# from bomb site to buil#ing site in one seamless maneuver. Bhats going on at that buil#ing site, though, is totally unclear an# if the bureaucrats planning the buil#ings future have their way, nobo#y will /now for Auite some time whether to tear it #own or /eep it as is. 7obo#y is rushing that buil#ing into its ne<t stage. ;t will stan# there for years to come, empty an# ambiguous, yet physically imposing an# relentlessly present in the cityscape. 3hat is our true memorial. 1ulia 2r.nnevet is 7orway e#itor"at"large for Asymptote international literary maga4ine, an# a freelance ,ournalist in Oslo. -er wor/ has appeare# in nF1, -arpers, an# 9orgenbla#et.