Jews were among the founders of Bălți, settling there as early as 1779. Over time, the city became an important center of secular Yiddish culture. In 1930, Bălți was home to 14,259 Jews, who made up around 60% of the city’s population.
Two Jewish cemeteries are known to have existed in Bălți. The old Jewish cemetery was marked on the city’s first official plan from 1845, but it was demolished and built over in the 1950s.
The new Jewish cemetery was established in the mid-19th century on land purchased by the philanthropist Chananiah Halperin. It originally covered 4 hectares and was significantly expanded after 1921, when the municipality added another 9 hectares. Today, the active cemetery contains approximately 10,000 tombstones dating from the mid-19th century onward.
The fencing project at the new Bălți Jewish cemetery was funded by the Auswärtiges Amt (German Federal Foreign Office). Part of the project cost was covered by the Bălți municipal authorities.
ESJF sincerely thanks the Еврейская Община Молдовы / Jewish Community of Moldova and our country coordinator, Pavel Tuev, for making this fencing project possible.
We would also like to note that last autumn, ESJF visited the Jewish cemetery in Bălți together with 20 museum professionals from across Moldova during an educational seminar held in the city.