Balsa Jewish Cemetery

The Jewish cemetery in Balsa existed as early as in 1870, as it appears on the cadastral map of that year. The most recent legible tombstone found in this cemetery dates to 1923. The cemetery was recently fenced.

The town of Balsa dates at least to the 13th century, though reliable information and data on its origin has not survived. The name of the settlement is supposedly derived from the leader Bulcsú. In 1648, Balsa was the serf village of the Rákóczi manor in Sárospatak. In 1720, the treasury settled residents in the village. From 1836, the family of Count Dessewffy owned the village of Balsa. That same year, almost the entire settlement caught on a fire. Between 1840 and 1880, the number of Jewish residents increased from 11 to 100, comprising 7.6% of the town’s population (1,305). After this time, the Jewish community’s population fell steadily and by 1941, only 19 Jews remained in the village, comprising merely 1% of the village’s population (1,718). In 1944, Balsa, and a number of other villages, belonged to the registry district number 358, the headquarters of which was in Ó-Vencsellő. According to available data, no synagogue was built in the settlement.