Tuesday, July 26, 2011

FORMER GERMAN SOLDIER HERO IN NORWAY MASSACRE


One 32-year-old roofer and former soldier from Germany, for example, sped on his boat to the island, and helped guide many young people who had tried to swim away from the massacre back safely to shore.

"I just did it on instinct," Marcel Gleffe told The Telegraph. "You don't get scared in a situation like that, you just do what it takes. I know the difference between fireworks and gunfire. I knew what it was about, and that it wasn't just nonsense."

Gleffe was camping with his parents on the mainland directly across from Utøya. The three were discussing the recent bombing in Oslo when Gleffe heard some shots and then saw a teenager swimming to shore, yelling "help," he told Der Spiegel. He immediately realized that the shooting he heard was connected to the Oslo bombing, and he jumped in a small boat his family had rented for the trip and began speeding to the island.

Gleffe says he helped at least 20 teens get to shore, throwing out life jackets and making several trips in his boat to the island and back to the mainland. Some of the fleeing teenagers were frightened to accept his help, since the accused gunman was dressed as a policemen and told his victims to come closer before he opened fire. "It was unbelievable to see how strong they were," he told Der Spiegel of the campers. At least 150 people were pulled out of the water after the massacre, and psychologists told the German paper that many of them are suffering from crushing survivors' guilt.

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