14th Anniversary Statement of the Vilnius Jewish Library
By Founder Wyman Brent
(A non-Jewish friend of Jewish memory and culture)
Fourteen years ago, on a cold winter day that I will never forget, the doors of the Vilnius Jewish Library opened for the very first time. What began as a dream — fragile, improbable, and perhaps even a little audacious — became a home for memory, culture, learning, and human connection. Today, that dream stands stronger than ever.
I want to make one thing clear, as I always have:
I am not Jewish.
I did not create this library out of heritage.
I created it out of conscience.
I created it because the Jewish story of Lithuania — its brilliance, its creativity, its loss, and its resilience — belongs to all of us, not only to those born into it. I created it because indifference is the silent partner of hatred, and I refuse to be indifferent. I created it because standing up for human dignity should never require a pedigree.
From the very first conversations with the Lithuanian government — conversations that were supposed to last a few minutes and instead stretched nearly an hour — I saw something extraordinary: a willingness to listen, to engage, and to acknowledge the importance of this work. The government’s continued support, year after year, is a testament not only to the library’s value but to Lithuania’s evolving relationship with its own history.
The library opened in a building whose walls once served a very different era. Time and neglect had taken their toll. Yet the government invested hundreds of thousands to restore it — to transform it into a space worthy of remembrance and renewal. And here we are, fourteen years later, still standing, still thriving, still needed.
I think often of the people who have walked through our doors:
students searching for understanding,
survivors seeking a place where their memories are honored,
travelers arriving from far beyond Lithuania’s borders,
and locals who simply want to learn, listen, and be part of something meaningful.
Every visitor brings something with them.
Every visitor leaves something behind.
And the library becomes richer for it.
To everyone who believed in this idea — including those who stood by me through the difficult moments, the threats, and the challenges — thank you. To Lithuania for its continued support, thank you. To the Jewish people, whose history and culture this library celebrates with humility and love, thank you for allowing me, an outsider by birth but not by spirit, to stand with you.
Fourteen years is a milestone.
But it is also a beginning.
May this library continue to shine as a place of learning, dialogue, memory, and compassion for many decades to come.
With gratitude,
Wyman Brent
Founder, Vilnius Jewish Library (est. December 16, 2010)
