Jüdische Kulturtage Berlin

The 37th Jewish Culture Days Berlin will take place from September 12 to 22, 2024. This year's event will feature a special highlight in the literature tent on Bebelplatz. On Sunday, September 15, the literature tent will open its program with the event: "Stolpertexte - Stimmen aus der Vergangenheit”.

The “Stolpertexte” project is dedicated to remembering the lives and hopes of German-speaking Jews whose stories are preserved in the archives of the Leo Baeck Institute - New York | Berlin in the form of private notes, diaries, photos and letters. The texts - similar to the Stolpersteine in European cities - commemorate the lives of people who had everything taken from them during the Nazi era.

Miriam Bistrovic from the Leo Baeck Institute - New York | Berlin will introduce the project and the archive's valuable collections and explain the significance of the project for the culture of remembrance. Afterwards, the authors Dana von Suffrin, Karosh Taha and Victor Sattler will read their “Stolperte Texte” and talk about their personal connections to the selected biographies. The event will be moderated by Matthias Pfeffer, the initiator of the project.

About the authors

Dana von Suffrin was born in Munich, studied in Munich, Naples and Jerusalem and completed her doctorate with a thesis on the role of science and ideology in early Zionism. Her debut novel “Otto” was awarded numerous prizes, her second novel “Nochmal von vorne” and the anthology “Wir schon wieder” were published in 2024. She also writes short stories, radio plays, theater texts and essays.

Karosh Taha, born in Zaxo, Kurdistan (Iraq), lives and works in Cologne and Paris. Her debut novel “Beschreibung einer Krabbenwanderung” was published in 2018. The radio play version of her novel was broadcast on WDR3 and COSMO in 2021. Karosh Taha has already received numerous scholarships and prizes for her work, including the German Literature Fund Scholarship, the Alfred Döblin Medal and, most recently, the Villa Aurora Scholarship.

Victor Sattler, born in 1998, is an author. He studied psychology in Munich, Berlin and Oxford, as well as literary writing in Leipzig. His journalistic essays, portraits and reports have been published in ZEIT ONLINE, ZEITmagazin, Monopol, Frankfurter Allgemeine and Süddeutsche Zeitung. He also writes fictional stories that have appeared in literary magazines.

Publications of the Stolper Texts

The “Stolpertexte” have already been published in shortened form in German daily newspapers and are now available on our website, supplemented by original documents, audio and film recordings and readings by the authors:

STOLPERTEXTE Literatur, die Geschichte lebend lebendig hält.

To coincide with the event, a publication will also be published by Hentrich & Hentrich.

Join us when literature meets history and the past is brought to life in moving stories.

Event information

Please note: Photos and videos will be taken at this event. Please speak to the photographer if you do not agree to publication.

Please plan enough time for the security check.