Marcel Gleffe (born 1979 in

Teterow Teterow () is a town of Germany, in the district of Rostock, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. It is the geographical center of this federal state. It had a population of 8,852 in 2011. History The ''Stadtkirche St. Peter und Paul'' (St. Pete ...

, Germany) is a German living in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

who saved the lives of several people during the

massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

on the island of

Utøya Utøya () is an island in the Tyrifjorden lake in Hole municipality, in the county of Viken, Norway. The island is , situated off the shore, by the E16 road, about driving distance south of Hønefoss, and northwest of Oslo city centre. Ove ...

. He became known in Germany as the "Saviour of Utøya" (''Retter von Utøya''). He was awarded the Officer's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

Early life

From March 1999 to July 2000, Gleffe was a conscript, serving in the air defences of the German army. He extended his military service to take part in a deployment to

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

. He left the ''

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

'' as a '' Hauptgefreiter der Reserve.'' He has lived in

Siggerud Siggerud is a village in the municipality of Ski, Norway, just a few kilometres away from the border of the municipality of Oslo where most of Siggerud's population work. Its population (2005) is 1,353, but probably over 2000 if you count the area ...

, Norway, since 2008.

Utøya massacre

On 22 July 2011, during the attack on the island of Utøya, he saved lives by departing the pier at Utvika (when he heard shots being fired at

) with his motor boat (for 6 people, model "Pioner 15"), and throwing life vests to fleeing swimmers while heading for Utøya, and picking up refugees of the massacre. He came within 20–30 meters of the shore of the island, after having seen the killer in the vicinity of the island's pump house. He loaded up his boat 5 times, before police requested him to stop what he was doing. By then he had pulled 20–25 people from the water.

Honours

On 27 September 2011, Gleffe was awarded the ''Ehrenabzeichen in Gold'' by the ''Verband der Reservisten der Deutschen Bundeswehr''. One day later, he received the media prize, the Goldene Henne, and on 4 October 2011 he received the Officer's Cross of the

. On 15 June 2012, Gleffe was awarded the Norwegian

Medal for Heroic Deeds The Medal for Heroic Deeds was instituted in Norway by royal resolution on 19 August 1885 and is awarded for honorable actions in saving lives or a comparable act. There were originally three classes, but from 1905 the medal has only been awarded i ...

in silver. The Norwegian magazine ''

Ny Tid ''Ny Tid'' (English: ''Modern Times Review'') is Norway's largest international quarterly review of non-fiction books – up to 50 in each issue. It is currently owned by Ny Tid & Orientering AS. ''Ny Tid'' is headed by the newspaper founder Tr ...

'' voted Gleffe as "Norwegian of the year 2011" (together with Synnøve Kvamme and Prableen Kaur). His award was given for "by risking his own life, he placed himself as the first on the scene with a boat to save members of AUF who were swimming for their lives, away from death."

References

1979 births Living people People from Teterow People from Bezirk Neubrandenburg 2011 Norway attacks German Army personnel German expatriates in Norway Recipients of the Norwegian Medal for Heroic Deeds Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Survivors of the 2011 Norway attacks {{Germany-mil-bio-stub