Benjamin Hermansen (29 May 1985 – 26 January 2001) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

boy whose father was born in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

; his mother was

. He was

stabbed A stabbing is penetration or rough contact with a sharp or pointed object at close range. ''Stab'' connotes purposeful action, as by an assassin or murderer, but it is also possible to accidentally stab oneself or others. Stabbing differs fro ...

to death at

Holmlia Holmlia is a neighborhood in Oslo, Norway with around 12,000 residents. It is located in the south-western part of Søndre Nordstrand, the southernmost borough in Oslo. The neighborhood is served by Holmlia Station on the Østfold Line, which ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Norway, just before midnight on 26 January 2001 by people from the

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

group

Boot Boys The Boot Boys was a far-right Norwegian Neo-Nazi organization from Bøler, a suburban area of Oslo, with connections to individuals in Bergen and Kristiansand. Consisting of about 50 members, it was considered one of the most violent Neo-Naz ...

. Joe Erling Jahr (born 1981) and Ole Nicolai Kvisler (born 1979) were convicted of the murder and sentenced to 16 and 15 years in prison respectively. A third defendant, Veronica Andreassen, was convicted on a lesser charge of abetting bodily harm causing death and sentenced to three years in prison.

Response to the murder

Since the murder was motivated by

xenophobia Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...

and

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

, it mobilised large parts of the Norwegian population. Throughout the entire country, marches were organised to protest against the murder, with nearly 40,000 people participating in Oslo.

"Song to Benjamin"

Hermansen was buried on 6 February 2001. "Song to Benjamin", written by several of his friends for the service, was presented at his funeral. The song was later recorded in studio by artists including

Noora Noor Noora Noor aka Noora (born 8 July 1979) is a Somali-Norwegian neo soul singer. Career Noor started early on her musical journey, performing locally from the age of 8. She got a recording contract with Warner Music at only 15. She then began wor ...

and

Briskeby Briskeby is an electropop band from Larvik, Norway. Bjørn Bergene, Claus Heiberg Larsen and Bård Helgeland are from Larvik, while Lise Karlsnes is from Tønsberg. Biography Their debut album ''Jeans for Onassis'' was released in 2000, sol ...

The Benjamin Prize

In 2003, the Benjamin Prize was founded in Hermansen's memory. It is awarded on 27 January every year.

Michael Jackson's ''Invincible''

American singer

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

dedicated his 2001 album ''

Invincible Invincible may refer to: Film and television * ''Invincible'' (2001 drama film), a drama by Werner Herzog about Jewish cabaret during the rise of Nazism * ''Invincible'' (2001 TV film), a fantasy / martial arts TV movie starring Billy Zane ...

'' to Benjamin Hermansen (and also to his own parents and grandmother). The reason for this has partly to do with the fact that the Holmlia boy Omer Bhatti and Jackson were close friends, and Bhatti was at the same time a good friend of Benjamin Hermansen. On the album cover, next to the image of a rose, it reads:

Testament

Clara Dorothea Weltzin (1925–2007), an Oslo woman with far-right views, left 250,000

Norwegian kroner The krone (, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including Svalbard). Traditionally known as the Norwegian crown in English. It is nominally subdivided into 100 ''øre ...

(c. US$43,000) to Ole Nicolai Kvisler in her will, something that caused major headlines in Norwegian media, and there were also suspicions regarding the legality of doing it.Dagbladet - Ulovlig å gi arv til Kvisler og Vigrid
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hermansen, Benjamin 1985 births 2001 deaths 2000s in Oslo Anti-black racism in Europe Deaths by person in Norway Deaths by stabbing in Norway Hate crimes Murdered Norwegian children 2001 murders in Norway Neo-Nazism in Norway Norwegian murder victims Norwegian people of Ghanaian descent People murdered in Norway Place of birth missing Racially motivated violence against black people Racially motivated violence in Norway Trials in Norway January 2001 events in Europe 2001 in Norway Incidents of violence against boys