At least 15 people have been confirmed dead in the shooting on Sunday (12/15) at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.
Many of these people were attending an event celebrating the first day of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Authorities confirmed that the victims included two rabbis, a Holocaust survivor and a 10-year-old girl.
Here’s what we know so far about the victims already identified.
Mathilde, 10 years old
Australian authorities confirmed that a 10-year-old girl, identified as Matilda by her family to local media, was one of the victims.
Irina Goodhew organized a fundraiser for the girl’s mother. She said she was the child’s former teacher.
“I knew her as a bright, happy, energetic girl who lit up everyone around her,” Goodhew described.
Harmony Russian School in Sydney confirmed Matilda was one of its students.
“We are deeply saddened to announce that a former student of our school has died in the hospital from gunshot wounds,” the school wrote on Facebook.
“Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to her family, friends and all those affected by this tragic incident…Her memory will remain in our hearts and we honor her life and the time she spent as part of our school family.”
Her aunt told Australian public broadcaster ABC News that Matilda’s sister was with her at the time of the shooting. She has difficulty processing the loss.
“They were like twins, they were never separated,” she told ABC.
Rabbi Eli Schlanger
Known as the “Rabbi of Bondi”, Eli Schlanger, 41, was one of the main organizers of Sunday’s demonstration (14/12).
He led the local mission of the international Hasidic Jewish organization Chabad, based in Brooklyn, New York (United States).
Born in the United Kingdom, Schlanger was the father of five children. His death was confirmed by his cousin, Rabbi Zalman Lewis.
“My dear cousin, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, @bondirabbi, was murdered in today’s terrorist attack in Sydney,” Lewis wrote on Instagram. “He leaves behind his wife and young children, as well as my uncle, my aunt and my brothers… He was truly an incredible person.”
In an article posted on its website, Chabad pointed out that Schlanger’s youngest child was only two months old.
“He was the most godly, humane, kind and generous human being I think I have ever met,” Alex Ryvchin, from Jewry Australia’s Executive Council, told reporters in Bondi on Monday morning (15/12).
Dan Elkayam
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed the death of French citizen Dan Elkayam.
“It is with immense sadness that we learned that our compatriot Dan Elkayam was among the victims of the terrorist attack which affected Jewish families gathered on Bondi Beach in Sydney,” the minister wrote on social networks.
“We mourn with his family and loved ones, alongside the Jewish community and the Australian people. »
His LinkedIn profile highlights that Elkayam worked as an IT analyst for NBC Universal and moved to Australia last year.
He was also passionate about football and was a “key member of our Premier League team”, the Rockdale Ilinden Football Club in Sydney’s west wrote on its Facebook page.
Elkayam was “an extremely talented and popular figure among his colleagues”, according to the Australian club. “Our deepest condolences go to his family, friends and all who knew him. We will miss him.”
Alexander Kleytman
Alexander Kleytman was a Holocaust survivor who arrived in Australia from Ukraine.
“I don’t have a husband. I don’t know where his body is. No one can give me an answer,” his wife, Larisa Kleytman, told reporters outside a Sydney hospital on Sunday evening.
“We were standing and suddenly there was a noise end and everyone lay down on the floor,” she told The Australian newspaper.
“At that moment he was behind me, and the next moment he decided to come closer. He pushed his body up because he wanted to be close to me.”
Chabad wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that Alexander “died protecting his wife from the gunman’s bullets. In addition to her, he leaves two children and 11 grandchildren.”
The couple shared part of their life story with the health organization Jewish Care in 2023.
“As children, Larissa and Alexander were confronted with the indescribable horror of the Holocaust,” the organization writes in its annual report.
“Alex’s memories are particularly painful. They include the terrible conditions in Siberia, where he, along with his mother and younger brother, struggled to survive.”
Peter Meagher
Former police officer Peter Meagher was working as a freelance photographer at the Hanukkah event when he was murdered, according to his rugby club.
“For him it was quite simply a disaster: he was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Randwick Rugby Club chief executive Mark Harrison wrote on the club’s website.
“Marzo, as everyone called him, was a much loved figure and a true legend at our club. With decades of volunteer involvement, he was one of the most important figures in Randwick Rugby.”
The club said he spent almost four decades with the Australian Police Force in New South Wales, where he was “highly respected by his colleagues”.
“The tragic irony is that after spending so much time on the dangerous front line as a police officer, he was killed in retirement while taking photographs, which was his passion. This is very difficult to understand,” the club said.
Reuven Morrison
Reuven Morrison emigrated from the former Soviet Union to Australia in the 1970s when he was a teenager, according to an ABC interview exactly a year ago.
“We came here with the belief that Australia is the safest country in the world, that Jews will not face as much anti-Semitism in the future and that we could raise our children in a safe environment,” he told the Australian public broadcaster.
In confirming his death, Chabad noted that Morrison lived in Melbourne for a long time, but “discovered his Jewish identity in Sydney.”
“A successful businessman, his main goal was to donate his earnings to charities close to his heart, including Chabad of Bondi,” the organization wrote in the X.
Rabbi Yaakov Levitan
Chabad has confirmed the death of Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, described by the organization as a “popular coordinator” of its activities in Sydney.
He also worked as secretary of Sydney’s Beth Din Rabbinical Court and at the BINA Centre, a self-described center of Jewish learning.
Tibor Weitzen
Tibor Weitzen was at the event with his wife and grandchildren when he died trying to protect a family friend, according to Chabad.
The 78-year-old was a “well-liked” member of the Chabad Bondi synagogue, the organization reports.
His granddaughter, Leor Amzalak, told ABC he was “the best anyone could ask for.” And he pointed out that Weitzen emigrated from Israel to Australia in 1988.
“He only saw the best in people and we will miss him terribly,” she told the station.
Marika Pogany
The Australian Jewish Executive Council and local press said Marika Pogany, 82, was another victim of the attack.
The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported that Pogani was a keen volunteer and member of Sydney’s Bridge Harbor View Club.
“She was an exceptional person, a great bridge player and an even better friend,” club director Matt Mullamphy said.
Slovak President Peter Pellegrini said a Slovak woman named Marika was among the dead. And the country’s former president, Zuzana Čaputová, said that she was his close friend.
Čaputová described her as an exceptional woman, who “lived life to the fullest”, in a social media post.
She said Pogany died “on his beloved Bondi Beach” and that Sydney was his “safe haven”.
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