Memorial ceremony held in the Chamber
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In honour of the victims of the violent attack in Örebro, a memorial ceremony was held in the Chamber on 11 February.
Following a minute of silence, the Speaker Andreas Norlén held a speech and the member of the Swedish Academy Jila Mossaed read a poem from her anthology entitled “What I missed here”.
Speech by the Speaker at the memorial ceremony in the Chamber, 11 February 2025
Honourable Members and Ministers,
We have gathered here today in the Chamber of the Riksdag, the heart of Swedish democracy, because we, who according to the Instrument of Government are the foremost representatives of the people, will honour those who were murdered in the horrific violent attack at Risbergska skolan in Örebro.
We are the ones who are gathered right here in the Chamber, because the mass shooting in Örebro was not only an attack on the individuals who fell victim to the murderer’s bullets, but also an attack on everything our country and society is, everything we want Sweden to stand for in terms of compassion and respect for the unique and inestimable value of all human beings. When we flew the Swedish flag at half-mast all over our country this morning and then raised it again a little while ago, when the minute of silence was over, this was a silent, symbolic act of resistance against the violence. The message was that we would first mourn the victims and the damage that has afflicted our country, but then, in the midst of our grief, we stand united in a feeling of determination not to let violence and evil prevail.
We are all waiting for answers to the question of why this happened. Why people who went to school to expand their knowledge in order to develop as individuals and as members of society became targets of senseless violence. Why hundreds of children, young people and adults around Örebro had to experience a terrifying afternoon waiting to leave their schools that were under lock-down. The answer to the question of why is important for all those who were affected personally, it is important for the many people with foreign backgrounds who are now experiencing a feeling of particular unease, it is important for the whole of our society. The answer is needed to enable us to make the right choices for the future, so that we can prevent something like thus from happening again.
While waiting for an answer, many people have been trying during this week to put into words what has happened. Words are not always enough and sometimes silence is as powerful as words, but I still believe that words can help us understand something that is really quite inconceivable.
Two words I have thought a lot about during these dark days are evil and love. We human beings are capable of committing evil deeds that cause untold suffering, but we also have the ability to love, to show love and kindness – towards those who matter the most to us, but also towards those we do not know. When we look back on these days of sorrow in the future, I am convinced that evidence of love, kindness, compassion, solidarity and feelings of community will shine so much more strongly than the evil deeds of the perpetrator, this evidence will shine like sparkling stars on a dark winter’s night.
What shines most strongly of all, of course, are the touching stories we have heard about how people at Risbergska skolan sent greetings of love to their loved ones, when they did not know whether they would survive or not. Their thoughts were not filled with hate towards the perpetrator, but with love for their loved ones – something that shows how deeply rooted the ability to love is within us human beings.
I am also thinking of the school’s employees and pupils who warned each other about the danger, helped the injured and made sure that as many people as possible could be brought to safety. I think about how important it was that Örebro Municipality had made sure that everyone at the school knew how to act in a situation like this.
I think of police officers and employees at SOS Alarm, public rescue services and health and medical care who did everything they could to help and save lives. I think of the caretaker who saw a woman with gunshot wounds. His first thought was to help a fellow human being. Not to save himself. He ran towards the danger. Not to safety.
I am thinking of the wave of warmth and compassion that swept over our country since the unthinkable happened. The grief that has characterised the week that has passed is common to all of us, in our entire society, but it is also individual and personal to those who have been particularly affected – “I cannot share your grief, it is indivisible, whole”, wrote Bodil Malmsten in the poem Grief, which I often return to. But our message to you who have lost a loved one is still: You are not alone, for Bodil Malmsten’s poem continues: “I am the spared part of you; I just want to say we are here.”
It is in situations like this that we show who we are not only as individuals, but also as a society. The fact that so many on that fateful day showed readiness to act, selflessness and courage fills me with confidence, that so many people during this past week showed compassion and hope.
Let us mourn those we have lost, but at the same time unite in the promise that we will never let violence prevail.
Thank you!