{"id":349676,"date":"2025-12-15T07:30:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T07:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/349676\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T07:30:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T07:30:09","slug":"a-10-year-old-girl-a-holocaust-survivor-and-a-french-citizen-these-are-the-victims-of-the-bondi-beach-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/349676\/","title":{"rendered":"A 10-year-old girl, a Holocaust survivor and a French citizen. These are the victims of the Bondi Beach shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n A 10-year-old girl, a Holocaust survivor and a young French national were among at least 15 people killed<\/a> when two gunmen opened fire on families celebrating the first night of Hanukkah at Sydney\u2019s famed Bondi Beach on Sunday, an attack that police have declared<\/a> a terrorist incident.\n <\/p>\n

\n Those killed in Australia\u2019s worst mass shooting<\/a> in almost 30 years are yet to officially be identified, but their families and friends are paying tribute to those they have lost.\n <\/p>\n

\n New South Wales premier Chris Minns said the victims are aged between 10 and 87 years old.\n <\/p>\n

\n Here\u2019s what we know about them.\n <\/p>\n

\n Matilda, 10, was described by her aunt<\/a> as a \u201cvery sweet, happy child, with a beautiful smile.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n She was enjoying the festivities at Bondi Beach with her parents, younger sister and friends, when the two gunmen opened fire. Matilda was wounded in the shooting and rushed to hospital, where doctors fought unsuccessfully to save her.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cKids are supposed to be happy. They should be playing on the beach, not thinking about bullets flying around,\u201d said her aunt Lina, who did not wish to share the family\u2019s surname.\n <\/p>\n

\n Matilda\u2019s language teacher described her as a \u201cbright, joyful, and spirited child who brought light to everyone around her.\u201d The teacher, Irina Goodhew, launched a GoFund Me page<\/a> on behalf of Matilda\u2019s family.\n <\/p>\n

\n The family had moved from Ukraine to Australia in the 1990s, and enjoyed walks on the beach, picnics in the park and walks to the zoo, Lina said.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Harmony Russian School of Sydney said Matilda was a former student in a statement posted<\/a> on Facebook. \u201cWe honor her life and the time she spent as part of our school family,\u201d the post said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Rabbi Eli Schlanger, 41, organized the \u201cChanukah by the Sea\u201d event at Bondi Beach and served as assistant rabbi at the Chabad of Bondi, the Jewish organization said in a statement.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSchlanger was a devoted rabbi and chaplain,\u201d the Chabad said, adding that he worked tirelessly \u201cto support Jewish life in the Bondi community.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cFor 18 years, the Schlangers served the Jewish community, but the rabbi\u2019s influence extended far beyond the walls of a single synagogue. He served as chaplain to NSW Corrective Services and NSW Prisoners of War; he was also chaplain at St. Vincent\u2019s Hospital in Darlinghurst, where he ministered to patients and families,\u201d the Chabad said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Schlanger\u2019s cousin Rabbi Zalman Lewis described him as \u201ctruly an incredible guy,\u201d in a Facebook post. \u201cHe leaves behind his wife & young children, as well as my uncle & aunt & siblings.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The British-born rabbi was a father of five, whose youngest son was only born in October, the Chabad confirmed.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSchlanger will be laid to rest in Jerusalem,\u201d it added.\n <\/p>\n

\n Alex Kleytman was a Holocaust survivor who died while shielding his wife Larisa from one of the gunmen\u2019s bullets, according to the Jewish organization Chabad.\n <\/p>\n

\n Kleytman, a native of Ukraine, leaves behind his wife, two children and 11 grandchildren, the Chabad added.\n <\/p>\n

\n French national Dan Elkayam was also among those killed.\n <\/p>\n

\n French Foreign Minister Jean-No\u00ebl Barrot said Elkayam had gathered on Bondi Beach with other members of the Jewish community to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah. \u201cFrance will spare no effort to root out antisemitism wherever it emerges and to combat terrorism in all its forms,\u201d he said on X.<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

\n Elkayam was a football fan and played for Rockdale Ilinden FC\u2019s Premier League 1 team. His club described him as \u201can extremely talented and popular figure\u201d and said he would be missed.\n <\/p>\n

\n Juniors President Peter Doncevski told CNN the club was supporting Elkayam\u2019s girlfriend, who survives him.\n <\/p>\n

\n Elkayam had recently moved from France to Australia and had been providing technical support to global media company NBC Universal in Sydney since last December, according to his LinkedIn page.\n <\/p>\n

\n Rabbi Yaakov Levitan was secretary of the Sydney Beth Din and was \u201cdeeply involved in Chabad operations in Sydney,\u201d according to the organization.\n <\/p>\n

\n Reuven Morrison, was a businessman and longtime resident of Melbourne, the Chabad said on X<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n Morrison was originally from the former Soviet Union and had \u201cdiscovered his Jewish identity in Sydney.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n He was a \u201csuccessful businessman whose main goal was to give away his earnings to charities dear to his heart,\u201d the Chabad said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Morrison leaves behind a wife and daughter, according to the organization.\n <\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/p>\n

\n Peter Meagher, a former NSW detective and rugby club member, was also killed in the shootings, Randwick DRUFC confirmed.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201c\u2019Marzo\u2019 as he was universally known, was a much-loved figure and absolute legend in our club, with decades of voluntary involvement, he was one of the heart and soul figures of Randwick Rugby,\u201d the club said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Meagher was working as a freelance photographer at the Hanukkah event at the time of the attack.\n <\/p>\n

\n He had served in the police force for almost 40 years and retired as a Detective Sergeant.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe tragic irony is that he spent so long in the dangerous front line as a Police Officer and was struck down in retirement while taking photos in his passion role is really hard to comprehend,\u201d Randwick DRUFC said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Tibor Weitzen, 78, is being remembered as a \u201csweet grandpa\u201d who \u201cloved life.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Weitzen\u2019s granddaughter told CNN affiliate 9News<\/a> the family is \u201cshattered\u201d by his death. \u201cJust devastating. Honestly, I\u2019ve got no words,\u201d she reportedly said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Weitzen was a member of Bondi\u2019s Chabad Synagogue and was at the Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach with his wife and grandchildren when gunmen started shooting, 9News reported.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 10-year-old girl, a Holocaust survivor and a young French national were among at least 15 people killed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[88,92],"class_list":{"0":"post-349676","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}