Father of Nova Festival victim commits suicide

Vladislav Bongart, 48, took his own life some 16 months after his daughter Sofia was murdered in music festival massacre.

By World Israel News Staff

The father of a young woman who was murdered at the Nova Festival on October 7th, 2023, committed suicide last week, some 16 months after his daughter’s slaying.

Sofia Bongart, 21, was murdered in the terror onslaught. A resident of Karmiel in northern Israel, she had told her parents, Anna and Vladislav, that she was going to a rave in the western Negev region.

She attended the festival with her best friend since childhood, Liraz Nisan, who was also murdered that day.

“Sofia was a mature and responsible girl, and I always trusted her and never worried. She traveled a lot, and my only concern was road safety. We had an agreement that she would always update me when she reached her destination. At 6 a.m., when they got to Nova, she texted me: ‘I arrived,’” Anna told Hebrew-language news outlet Walla.

Within minutes of their arrival, Hamas launched a major barrage of rockets, sending attendees scrambling for cover.

“People around them were told to lie on the ground and wait for it to be over. She trusted the army so much,” Anna said.

Bongart eventually sought refuge from the rocket barrage in a roadside bomb shelter near Kibbutz Be’eri.

Hamas terrorists threw grenades and opened fire into the structure, killing Bongart’s friend Nisan.

According to the report, Bongart made a desperate attempt to flee to safety, and was shot dead by terrorists once she left the bomb shelter.

In her final message to her mother and father, sent around 8 a.m., Bongart wrote told her parents that she was blessed to have them and that she loved them.

Her father, Vladislav, was devastated by her death. Twice a week, he brought flowers to her grave.

“We put on a mask and carried our pain, but Vladislav never shared what he was going through,” she said.

Anna said that her husband did not tell acquaintances about his daughter’s murder.

“He didn’t want people looking at him with pity,” she said. “He refused help and was consumed from within. But I never feared he would harm himself.”

Vladislav took his own life at home in Karmiel in late February, at the age of 48.

The family has one surviving daughter, Evalina.