Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman, 87, was one of the first victims of the Bondi Beach terror attack to be publicly named.
The retired engineer, who was fatally shot at the ‘Chanukah by the Sea’ event in Sydney on Sunday, died protecting his wife of 57 years, Larisa.
Speaking to a local news outlet in the aftermath of the attack, which has left at least 16 people dead, Larisa said: “I think he was shot because he raised himself up to protect me, in the back of the head.”
Later, she told The Australian: “We were standing and suddenly came the ‘boom boom’, and everybody fell down. At this moment he was behind me and at one moment he decided to go close to me. He pushed his body up because he wanted to stay near me.”
Both Alex and Larisa Kleytman were Holocaust survivors from Ukraine, who built a new life together in Australia, eventually settling in the Sydney Matraville.
A report by the Australian branch of Jewish Care from 2022-23, which sheds some light on their experiences, reads: “As children, both Larisa and Alexander faced the unspeakable terror of the Holocaust.
"Alex’s memories are particularly harrowing; the dreadful conditions in Siberia where he, along with his mother and younger brother, struggled for survival.”
Despite these hardships, the report concludes: “The scars of the past, however, did not deter them from seeking a brighter future. They later made the move to Australia, immigrating from Ukraine.”
Alex is survived by Larisa, their two children and 11 grandchildren.
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