Statement from Jonathan Brent

The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis is not an isolated incident, but the result of systemic racism that stretches back to our nation’s founding. As an organization dedicated to preserving East European Jewish culture and history—including the manifold horrors inflicted by racism and ethnic discrimination—we said never again should someone be murdered at the hands of bigotry, and yet it happens again and again. We grieve for George Floyd’s family, the Minneapolis community, and our country.

We believe that there are no bystanders in history. History does not just happen to the “other.” Those who chose, in the bleakest moments of World War II, to simply watch as others were rounded up and murdered, as innocent people were humiliated and dehumanized, did not just watch. They enabled.

We must not become enablers. We stand together with every organization fighting for an anti-racist future. How do we fight? As YIVO we refer back to our own history. We fight against racism, bigotry, and one-sidedness and affirm the values of liberal democracy, openness, justice, and the dignity of all individuals. These were the values of YIVO at its founding; they were the values of those who saved our archives and library from both Nazi and Soviet destruction. They are the values of a free people and a free and just society.

As we work together through this difficult time, let us allow the lessons of our own history to guide our actions and help us create effective and long-lasting change for the betterment of humanity.

Jonathan Brent
Executive Director/CEO
The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research