The remaining tombstones of the old Jewish cemetery in Veľká Ida indicate that the first Jewish settlers arrived in the 1700s. At that time the village belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary and throughout its history included a diverse mixture of Hungarian, German, Slovak, Roma (gypsy) and other inhabitants.  

By the early 1800s the approximately 25 Jewish families in Veľká Ida established an official Jewish community organization and a small synagogue. A larger building was constructed after the original burned down. Over the next few decades the growing Jewish population added a yeshiva (school for the study of religious texts) and a cheder (Jewish elementary school). One of the teachers in the cheder also served as the kosher butcher. Other Jews in the community earned a living as farmers, craftsmen or small-business owners.

The size of the Jewish community of Veľká Ida peaked in the 1880s with about 210 residents, making up roughly 12 percent of the town’s total population. In the following decades a number of families left to pursue economic opportunities in bigger cities. By 1910 only about 110 Jews lived in the town (about 6 percent of the total population). Dozens of Jewish men were drafted to serve in the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I (1914-1918) and several were killed in combat.

After the war, Veľká Ida became part of the new democratic state of Czechoslovakia. However, many of the town residents still considered themselves Hungarian, including a large number Jews. In a 1921 census, only 61 Jews defined themselves as Jewish by nationality while the rest identified as Hungarian.

In 1920, the Jewish community of Veľká Ida refurbished and expanded the town synagogue. Other institutions such as a Beit Midrash (religious study hall), mikvah (ritual bath) and various charities contributed to the life of the community. Jews owned many small businesses, including four small groceries, two lumberyards and a pharmacy. The local doctor was also Jewish.

The relatively peaceful existence of the community began to unravel as antisemitic movements gained popularity throughout the 1920s and 1930s. In November 1938, Nazi Germany helped Hungary reclaim Veľká Ida and other territory along the southern border of Slovakia. Under Hungarian administration, Jewish members of the community were subject to antisemitic policies and many lost their businesses. Groups of Jewish men were conscripted into forced labor battalions, working on wartime construction projects without adequate food, shelter or medical care. Many died on the eastern front.

In April 1944, Hungarian authorities forced all the Jews of Veľká Ida to gather at the courtyard of the town synagogue. They were concentrated in a ghetto in the city of Košice before being deported to the killing center of Auschwitz-Birkenau a few weeks later.

After the war, a few Jews returned to Veľká Ida from forced labor battalions, but soon moved elsewhere. Today no Jewish residents live in the town. The former synagogue was appropriated for use as a warehouse and the Jewish cemetery remains in a state of neglect.