'Remember her name' Heartbreak in Sydney as crowds mourn victims

The silence that fell upon the Bondi Pavilion forecourt was not the silence of peace but the heavy, leaden quiet that follows an explosion of hate.

- Kelly Burke Sydney

Under the gathering dusk, a community stood bowed, its grief focused on the most poignant loss: 10-year-old Matilda, the youngest victim of Sunday’s terrorist attack. Her parents, Valentyna and Michael - their surnames withheld at the family’s request - who came to Australia from Ukraine before the Russian invasion, articulated a heartbreak too vast to fully

comprehend. “I didn’t expect to say anything, but I kind of end up here next to the microphone,” said Matilda’s father, tears strangling his voice. “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.”

At this he broke down and turned to his wife and son.

“I couldn’t imagine I would lose my daughter here,” Valentyna told the crowd, which was swelling to more than 1,000. “I can’t imagine what is a monster that stands on that bridge, and seeing a little girl running for her father to hide with him, and ... and he just pulled the trigger on her... it wasn’t an