Viļaka, town (since 1945) in the Balvi District (Republic of Latvia). Founded in 1293. From 1772, it was part of the Russian Empire. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was a small town known as Marienhausen (also Marijanovo) in the Lyutsin District of Vitebsk Governorate. From 1918 to 1940, it was part of the Republic of Latvia; from 1940 to 1991, it was part of the Latvian SSR.

In 1847, Viļaka had 61 Jewish residents; by 1903 the number had risen to 540; in 1920 – 506 (65% of the population); in 1930 – 510; and in 1935 – 465 Jews (29%).

Jews had lived in Viļaka since the late 18th century. From 1900 to 1926, the town's rabbi was Ben-Tsion Don-Ichye (1871–1941). The synagogue included a section for Hasidim, and there were two cheders (Jewish religious primary schools). A Jewish school was established in 1921. In the 1920s–30s, various Jewish political parties and organisations were active in the town. From 1926 to 1941, the rabbi of Viļaka was Yisroel-Yaakov Chernyak (d. 1941).

German forces occupied Viļaka in early July 1941. A ghetto was established. On 8 August 1941, several hundred Jews were executed. In 1944, a memorial was erected at the execution site, with inscriptions in Russian and Latvian.

Notable people born in Viļaka include:

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Tuvya Lisitsyn, rabbi, who from 1924 headed the Heichal HaTorah yeshiva in Tel Aviv

Nachum Feferman, rabbi, father of A. Pann