Silvia Tennenbaum Fellowship
Writer-in-Residence Program

The worldwide increase in anti-Semitic thought and action is a central challenge for liberal democracy. With the Silvia Tennenbaum Fellowship, the Hertie Foundation gives authors, critics and artists who deal with the topics of anti-Semitism, remembrance culture and democracy the opportunity to pursue a new project. The fellows spend part of their time in Frankfurt and take part in internal and public events organized by the foundation.

The 2027 fellows

Alexander Estis

The writer Alexander Estis will use the fellowship to explore current manifestations of antisemitism in a long-form literary essay.

“Alexander Estis's application impressed the jury with its exceptional combination of literary craftsmanship, analytical precision and social relevance. With his planned essay project, he will make an important contribution to the highly topical debate on new forms of antisemitism.”

Prof. (HSG) Dr. Sascha Spoun, member of the jury.

Yari Or

Yari Or is a professor at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences. As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, she researched the case of Oskar Gröning in depth for a documentary film project. She is now turning her experiences from this research into a novel.

“Using the example of Oskar Gröning, the 'bookkeeper of Auschwitz', Yari Or explores the ambivalences and paradoxes in the relationship between history and remembrance culture. In a literary memoir, she reflects on how a documentary film that was meant to create order turns against its creator. The filmmaker's obsessive preoccupation with the perpetrator of the past leads her into her own family history, unsettles familiar categories such as perpetrator and victim, guilt and innocence, and ultimately raises the question of what justice can actually be.”

Prof. Dr. Maximilian Benz, member of the jury

The 2026 Fellows

Arndt Emmerich

Cultural sociologist Dr. Arndt Emmerich, Junior Professor at the University of Hertfordshire in England, will use the fellowship to study urban encounters between Jews and Muslims in Frankfurt and London.

"His academic excellence is combined with the ability to contribute complex insights to a broader societal dialogue. His attitude, characterized by seriousness, empathy, and intellectual honesty, was particularly impressive. He thus embodies the aspirations of the Silvia Tennenbaum Fellowship in an outstanding way," says Stefanie Kreyenhop, member of the jury.

Dana von Suffrin

The writer Dr. Dana von Suffrin will use the grant to write a screenplay about the life story of Philipp Auerbach, a Jew who survived the Holocaust and in 1946 became State Commissioner for Racial, Religious, and Political Persecution in Bavaria, a position he held with great dedication until he was unjustly convicted as a result of an antisemitic smear campaign and subsequently took his own life.

"The jury was enthusiastic about this contribution to the culture of remembrance, which offers a broad audience insight into a tragic fate and illustrates, through this historical case, the fatal effects of hate speech and defamation," reports Prof. Dr. Maximilian Benz, member of the jury.