Source: Olaf Sinnigen/BMI From left: Sybille Hoffmann, Prof. Barbara Traub, Dervis Hizarci, Marina Chernivsky, Dr Felix Klein, Prof. Dr Doron Kiesel, Burak Yilmaz, Dr Dani Kranz. Not pictured: Prof. Dr Volkhard Knigge.

Since September 2019, the Federal Government Commissioner has been assisted by a group of independent advisers. The eight Jewish and non-Jewish experts were appointed by cabinet decision in July 2019. These experts from academia, education and civil society are tasked with helping to identify areas of action to counter antisemitism and to increase the visibility of Jewish life in Germany.

The advisers have been committed to the fight against antisemitism for many years and can offer knowledge gained from their extensive experience in education and in working with memorial sites. They are very familiar with Jewish life in Germany today and have long been active in this field. Their appointment implements one of the measures in the Bundestag resolution calling for decisive action to combat antisemitism (Bundestag printed paper 19/444 Antisemitismus entschlossen bekämpfen).

The equal number of men and women in the group complies with the Act on the Appointment and Secondment of Women and Men to Bodies within the Remit of the Federation (Bundesgremienbesetzungsgesetz, BGremBG).

The eight independent advisers:

• Marina Chernivsky, director of the Competence Centre for Prevention and Empowerment at the Central Board of Jewish Welfare in Germany, Berlin
• Dervis Hizarci, anti-discrimination officer for the Berlin school system, Berlin
• Sybille Hoffmann, policy officer at the Baden-Württemberg Centre for School Quality and Teacher Training (ZSL), Stuttgart
• Prof. Dr Doron Kiesel, academic director of the education department at the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Frankfurt am Main
• Prof. Dr Volkhard Knigge, former director of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation, Weimar
• Dr Dani Kranz, senior researcher, Bergheim
• Prof. Barbara Traub, president of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Württemberg, Stuttgart
• Burak Yilmaz, director of the project “Junge Muslime in Auschwitz” (Young Muslims visit Auschwitz) and staff member of the projects “HeRoes. Duisburg” and “ReStart”, Duisburg