Bondi Beach Massacre: Holocaust Survivor Alex Kleytman Died Protecting His Wife

Among the 12 victims of Sunday's terrorist attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach is Alex Kleytman, a Holocaust survivor originally from Ukraine, who was fatally shot while shielding his wife of over five decades, Larisa (also spelled Larissa).

The elderly couple, who immigrated to Australia and had two children and 11 grandchildren, were attending the joyful "Chanukah by the Sea" event organized by Chabad of Bondi when the gunmen opened fire.

Larisa Kleytman recounted the horrific moment to Australian media: "We were standing and suddenly came the 'boom boom,' and everybody fell down. At this moment he was behind me... He pushed his body up because he wanted to stay near me."

She believes Alex was shot in the back of the head while raising himself to protect her.

Both Alex and Larisa survived the Holocaust as children, Alex enduring "dreadful conditions" in Siberia, with the couple married for 57 years. Larisa described their annual Hanukkah celebrations at Bondi as "always a very, very good celebration, for many, many years."

Alex, a retired civil engineer, is one of several identified victims in the antisemitic attack that targeted Jewish families and children on the first night of Hanukkah.

Other confirmed fatalities include Rabbi Eli Schlanger, a beloved Chabad emissary.The tragedy has drawn global condemnation, underscoring Australia's status as home to one of the largest proportions of Holocaust survivors outside Israel. Community leaders have highlighted the profound irony and pain of a survivor perishing in such hatred decades later.

Brauch Dayan HaEmet.