}} According to the sources, Pidhaitsi is one of the oldest settlements in the area. It was established in 1445. Poland fought victorious battles against invading Tatars and Turks at Podhajce in
1667 and
1698. In modern period, Pidhaitsi was among the most important urban centers in western part of
Podolia. Its population was almost entirely Jews and Poles. In 1897 an obelisk was erected adjacent to the (Polish) Catholic church to celebrate the 100th birthday of Polish writer
Adam Mickiewicz. While the monument is still extant, the church is in desolate condition. In one of Pidhaitsi houses resided famous Polish composer
Frédéric Chopin. After the Second World War, Pidhaitsi, along with most of eastern Galicia, was separated from Poland and annexed to the
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union. Since that time, the population has been almost entirely ethnically Ukrainian. During Soviet rule (1945–1991) Pidhaitsi was part of
Berezhany Raion. After Ukrainian independence, a separated
Pidhaitsi Raion was established. Until 18 July 2020, Pidhaitsi was the administrative center of Pidhaitsi Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Ternopil Oblast to three. The area of Pidhaitsi Raion was merged into Ternopil Raion.
Jewish community Prior to the
Second World War, Pidhaitsi had a 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. ==Monuments==