Ternópil ( uk, Тернопіль, Ternopil' ; pl, Tarnopol; yi, טאַרנאָפּל, Tarnopl, or ; he, טארנופול (טַרְנוֹפּוֹל), Tarnopol; german: Tarnopol) is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

in the west of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

. Administratively, Ternopil serves as the administrative centre of Ternopil Oblast and has the status of city of oblast significance. Located on the banks of the Seret. Until 1944, it was known mostly as Tarnopol. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

and

Podolia Podolia or Podilia ( uk, Поділля, Podillia, ; russian: Подолье, Podolye; ro, Podolia; pl, Podole; german: Podolien; be, Падолле, Padollie; lt, Podolė), is a historic region in Eastern Europe, located in the west-central ...

. It is served by

Ternopil Airport Ternopil International Airport (also known as Ternopol Airport) is an airport in Ukraine located 8 km southeast of Ternopil. It services medium-sized airliners. The airport is relatively small and has a simple taxiway/tarmac layout owing to ...

. The population of Ternópil was estimated at .

Administrative status

The city is the

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, L ...

Ternopil Oblast Ternopil Oblast ( uk, Тернопі́льська о́бласть, translit=Ternopilska oblast; also referred to as Ternopilshchyna, uk, Терно́пільщина, label=none, or Ternopillia, uk, Тернопілля, label=none) is an obl ...

(

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

), as well as of surrounding

Ternopil Raion Ternopil Raion ( uk, Тернопільський район) is a raion in Ternopil Oblast in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is Ternopil. It has a population of On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the n ...

(

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

) within the oblast. It hosts the administration of

Ternopil urban hromada Ternopil urban hromada ( uk, Тернопільська міська громада) is a hromada of Ukraine, in Ternopil Raion of Ternopil Oblast. Its administrative center is Ternopil. History The amalgamated hromada was created November 14, ...

, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.

Demography

According to

Ukrainian Census (2001) The Ukrainian Census of 2001 is to date the only census of the population of independent Ukraine. It was conducted by the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine on 5 December 2001, twelve years after the last Soviet Union census in 1989.

, Ternopil city and Ternopil oblast are homogeneously populated by ethnic Ukrainians. Ternopil city and Ternopil oblast are also homogeneously Ukrainian-speaking. National structure of

- 1,138.5 (100%) * Ukrainians - 1,113.5 (97.8%) * Russians - 14.2 (1.2%) * Poles - 3.8 (0.3%) Native languages in Ternopil: *

Ukrainian language Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state lang ...

— 94,8 %, * Russian language — 3,37 %, *

Belarusian language Belarusian ( be, беларуская мова, biełaruskaja mova, link=no, ) is an East Slavic language. It is the native language of many Belarusians and one of the two official state languages in Belarus. Additionally, it is spoken in some ...

— 0,07 %, *

Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In add ...

— 0,04 %,

History

The city was founded in 1540 by Polish commander and

Hetman ( uk, гетьман, translit=het'man) is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders. Used by the Czechs in Bohemia since the 15th century. It was the title of the second-highest military ...

Jan Amor Tarnowski Jan Amor Tarnowski (Latin: Joannes Tarnovius; 1488 – 16 May 1561) was a Polish nobleman, knight, military commander, military theoretician, and statesman of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. He was Grand Crown Hetman from 1527, and was ...

,Snitovsky, O.
Five centuries of Ternopil. The city of Hetman Jan and mason Leontiy
'.

Ukrinform The National News Agency of Ukraine ( uk, Українське національне інформаційне агентство), or Ukrinform ( uk, Укрінформ), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of U ...

. 28 August 2015 as a military stronghold and castle. On 15 April 1540, the

King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16t ...

Sigismund I in Cracow handed Tarnowski a permission for the establishment of Tarnopol settlement, in the vicinity of Sopilcze (''Sopilche''). Its Polish name "Tarnopol" means "Tarnowski's city" and stems from a combination of the founder's family name and the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

term "

polis ''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...

". The etymology of the

Tarnowski family The House of Tarnowski (plural: Tarnowscy) is the name of a Polish noble and aristocratic family (see: Szlachta). Because Polish adjectives have different forms for the genders, Tarnowska is the form for a female family member. History The Ta ...

surname, originating from the city of

Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. From 1975 to 1998, it was the capital of the Tarn� ...

(and thus the Ukrainian name "Ternopil"), is explained as derived from a field covered with thorns ( uk, терен поле, teren pole, thorn field). The city's coat of arms is based on the Tarnowski family

Leliwa coat of arms Leliwa is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several hundred szlachta families during the existence of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and remains in use today by many of the descendants of these families. The ...

