Sydney (Australia), 18 Dec. (LaPresse/AP) – Hundreds of mourners, carrying colourful bouquets of flowers and embracing each other in grief, gathered today in Sydney for the funeral of a 10-year-old girl, the youngest victim of the anti-Semitic massacre during the Hanukkah celebrations at Bondi Beach. Matilda, whose surname has not been released at the request of her family, was playing at an educational zoo during Sunday's celebrations shortly before she was killed along with 14 other people in a mass shooting. Smiling photos of Matilda have become the focal point of Australia's grief over one of the worst hate-motivated attacks ever committed in the country. Matilda's parents, who came to Australia from Ukraine, ‘left war-torn Eastern Europe to come here in search of a better life,’ Rabbi Dovid Slavin told The Associated Press as he entered the synagogue. ‘They did what any parent would do, take their daughter to a family party at Bondi Beach,’ he added, ‘if it ended like this, it is the collective responsibility of every adult in this country.’
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