Medieval settlement, Tatar invasion The site was occupied from AD 1180 under the name Radeche until the end of the 13th century when a wooden fort was constructed. This was burned in the 14th century during the invasion of the
Crimean Tatars.
Polish period In 1442, the city was founded as "Złoczów", by
John of Sienno, a
Polish nobleman of the
Dębno family, although the first written mention of Zolochiv was in 1423. By 1523, it was already a city of
Magdeburg rights. Zolochiv was incorporated as a town on 15 September 1523 by the
Polish king
Sigismund I the Old. Located in the
Ruthenian Voivodship of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, it belonged to several noble families.
Austrian period (1772–1918) From the first
partition of Poland in 1772 until 1918, the town was part of the
Austrian monarchy (in the Austrian part of the empire after the
compromise of 1867). It was the center of one of the 78
Bezirkshauptmannschaften in the
Austrian Galicia province in 1900.
Interbellum: Polish Złoczów From 15 March 1923 until the
Invasion of Poland in 1939, when the town was occupied by the
Soviet Union, Zolochiv, still named Złoczów, belonged to the
Tarnopol Voivodship of the
Second Republic of Poland.
World War Two First Soviet occupation Zolochiv was occupied by the USSR from September 1939 to July 1941. At the Zolochiv prison they committed horrific atrocities against Ukrainian nationalists including priests.
Nazi occupation After July 1941, Zolochiv was occupied by Germany and incorporated into the
General Government in the District of Galicia. On 27 June, the town and its surrounding vicinity was bombed by the Germans, causing panic. Once they established their occupation administration, the Germans began to rob and persecute the Jews, including forcing them to do slave labor. The Germans also confiscated their homes and valuables. In August 1942, the Germans with the assistance of the Ukrainian police, One German official, Josef Meyer, tried to protect Jews, hiding several. After the war,
Yad Vashem awarded him, his wife and two daughters the title
Righteous Among the Nations. There are numerous recorded cases of local Ukrainians sheltering Jews within the town of Zolochiv and the surrounding provinces. The number of Jewish survivors is unknown. In the spring of 1942, guerrillas from the
Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) ambushed a Nazi transportation of livestock to the Reich, killing one or more Nazis. There were immediate reprisals on local Ukrainian nationalists. The
Gestapo was vigilant and focused on eliminating the OUN within and around Zolochiv. Numerous Ukrainian nationalists, including Ivan Lahola, Bohdan Kachur and Stepan Petelycky, were imprisoned in the Gestapo headquarters in Zolochiv and were later transported to
Lącki prison in Lviv. On June 9, 2015, a decision was made in Zolochiv to rename Tchaikovsky Street to Heavenly Hundred Heroes Street. The decision was voted for by 23 members of the city council. P. Tchaikovsky Street runs past Zolochiv School No. 1 and rests on a linden alley planted in front of the district state administration in honor of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred. By the way, Heavenly Hundred Heroes Street is located next to the Zolochiv Maidan, where the Viche took place during the Revolution of Dignity. On June 14, 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Zolochiv was hit by a missile attack. The missile (probably a Kalibr) was shot down by air defense systems, but the debris fell on the territory of the city, destroying a brick-making company and damaging nearby houses. Six people (including a one-year-old child) were also injured. ==Architectural landmarks==