YIVO’s Jonathan Brent Receives Lithuanian State Award
Memorial Plaque Installed at the Site of YIVO’s Original Building
(Lithuania) – On July 6, 2019, Jonathan Brent, the Executive Director and CEO of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research was conferred the Cross of the Knight of the Order for Merits to Lithuania by H.E. Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of the Republic of Lithuania.
The award was given to Mr. Brent in recognition of his work in promoting cooperation between Lithuania and YIVO and for the preservation of the prewar Jewish archives of Lithuania.
During WWII parts of the YIVO archive were destroyed, with the remainder hidden underground in Lithuanian and other parts sent to YIVO’s new headquarters in New York.
Under Jonathan’s leadership, YIVO and Lithuania launched the Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Online Collections project. This is a historic international project to preserve, digitize, and virtually reunite YIVO’s prewar library and archival collections in New York City and Vilnius, Lithuania, through a dedicated web portal. (vilnacollections.yivo.org)
The project is a partnership between the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, the Lithuanian Central State Archives, the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, and the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.
“I am very grateful to the Republic of Lithuania for this recognition of my and YIVO’s work and for its partnership in this great undertaking. In fact, acknowledgment needs to go to all those who risked their lives and worked tirelessly and with great courage to ensure that the Jewish history of Eastern Europe and Russia not be erased by history,” said Jonathan.
“Our heartfelt congratulations to Jonathan Brent…upon receiving an important award from the President of Lithuania,” shared the National Library of Lithuania in a recent Facebook post. “The award also means that the Lithuanian state puts the preservation of the Jewish heritage high among its priorities, and appreciates the work that YIVO has been doing...”
The award follows an unveiling ceremony on June 20, 2019 of a plaque at the site where the original YIVO building once stood, at 18 Wiwulski Street, Vilnius, Lithuania (then: Vilna, Poland).
The YIVO building was at the center of the Jewish scholarly world from 1933 until its destruction in 1944, after being ransacked by the Nazis. The plaque was installed to honor YIVO’s contributions to both the Lithuanian and Jewish communities.
The ceremony was attended by Lithuanian government officials including the Lithuanian Minister of Culture; the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Mayor of Vilnius; representatives from the Lithuanian Jewish Community, and YIVO representatives.
“As a token of our respect, the memorial plaque will be found on the building that is very important to the Jewish people all over the world. Many well-known Jewish scholars have lived and worked here. Unfortunately, neither the building nor the people are here today. However, a greater part of YIVO’s most valuable holdings has survived. We are glad that the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research has continued its work in New York since 1940. YIVO’s merits and contribution to studying and preserving the Jewish heritage and the heritage of our multinational society are invaluable,” said Linas Linkevičius, the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
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Shelly Freeman
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About YIVO
The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is dedicated to the preservation and study of the history and culture of East European Jewry worldwide. For nearly a century, YIVO has pioneered new forms of Jewish scholarship, research, education, and cultural expression. Our public programs and exhibitions, as well as online and on-site courses, extend our outreach to a global community. The YIVO Archives contains 24 million unique items and YIVO’s Library has over 400,000 volumes—the single largest resource for the study of East European Jewish life in the world. yivo.org / yivo.org/the-whole-story