Location

Poland 51º10' N 21°15' E

Ilza lies on the Ilzanka River (from which it takes its name) in the southern part of the present-day Polish province of Mazowieckie. It is located 75.6 miles S of Warsaw and 17.8 miles SSE of Radom. The town of Ilza covers an area of 6.1 square miles (15.8 square kilometers).

Historically, during the period of the Kingdom of Poland (Russian

Poland

) from 1867 to 1917, Ilza was part of the gubernia (province) of Radom and was the seat of the district (powiat) of Ilza.

Town Name

The local official name form approved for use by

the U.S. Board on Geographic Names is Ilza, pronounced “Il-zha.”

Alternate names listed in the JewishGen Communities Database are Iłża [Pol], Drilch [Yid], Ilzha [Rus], Drildzh, Driltch

The Polish name is Iłża, pronounced “I-yu-zha.”

Jews called the town Drildz. No one is sure of the derivation of this name. The only suggestion is that it was called (in Yiddish) “der Ilzha,” referring to the town by its location on the Ilzanka river "der Ilzhanka.".

Here are several alternate English spellings for both the Yiddish and Polish names.

Drildze	Drildzh	Drilz
Drilj	Driltch	Driltsh
Drilch	Ilzha	Ilsha

Maps

Historical map of Ilza
The Polish Provinces of Russia - East Russian Empire 1902
From "Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia" 1902.
Ilza is located in the bottom third of the map, south of RADOM.

Town map of Ilza today
Click here to see a map of the Ilza town center.

Map Sites
MapQuest
Google Maps

JewishGen map resources
JewishGen Communities Database Page for Ilza
JewishGen Resource Mapping Page for Ilza