Matilda was a smart 10-year-old girl who showed others that “true goodness is found in the love and compassion we share with each other,” her former teacher Irina Goodhew wrote on social media.
The girl was the youngest person to be shot dead by two gunmen who opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Sunday. She was there with her older sister.
"Imagine seeing your beautiful little sister that you love being killed in front of you. They were like twins. They had never been separated," a relative told ABC.
Husband tried to protect
The oldest of the dead, 87-year-old Alex Kleytman, had fled to Australia from Soviet-era Ukraine and was attending the event with his wife Larisa.
We were standing there and suddenly there was a "boom, boom" and everyone fell to the ground, the wife tells The Australian newspaper, where she tells how her husband quickly moved closer in an attempt to protect her.
The couple had previously spoken publicly about their hardships during World War II. Alex Kleytman testified about how as a child he and his family struggled to survive under “terrible conditions in Siberia.”
Several of the victims were shot dead as they tried to stop the attackers. Reuven Morrison, a man in his 60s who was killed when he threw a rock at one of the shooters, had fled persecution in the Soviet Union about 50 years ago. In Australia, he wanted to live a quiet family life, his daughter Sheina Gutrick told CBS News:
And for many years he did. He lived a wonderful, free life. Until Australia turned against him.
Orthodox rabbis
Marika Pogány, 82, had been distributing kosher meals to needy seniors in Sydney for 29 years. She was originally from Slovakia and is being mourned by the country's president, Zuzana Caputová, who says Pogány has long been a close friend.
Two of the dead were Orthodox rabbis. One, 41-year-old Eli Schlanger, became a father of five two months ago. The other, 39-year-old father of four Yaakov Levitan, is described as a pillar of the city's Jewish community.
The 27-year-old Frenchman Dan Elkayam played football in the second highest division in Australia. He was the kindest of a group of four brothers, his brother Jérémie Elkayam told French media. The Rockdale Ilinden football club is in mourning and announces that everyone will miss an "extremely talented and popular player".
Thirteen of the 15 people killed in Sunday's Sydney attack have been identified. Many of them had come to Australia from different parts of the world.
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Matilda, a 10-year-old girl from Sydney. Her family moved there from Ukraine in the 90s.
Dan Elkayam, 27, football player and IT analyst from France (moved to Australia last year).
Yaakov Levitan, 39, Orthodox Jewish rabbi from Sydney (born in South Africa).
Eli Schlanger, 41, Orthodox Jewish rabbi from Sydney (born in the UK).
Peter “Marzo” Meagher, 61, retired police officer and leader of a local rugby club. Attended as a photographer.
Reuven Morrison, 60s, businessman from Melbourne who fled the Soviet Union about 50 years ago.
Sofia Gurman, 61, and Boris Gurman, 69, Russian-Jewish couple from Sydney.
Tibor Weitzen, 78, migrated to Australia from Israel in 1988. He was there with his wife and grandchildren.
Marika Pogány, 82, from Sydney. Originally from Slovakia, in a family that survived the Auschwitz extermination camp.
Alex Kleytman, 87, fled to Australia from Ukraine during the Soviet era.
Edith Brutman, vice-chair of the Jewish organization B'nai B'rith in New South Wales.
Boris Tetleroyd, attended the Hanukkah celebration with his son, who was shot.
