Karsava (until 1917 — Korsovka), town (since 1928) in Ludza District (Republic of Latvia). Known since the early 15th century. In the 18th century it was granted Magdeburg rights. From 1772 — part of the Russian Empire. In the 19th – early 20th centuries — a village of Ludza District, Vitebsk Province. In 1918–40 — part of the Republic of Latvia; in 1940–91 — the Latvian SSR.
In 1840 about 700 Jews lived in Karsava; in 1897 — 609 (47%); in 1914 — 2,400 (60%); in 1920 — 910 (48%); in 1925 — 907 (46%); in 1930 — 865 (47%); in 1935 — 785 Jews (42%).
The Jewish community in Karsava was established in the 1820s by Jewish merchants who had moved there from neighbouring towns. The first rabbi was Wolf Tsioni. In the 1830s a Jewish cemetery was established. In 1843 Jews were deprived of their land and forced to leave the village; only the cemetery was saved from liquidation thanks to the intervention of the authorities. In the 1860s Jews began returning to Karsava. In 1875 a synagogue was opened, and in 1896 a mikveh was built. From 1875 the rabbi was Yeshayahu-Eliyahu Toder (1850–?).
By 1910, a bookshop in Karsava was owned by a Jew. In 1910–14 there was a Society for the Assistance of Poor Jews, which also operated a pharmacy; a Christian doctor treated poor Jews free of charge. In 1913 the Bikur Holim Society functioned in the town. Jews owned the only wholesale pharmacy warehouse, the only hotel, a watch repair workshop, and 69 shops (including 25 grocery stores); the only timber merchant in Karsava was Jewish. In 1914 the rabbi was Yankel Abramovich Vairon.
With the outbreak of the First World War, nearly one-third of the Jewish population left Karsava, while a significant number of Jewish refugees from the front line arrived. In 1920 many of those who had left returned. With the assistance of the Joint Distribution Committee (JOINT), a mutual credit society for Jewish merchants and craftsmen was established.
In the 1920s branches of He-Halutz, Ha-Shomer ha-Tsa‘ir, Tseirei Tsion, Mizrahi, and others began operating in Karsava; a local branch of the Bund was also active. In the late 1920s many Jews from Karsava (mostly young people) emigrated to the United States and to Palestine. In the 1920–30s Jews owned 180 businesses (out of 214) and one factory (out of 4). A Jewish school operated in Karsava; until the early 1930s there was also a Jewish gymnasium and a religious school. Between 1920 and 1934 the mayors of Karsava were Jews.
In the 1920–30s the rabbi was Dov-Arie Olshvang (?–1942, Samarkand). After 1934 relations between the Jewish community and the local population worsened. Drunken soldiers attempted pogroms; several Jews were beaten and shops looted. The Jews of Karsava were saved from further violence by self-defence units and by government intervention. A prominent Jewish activist in the 1930s was Dr. Mikhael Zaidlin (?–1938), who was also director of the Jewish People’s Bank and the Jewish gymnasium.
On 4 July 1941 the Wehrmacht occupied Karsava; a ghetto was created, and in August 1941 about 400 Jews were murdered.
After liberation in June 1944 only a few Jews returned. They restored the Jewish cemetery and erected a monument to the victims, with inscriptions in Russian and Yiddish. A minyan functioned in a private flat, and a shohet (ritual slaughterer) was invited.
In the 1970s most of Karsava’s Jews emigrated to Israel.
Karsava was the birthplace of Lev Isaakovich Izraylet (1924–1980, Riga), physician, Doctor of Medicine (1971), Professor (1974), and from 1969 — Chief Occupational Pathologist of the Latvian SSR Ministry of Health.