“For a long time, the adults believed that reason had won. That war was a thing of the past. That the future automatically meant democracy, freedom and peace. They told us the world would improve on its own. That idea is extremely naive. And it has cost our generation dearly,” writes Gaute Børstad Skjervø. He was just 16 years old when he survived the 22 of July terrorist attack by hiding in a crevice on the Utøya island. One of the older youths—just 20—told him that, being the youngest, he had to hide deepest in the crevice. Later, they swam for their lives as gunshots echoed across the island.

After 22 July 2011, Skjervø became an involuntary expert on extremism and fascism. Today, he is the leader of the Norwegian Labour Youth Party (AUF) and one of the most promising young politicians in Norway. He still carries in him an anger which he wants to use to fight against the forces that took the lives of his friends, and to fight for the community.

This is his personal story. A young man’s political awakening. And his powerful answer to the young people and parents who fear for the future: “I have seen the darkest in people, but also the brightest.”