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World Watch
July 25, 2011 11:02 AM

Breivik's father: I wish my son killed himself

By
David Morgan
Topics
In The News ,
World Watch

Police search home of Jens Breivik in southern France

French police officers at the house of Jens Breivik, the father of Anders Behring Breivik, in Cournanel, southern France, July 25, 2011.

(Credit: AP Photo/Bob Edme)
The father of Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian who confessed to last Friday's twin terror attacks, said he was ashamed and disgusted by his son's acts and wished he had committed suicide.

Jens David Breivik, a former diplomat who lives in retirement in the south of France, said he first learned of his son's attacks from media websites.

"I couldn't believe my eyes. It was totally paralyzing and I couldn't really understand it," he said.

Breivik's parents divorced in 1980, and his father lived in London while he and his mother lived in Oslo.

In an interview with the Swedish tabloid Expressen, Breivik said he and his son have had virtually no contact with one another since 1995 (when Anders was 16), except for a "bland" phone call about 10 years ago.

"I don't feel like his father," said Breivik from his secluded home in southern France. "How could he just stand there and kill so many innocent people and just seem to think that what he did was OK? He should have taken his own life, too. That's what he should have done."

"I will have to live with this shame for the rest of my life. People will always link me with him," he said.

When asked what he would say to his son if he had the opportunity, Jens Breivik said he didn't know, and didn't know if Anders would listen. "He must live in another world; I do not think he would understand."

He added that his son should consider the sorrow and suffering he has caused. "He has ruined so many lives. He must think of the consequences," Jens Breivik said.

On Monday police surrounded the elder Breivik's house in the south of France, to ensure the safety of Breivik after reporters and photographers swarmed to his property.


  • David Morgan

    David Morgan is a senior editor at CBSNews.com and cbssundaymorning.com.

Add a Comment See all 69 Comments
by SOURKREME July 27, 2011 4:06 PM EDT
Leave the father alone about his son. Would you want what is happening to this man over a horrible crime that his son committed be held against you ? This man's life is now ruined for something his son did. I think if you gave the man a loaded gun and put him in the same room as his son he would not hesitate to turn the gun on his son and kill him. There are enough victims in this unimaginable crime, we don't need to add the father to it.
Reply to this comment
by SusanMassachusetts July 27, 2011 5:10 PM EDT
His life is far from ruined. He had nothing to do with the kid for years. They share a name and some DNA. However the article does read that the father is a little too self-absorbed and is more concerned how this will impact him.
by SusanMassachusetts July 27, 2011 12:09 PM EDT
billy jo roachuba, you are a psychotic fruit loop. as your profile states, cute but psyche-o, not really cute, down right ugly in fact, but 100% a spamming flake
Reply to this comment
by Bojax39 July 26, 2011 12:53 PM EDT
"Breivik's father: I wish my son killed himself"

We wish he had too, dad. About a month ago would have been the optimum time......
Reply to this comment
by mr_kommedal July 26, 2011 2:48 PM EDT
Any time before Friday the 22 of July would have done just fine.
by winstonion July 27, 2011 2:02 PM EDT
agreed
by rf35 July 26, 2011 12:05 PM EDT
I'm forced to agree with the father.
Reply to this comment
by smc341 July 26, 2011 2:38 AM EDT
Maybe the son was trying to get his father's attention after being ignored for years...

Or he could have turned out to be a mental case if the father had been in his life, we'll never know the answer to this one.
Reply to this comment
by 192011 July 26, 2011 12:00 PM EDT
That's what I was thinking. This father seems very self-centered with no sense of responsibility for the effect that his desertion had on a sixteen-year-old boy. He seems much more concerned about what others will think of him. Well now he knows.
by rf35 July 26, 2011 12:28 PM EDT
@192011 and others,
I'm still trying to find where it said the father deserted this man. If the mother left, she likely took the boy without Jens Breivik getting any say in it. Courts side with the mother in the vast majority of custody cases. He may have fought to be allowed to have a role in raising Anders but was denied. Jens obviously spent a lot of time traveling abroad as a diplomat and maybe the courts felt that was a poor situation for a child. Now all he can do is live in shame for the atrocities his son committed. You people judging him as a father is exactly why he is reacting this way to his son's crimes.
by MalloryDavis July 26, 2011 2:07 AM EDT
Well DAD!...if you had kept your pants zipped up...
Reply to this comment
by Katharineshalia July 26, 2011 9:52 AM EDT
Stupid comment to such a sad act of pointless terrorism. None of us know as parents how our kids will turn out. You hope for the best but no one is perfect. The man is an adult and responsible for his own actions. I agree with the dad, he should have just killed himself instead of throwing his angst out on others. Very sad, but so are most of these news stories.
by mr_kommedal July 25, 2011 10:22 PM EDT
I have now noticed an important bit is missing in this article.
I will therefore show part of a copy of the original interview with the Norwegian TV2. He says there that this is the only interview he will give, so it is good to have at least part of the original.
Here is the quote:
har latt seg intervjue av TV 2s Elin Sørsdahl. Han ønsket ikke å vise ansiktet. Dette blir ifølge mannen det eneste tv-intervjuet han vil gi.

