[These remarks were delivered by Barbara Sontz at a ceremony in Ilza, Poland on May 22, 2006
honoring the 2006 winners of the Feldman Family Awards.] 

            Since I was a little girl, growing up in  New York City, I heard many stories about life in Drildz from my mother. These were stories about the "old country," handed down orally, told by one generation to the next, since the Jews of Iłża had no written history.  Nor was there a Yizkor book, the memorial book written to remember and commemorate Jews who died in the Holocaust. Now, however, their stories are being revived and given voice by these remarkable young people in Iłża today.

        On behalf of the Feldman family, I would like to offer thanks to  everyone who has made this project possible. To the Poland Jewish Cemeteries Restoration Project, our co-sponsor; to Dr. Norman Weinberg who developed the idea of the scholarship award and to Mr. Andrzej Omasta who directed the program in Poland. To the officials and citizens of Iłża who provided the environment to support such an effort, we express our gratitude. Special thanks to Mr. Cezary Ziembicki, the principal, and to the teachers at Nicholas Copernicus High School in Iłża whose leadership has inspired and created the outstanding literary efforts of their students.

            Finally, thanks to all those students who took part in the 2005 and 2006 contests.  They  have given back a history to Jewish descendants of Iłża around the world by recreating the memories which so many of us thought was lost.

            In recognizing and acknowledging the horrors of the Holocaust that occurred here, these students are also creating history.  By their honesty in dealing with events that pre-dated their own lives, they have been instrumental in fashioning a new relationship of mutual respect between the Jews of Drildz past and the people of Iłża today. History is not only what happened in the past; history is also memory recorded for the present and the future. I am privileged, on behalf of my family, to acknowledge these young people who are engaged in what is truly an awe-inspiring endeavor through this modest literary contest.

           The descendants of several of Iłża’s Jewish families are with us today. This scholarship program bears the name of one of those families, the Feldmans who lived in Ilza for more than 150 years. I would like to introduce some of the Feldman family members who will present the awards today: Lillian Goldman of Toronto, Phil Mintz of New York, and Susan Sontz of New York.       

Second Prize for his essay “The Jews – Our Neighbors Yesterday and Today”

Wiktor Błaszczyk

First Prize for her essay  “The Jews – Our Neighbors Yesterday and Today”

Kamila Derlatka

First Prize for her story “Sparks” („Iskierki”)

Ewelina Rola

Second Prize for her poem “Everyone Should Remember” („Każdy powinien pamiętać... “)

Estera Szymańska

Second Prize for his poem “The Final Solution” („Endlösung”)

Tomasz Skiba

First Prize for her poem  “We Cannot Forget”  („Nie wolno nam stracić pamięci”)

Monika Dziwisz