Matilda: Heartbreaking last moments of youngest victim to die in Bondi Beach mass shooting caught on camera

Headshot of Peta Rasdien
Peta Rasdien
The Nightly
Last moments of Bondi’s youngest victim Matilda caught on camera

Vision of the heartbreaking last moments the youngest victim of the Bondi Beach mass shooting Matilda has emerged, showing her happy and spending time with her family and Jewish leaders celebrating Hannukah.

She, along with about 1000 other people, was on the Bondi foreshore attending the Chanukah by the Sea event when two gunmen opened fire, killing 15 and injuring 40 others on Sunday.

It was the worst act of terrorism ever carried out on Australian soil.

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In the chaos, Matilda suffered gunshot wounds and was rushed to hospital but tragically could not be saved.

Matilda’s shattered father, Michael, shared the vision of her on his social media account just hours before he joined family and friends at her funeral on Thursday held at Woollahra Chevra Kadisha.

In the video that shows no sign of the horror that is about to be unleashed, the 10-year-old can be seen alongside her younger sister as they watch another victim of the massacre, beloved Jewish Rabbi Eli Schlanger, help her father with the sacred Jewish tradition of donning Tefillin.

Tefillin consists of two black boxes containing pieces of parchment with written out passages of the Torah that are wrapped in place on the arm, hand, and head using leather straps.

SEE THE VIDEO IN THE PLAYER ABOVE

Dressed in a bright yellow dress, pink sandals and a gold necklace that spells out her distinctly Australian name, Matilda and her younger sister watch with interest as Rabbi Schlanger wraps her dad’s arm with a leather strap.

Another image taken at the Chanukkah by the Sea event and posted by Michael shows Matilda and her sister smiling broadly as they show off specially decorated Hanukkah treats.

Matilda’s family came to Australia as immigrants from Ukraine before the Russian invasion.

At an emotion-charged memorial held at Bondi after the terror attack Michael railed against her murder and revealed he and wife Valentyna had named their eldest daughter Matilda as a tribute to their new homeland.

“It wasn’t just a bullet from a stray, it wasn’t an accident. It was a bullet that was fired on her,” he said.

“We came here from the Ukraine … and I named her Matilda because she was our firstborn in Australia. And I thought that Matilda was the most Australian name that could ever exist.

“So just remember... remember her name.”

Earlier, in tributes led by the school she attended, La Perouse Public School, Matilda was described as a “little ray of sunshine”.

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The Nightly cover for 18-12-2025

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Edition Edition 18 December 202518 December 2025

Fifteen innocent lives lost, two years of hate speech and one sorry leader.