By Joerg Bergman
More than six and a half years after his death, the grave of Dr. Michael Warhitzky (69) a stone.
“With the inauguration of the tombstone, we can finally finish with it. The perpetrators received their just punishment,” says his son Maximilian (41).
dr Michael Warhitzky (69) died in February 2016 when two speeders rammed his jeep off the road Photo: Private
►Review:In February 2016, Hamdi H. (today 33) and Marvin N. (today 30) fought a car race on the Kudamm – at 160 km/h. The illegal frenzy ended fatally for the uninvolved pensioner from Tiergarten when his jeep was rammed off the road. Son Maximilian Warhitzky accompanied the process through all instances. The speeders have now been sentenced (Hamdi H. to life imprisonment for murder, Marvin N. to 13 years for attempted murder).
The adult children of the dead man prayed at his grave together with Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal (50). Photo: Joerg Bergmann
“The tragedy shook the world and even the judiciary was changed. I’m satisfied with the verdicts, although I would have liked them both to be convicted of murder,” says Maximilian. “Now I can close the chapter with a clear conscience.”
Together with Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal (50) and his older brother Pol (44), the son read funeral prayers at the grave on Friday after the stone for the dead father was unveiled. The rabbi recalled that her father came to the synagogue every Saturday to pray. He was recognized as a doctor and had also treated the rabbi in his practice on Potsdamer Strasse when he was suffering from back pain.
The inscription on the tombstone: “How much of us went with you, how much of you is left with us. We miss and love you endlessly Our beloved, irreplaceable father Moishe (*Yiddish for Mischa) Your sons, who will always remember you, Pol Max” Photo: Joerg Bergmann
“He was a very positive person with a warm personality. I remember how he brought his two sons to the synagogue. Keep his name alive. We will also honor him,” said Teichtal in a moving speech.
Even more moving – the children’s last words on the stone: “How much of us has gone with you, how much of you is left with us. We miss and love you endlessly.”