The grief is still close in the air. The area in front of Oslo District Court has in recent days been colored by flowers and rainbow flags. The attack on the night of June 25 still characterizes the atmosphere in the city center. Two people were killed and 21 injured in what the police are investigating as a terrorist attack. In the days that followed, people from far and wide came to the place to remember. Now teddy bears, strong words and rainbow flags will be collected to be a part of the story. Many have laid down greetings to remember those killed after the attack. Photo: Bror Remen / news The National Archives has taken on this job, in collaboration with Skeivt Archive in Bergen. Because it is important that these objects do not just disappear, they believe: – It is an important expression of the rights of the queer, and what happened during the attack a week and a half ago. This is what department director Espen Sjøvoll at the National Archives says. Strong emotions A handful of the National Archives’ employees have turned up at CJ Hambro’s place early Tuesday morning. With them, they have a number of gray plastic boxes that will hold everything they collect. It is partly an emotional job. – It arouses strong feelings for us who go and look at these greetings. But it is also part of our job to ensure that what comes is preserved, says Sjøvoll. Espen Sjøvoll in the National Archives believes it is important to collect these objects for posterity. Photo: Bror Remen / news First, everything must be collected. Then it must be dried after standing outside in the weather and wind, so it holds for posterity. It will then be sent to the Skeivt archive in Bergen, where it will eventually be available to the public. Collected before it’s too late It’s not even two weeks since the attack, and it’s still fresh in the minds of many. But the flowers are not necessarily so fresh anymore. After a week of changing weather, much has begun to rot. Therefore, it is important to collect it now, while it is still possible to take care of. – Is it too early to take down the memorial service? – It is hard to say. The Urban Environment Agency are the ones who consider that the flowers that have been laid down here, they have been exposed to so much that they begin to rot. Then they start to smell. So there is something about how long you can have it standing, Sjøvoll answers. The National Archives had a big job ahead of it on Tuesday morning collecting objects. Photo: Bror Remen / news However, this does not mean that it is too late to lay down objects on site and contribute to history, even though the Urban Environment Agency will collect the latest on Friday. – We have a collaboration with them. If there are new things that have value to preserve for posterity, they will collect them on our behalf and we will have them sent back, says Sjøvoll. Collected after 22 July This is not the first time the National Archives has taken on such a collection job. They also did something similar after the terrorist attack on 22 July 2011. One year later, the National Archives had collected around 5,000 greetings from Utvika, close to Utøya. Greetings were also collected in Oslo, both from Kirkegata, Oslo Cathedral and the Storting. In total, there are over 20,000 documents in the July 22 collection. Large parts are also available digitally.
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The National Archives collects greetings after the mass shooting at Per on the corner and London – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
