Bondi massacre: Families, friends, Jewish community gather in Sydney and Melbourne to farewell terror victims

More victims of the Bondi Beach massacre were farewelled in a series of funerals in Sydney and Melbourne on Thursday.

Alex Kleytman

The service for Alex Kleytman, an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor who died protecting his wife, was held at a centuries-old Jewish funeral house.

Sydney Chevra Kadisha in Woollahra has helped the Jewish community mourn its dead since 1817, including conducting Jewish funerals known as “levaya”.

Mr Kleytman’s wife Larisa, herself the daughter of Holocaust survivors, remembered her husband for his resilience and courage after he moved to shield her from gunfire in his last moments.

A family statement said he died “doing what he loved most: protecting Larisa, standing proudly as a Jew, and celebrating the Festival of Lights”.

“The two gunmen killed him, but his memories, his legacy, and his books will bring light for generations to come.”

Mr Kleytman was a “fascinating, cheerful and kind person of many talents with an unwavering spirit,” his daughter Sabina said on a page on fundraising site Gofundme.

“Born in 1938, he survived the hardships of World War II in frozen Siberia, carrying with him a lifetime of extraordinary stories of resilience, survival and luck,” she wrote.

The Kleytmans raised two children in Ukraine before moving to Australia in the early 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Here, the civil engineer contributed to major projects like Sydney’s Olympic stadium. After retiring 10 years ago, Mr Kleytman wrote two books about Jews from the former Soviet Union.

“He lived a remarkable life,” Sabina told The Washington Post this week, “and he could have had another 10 years in him if it wasn’t for this horrendous atrocity”.

She described her father her father as a kind man — a youth chess champion who taught her to read at age three and spent hours playing table tennis with her and her brother in their Ukraine apartment and a grandfather of 11 who taught his family to be proud of their Judaism.

Tibor Weitzen

Dozens of police and private security were standing guard outside the funeral of Tibor Weitzen who died trying to shield a family friend at Chanukah by the Sea.

The 78-year-old was known affectionately as The Lollipop Man for his tradition of handing out the sweets to children at Shul.

Mr Weitzen’s grandson Mendy Amzalak, who was a first responder and found his grandfather’s body at the scene, described him as a man full of “life, joy, smiles and laughter” to The Australian.

His daughter Hannah Abesidon was comforted by fellow mourners.

The service was one of three attended by NSW Premier Chris Minns on Thursday. Opposition leader Kellie Sloane and local government minister Ron Hoenig were also present.

Reuven Morrison

The service for Reuven Morrison was held in Melbourne on Thursday evening. Thousands of mourners arrived to pay their respects to the man hailed as a hero for throwing a brick at the gunmen in an attempt to save innocent lives.

Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann said Mr Morrison was a modern-day “Judah Maccabee”, a reference to an ancient Jewish military hero, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Mr Morrison was “someone that single-handedly tried to take on the terrorists. He tried to stop him in his tracks, and if you watch the video like I sadly have, you’ll see he picks up anything that he can find around him, a stick, a brick,” Rabbi Kaltmann said.

“The terrorists shot multiple times, eventually hitting Reuven, but in those seconds that he distracted the terrorists, Reuven enabled tens of people to take shelter and save themselves.”

Mr Morrison, 62, was an immigrant to Australia in the 1970s from the former Soviet Union, who “discovered his Jewish identity in Sydney” and according to Chabad.

The family relocated to Melbourne, but he split his time between the cities, mostly working in Sydney.

“A successful businessman whose main goal was to give away his earnings to charities dear to his heart, notably Chabad of Bondi,” the Jewish organisation posted on X.

He was survived by his wife Leah and daughter Sheina Gutnick.

“He did not cower. He did not lay low. He sprang to action. To fight. He was a man bigger than life itself,” Ms Gutnick posted on LinkedIn.

In a statement, Ms Gutnick described her father as “a loud and proud Jew” who “built a family, a successful business, and became a quiet philanthropist”.

“A large man of immense kindness, who put the needs of others before his own. Who brought light into every life he touched.”