In 1897, Jews comprised 95% of the population of Pandėlys, a town which they called Ponedel. For several years, Remembering Litvaks, Inc., led a working group to draft the text, identify images, and design an informational sign about the history of the town’s Jews. The working group Giedrius Kujelis, the deputy director of and historian of the Rokiškis Regional Museum (RKM); the Lithuanian architect Aurimas Širvys; Violeta Karaliūnienė, a teacher at the Pandėlys gimnazija who is the director the local ethnographic museum; and descendants of Jews who once lived in and near Pandėlys / Ponedel.
The group conducted historical research, drafted Lithuanian and English text, and contributed images, financial support, and creative talents to create the final product. The bi-lingual sign includes a hand-drawn map of the town as it existed around 1900 that appeared in a weekly family newsletter known as the Sussman News and photographs of the town taken in 1930s that were donated by Paula Sussman. The Rokiškis Machine Factory (Rokiškio mašinų gamykla) donated the metal stand and frame without charge.
The sign was dedicated in a ceremony on September 20, 2022. During the same ceremony, RLI and the RKM gave awards to Violeta Karaliūnienė and the Pandėlys gimnazija for decades of work to recover and preserve the local history of the Pandėlys area.
Rokiškio krašto muziejus deputy director and historian Giedrius Kujelis.
Aldona and Phil Shapiro, Violeta Karaliūnienė, and Rokiškis regional government deputy mayor Tadas Barauskas.
Rokiškis Regional Museum director Nijolė Šniokienė, Rokiškis Region Deputy Mayor Tadas Barauskas, Pandėlys Gimnazija Headmaster Jūratė Kavoliūnienė, and Pandėlys Town-Council Elder Algirdas Kulys.
