significant Jewish community. The population census of 1765 lists 1,370 Jews in the kahal district of Pidhaitsi and 1,079 Jews lived in Pidhaitsi itself. A century late town’s Jewish population significantly increased and numbered ca. 6,000 Jews in Pidhaitsi and 8,212 Jews in Pidhaitsi district (9.33% of whole population in the area). In the 20th century Pidahytsi's importance declined and the number of the Jews decreased to 2,827 according to the census of 1931. Pidhaitsi Synagogue (between 1621 and 1648), and the local Catholic parish church (1634) are the oldest buildings in the city. The synagogue is closed and in ruined condition. In the post war years, the synagogue territory was turned into a market by the communists. With the break of the Second World War there was a large influx of Jewish refugees from the west and the number of the Jews in the town at the time of Nazi annihilation was higher than 3,000. Pidhaitsi Judenrat was headed by Leibish Lilienfeld. Due to the refugee and hygienic problems, in the winter of 1941–42 many of town Jews died of hunger and typhus epidemic. In 1942, on September 21 (Yom Kippur – Jewish most revered holiday, the day of atonement from sin) over 1,000 Jews were sent to the Belzec extermination camp and on October 30, 1,500 more Jews were deported to face death in Belzec extermination camp. Hundreds more were murdered in Pidhaitsi and its environs by Germans and Ukrainian police. The above memories of his experiences during the liquidation of the ghetto in Pidhaitsi has described by Genia Schwartz. Population Notable natives Julian Bilecki, Righteous Among the Nations Ignacy Potocki, Polish count Tadeusz Łomnicki, Polish actor Jan Łomnicki, Polish film director and screenwriter Stanisław Rewera Potocki, Polish magnate and military leader Jerzy Choróbski, Polish neurosurgeon Leonard Rettel, Polish poet and writer Mikołaj Wolski, Polish military leader Arthur Murray, American dancer Abraham Weiss, professor of Talmud Gallery See also Podhajcer Shul, New York City References External links Website about Pidhaitsi Photos of Pidhaitsi (70 digital images from 2004) Nature at Pidhaytsi — Photos Pidhaitsi Jewish history American Jewish couple visits Pidhaitsi (2001) Pidhaytsi Jewish history — article in word Pidhaitsi info, history and photos Cities in Ternopil Oblast Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Tarnopol Voivodeship Shtetls Towns of district significance in Ukraine Holocaust locations in Ukraine