Anti-Islam Norwegian Cold killer Breivik apologises to mother for ruining her life
Anti-Islam Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik apologised to his mother for ruining her life before she died of cancer this year, according to a new biography.
Based on hours of conversation with his mother, journalist Marit Christensen’s biography The Mother says Wenche Behring Breivik once described herself as the world’s “saddest mother”, who both hated and loved her son.
In the book, published on Thursday, Christensen claims that Breivik’s mother Wenche had no idea he was planning the attacks of July 22, 2011, having cooked him a dinner of spaghetti that got cold as she waited in vain for his return and watched the news of attacks by a then-unidentified assailant.
She broke down in tears when the police came to her house that night to say her son was to blame for the massacre – a bombing in Oslo that killed eight and a shooting rampage on a nearby island that killed 69.
The 34-year-old right-wing anti-Islamic fanatic is now serving Norway’s maximum sentence in jail for the attacks, aimed at the Labour-led government and its youth wing.
A few days before Wenche died of cancer in March, she was taken by ambulance to visit her son in jail.
Where glass divided them on previous visits, this time Breivik was allowed out, and although handcuffed was able to hug his mother.
“Sorry that I have ruined your life,” he whispered, the book said.
By contrast, Breivik showed no compassion for his victims, saying in court that he would do it all over again if he had the chance.
His father, a retired Norwegian diplomat, said after the killings that he wished Breivik had never been born.
According to the book, Wenche said she hated her son after days spent recovering from the shock of the killings in a psychiatric hospital.
Afterward, she said she felt guilty and feared that she could be killed in a revenge attack.
The book reveals that a year after the killings she considered an appeal. “Dear fellow citizens, he who caused the tragedy also struck me. If I go out, someone will shoot me! I am the saddest mother in the world today,” she said.
“In addition to the grief of losing a son the sense of guilt weighs heavily on me. It would be easier to bear if he was dead… his punishment is also my punishment.”
Wenche broke off cooperation with Ms Christensen just before her death, saying she did not want the book published.