Klarer ikke å forstå

- Jeg kommer aldri til å ha noe mer kontakt med ham. Og i de verste stunder tenker jeg at det siste han burde gjøre, var at han i stedet for å drepe så mange mennesker, så burde han tatt sitt eget liv, sier mannen til TV 2.

- Det er sterke ord fra en far?

- Ja, det er det. Men når jeg tenker tilbake på det som har skjedd, så blir jeg helt fortvilet. Jeg forstår fortsatt ikke hvordan noe sånt kunne skje. Det er ikke et normalt menneske som gjør noe sånt, fortsetter han.

This is in Norwegian. I do speak Norwegian, but do not just take my word for it. You should be able to get an usable translation somewhere.

The quote is from:
http://www.tv2.no/nyheter/utenriks/breiviks-far-han-burde-tatt-sitt-eget-liv-3545669.html

If CBS wants to look into this, the may have to sort out the copyrights first.
Reply to this comment
by mr_kommedal July 25, 2011 10:41 PM EDT
Here is a part translation. I have on purpose kept as much of the original sentence building in order to make it easier to follow the word for word sequence. Some changes I had to make for it to be at all readable in English.
Here it is:
Not able to understand.

I will never more have any contact with him.And in the worst moments I think that the last he should do, was that instead of killing so many people, he should have taken his own life, says the man (the father) to TV2.

That is strong words from a father ?

Yes, it is. But when I think back to what has happened, then i become completely dispaired. I still do not understand how such (a thing) could happen. It is not a normal human that does any such ( thing), he continues.

I hope you can make out what was said. English and Norwegian sentence building is at times very different.
by pleasereadcarefully July 25, 2011 11:19 PM EDT
Sorry, I had only read the CBS article when I commented. Any translations I find say "too" or "also" but, I don't speak Norwegian and I will take your word for it. It does show what can get lost in translation and how emotions often fuel what we say and do. What I wish for instead is that you will accept my apology, for I meant no harm.
by pleasereadcarefully July 25, 2011 9:05 PM EDT
To mr_kommedal
His father was quoted as saying "He should have killed himself TOO"-NOT INSTEAD. The word INSTEAD isn't anywhere in the article.
Reply to this comment
by mr_kommedal July 25, 2011 10:07 PM EDT
It is in the Norwegian article.
Original in Norwegian:
"Og i de verste stunder tenker jeg at det siste han burde gjøre, var at han i stedet for å drepe så mange mennesker, så burde han tatt sitt eget liv."
Translation: And in the worst moments I think the last he should have done, was that instead of killing so many people, he should he taken his own life.

I HAVE noticed the absence of this in the CBS article, but what i just quoted is from Norwegian TV2s interview with the father.
Feel free to verify on this site:
http://www.tv2.no/nyheter/utenriks/breiviks-far-han-burde-tatt-sitt-eget-liv-3545669.html
You should be able to get a usable translation somewhere. There is no need to take my word for it.
by AlFranken July 25, 2011 7:07 PM EDT
Gosh darn it. If I had only known him before he got caught -- then we could have had a field day snuffing out teabaggers.
Reply to this comment
by mr_kommedal July 25, 2011 7:28 PM EDT
He would not have killed them first.
He would have tried to get them more extreme right wing instead.
He would also have promoted even more hate.
by formrusmcsgt July 25, 2011 7:01 PM EDT
"I will have to live with this shame for the rest of my life. People will always link me with him," he said.
----
What a revealing statement. It shows the depths of this man's selfishness.

He lost a son. There was massive carnage inflicted on innocents and what this fool's concerned about most is being associated with the perp.........
Reply to this comment
by mr_kommedal July 25, 2011 7:16 PM EDT
You must have missed the crucial point.
He said:
I wish he had killed himself INSTEAD of all those he killed.

One little question: Do you NOT wish the same ?
by spindriftsea July 25, 2011 10:17 PM EDT
I agree. Looks like Pop's life is fxxxxx up now. I'm old school too-you don't wish your child to commit suicide regardless. If he did, again, life would be easier for daddio.
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