Holocaust survivor took bullet for his wife during Sydney attack

The couple were Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Australia from Ukraine, raised two children, and had 11 grandchildren. The Chanukah gathering, she said, was a tradition they observed every year.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A Holocaust survivor was killed while shielding his wife from gunfire during a terror attack at a Chanukah celebration in Sydney, his widow said, describing how her husband stood up to protect her and was struck in the head, Arutz Sheva reports.

Larissa Kleitman said her husband, Alex, was murdered as he rose to block the gunfire. “A bullet hit his head when he stood up to protect me,” she said, speaking of the man she had been married to for 50 years.

Both were Holocaust survivors who later immigrated to Australia from Ukraine, raised two children, and had 11 grandchildren. The Chanukah gathering, she said, was a tradition they observed every year.

Also killed in the attack was Rabbi Eli Schlanger, of blessed memory, a dual Israeli and Australian citizen who had served as a Chabad emissary in Sydney since 2008.

Schlanger had been involved in memorial efforts marking the October 7 massacre and had recently traveled to Israel, where he visited Israeli soldiers.

The shooting took place during a Chabad Chanukah celebration at Bondi Beach. Authorities said at least 11 people were killed and dozens wounded. Among the injured was a family member of Rabbi Schlanger.

Rabbi Yaakov Lider, Schlanger’s uncle, told Kol Barama radio that the event had been organized by his nephew together with Lider’s son-in-law.

“Eli organized the event together with my son-in-law. My son-in-law was sitting, Eli was standing next to him, and took a bullet to the head. My granddaughter, who was wounded, is now undergoing surgery in the hospital. This celebration has taken place every Chanukah for 40 years. I don’t know how we continue from here; we are in shock. There has never been such antisemitism here.”

For many in Australia’s Jewish community, the attack followed years of escalating antisemitic threats and violence. Israeli officials had previously warned Australian authorities about the rising danger, and Israeli leaders pointed to that trend in their reactions after the shooting.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett said the government had failed to act, writing on X that “The writing was on the wall,” and adding, “The Australian government bears responsibility,” while calling for immediate steps to protect Jewish communities.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar described the attack as the outcome of sustained incitement, calling the shooting the “results of the antisemitic rampage in the streets of Australia over the past two years, with the antisemitic and inciting calls of ‘Globalise the Intifada’ that were realized today.”