. In 1544 the Tarnopol Castle was completed and repelled the first

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

attacks. On 20 January 1548, Tarnopol was granted legal rights by the King of Poland

Sigismund I the Old Sigismund I the Old ( pl, Zygmunt I Stary, lt, Žygimantas II Senasis; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the ...

which allowed the town to hold three fairs annually, and weekly trades on Mondays. Tarnopol received

Magdeburg city rights Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within c ...

two years later from Jan Tarnowski, regulating the duties of town residents. In 1548 the King of Poland also gave permission to create a pond near the Tarnopol suburb of Kutkovets. In 1549 the city managed to survive a Tatar siege by efforts of the Polish Duchess Eudokia Czartoryska (see House of Czartoryski). After the death of the Crown Hetman in 1561, Tarnopol became the property of his son

Jan Krzysztof Tarnowski Count Jan Krzysztof Tarnowski (1 January 1537 – 1 April 1567) was a Polish nobleman (szlachcic), Leliwa coat of arms. Son of Hetman Jan Tarnowski and Zofia née Szydłowiecka. He was married to Zofia Odrowąż since 1555, but had no issue. ...

, who died childless in 1567. Starting in 1567 the city was owned by the daughter of Crown Hetman

Zofia Tarnowska Countess Zofia Tarnowska (1534–1570) was a Polish–Lithuanian noblewoman and heiress. She was the daughter of Hetman Jan Amor Tarnowski h. Leliwa and Zofia Szydłowiecka h. Odrowąż. Marriage and issue Zofia married Prince Konstanty Was ...

who was married to

Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski (2 February 1526 – 13 or 23 February 1608, also known as ''Kostiantyn Vasyl Ostrozkyi'', uk, Костянтин-Василь Острозький, be, Канстантын Васіль Астрожскi, lt, Konst ...

. In 1570 she died in childbirth, and Tarnopol was passed to the

Ostrogski family The House of Ostrogski ( pl, Ostrogscy, lt, Ostrogiškiai, ua, Острозькі - ''Ostroz'ki'') was one of the more prominent families in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The fa ...

. In 1575 it was plundered by the Tatars. In 1623 the city passed to the

Zamoyski family The House of Zamoyski (plural: Zamoyscy) is the name of an important Polish noble (szlachta) family, which used the Jelita coat of arms. It is the Polish term for "de Zamość" (Polish "z Zamościa"), the name they originally held as lords of Za ...

. In 1589 Tarnopol was visited by the Austrian diplomat who also mentioned the city's castle. With the ongoing 1648–1654

Khmelnytsky Uprising The Khmelnytsky Uprising,; in Ukraine known as Khmelʹnychchyna or uk, повстання Богдана Хмельницького; lt, Chmelnickio sukilimas; Belarusian: Паўстанне Багдана Хмяльніцкага; russian: в ...

, many residents of the city joined the ranks of the Khmelnytsky forces particularly during the 1649

Siege of Zbarazh The siege of Zbarazh ( pl, Zbaraż, uk, Збараж) was a 1649 battle of the Khmelnytsky Uprising. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth forces held their positions besieged in the Zbarazh Castle until in the aftermath of Battle of Zboriv an ...

that is located just .Establishment and development of the Ternopil city (Виникнення і розвиток міста Тернопіль)
In September 1655 the united army of Muscovite and Ukrainian Cossack forces occupied Ternopil among other cities as it was moving towards Lwow (

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukra ...

). During the 1672–1676 Polish–Ottoman War, Tarnopol was almost completely destroyed by Turkish forces of Ibrahim Shishman Pasha in 1675 and rebuilt by Aleksander Koniecpolski but did not recover its previous glory until it passed to Marie Casimire, the wife of king

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( pl, Jan III Sobieski; lt, Jonas III Sobieskis; la, Ioannes III Sobiscius; 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobie ...

in 1690. The city was later sacked for the last time by Tatars in 1694, and twice by

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

in the course of the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swed ...

in 1710 and the

War of the Polish Succession The War of the Polish Succession ( pl, Wojna o sukcesję polską; 1733–35) was a major European conflict sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II of Poland, which the other European powers widened in pursuit of their ...

in 1733. In 1747 Józef Potocki invited the Dominicanes and founded the beautiful late- baroque Dominican Church (today the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of The Blessed Virgin Mary of the Ternopil-Zboriv archeparchy of the

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , native_name_lang = uk , caption_background = , image = StGeorgeCathedral Lviv.JPG , imagewidth = , type = Particular church ( sui iuris) , alt = , caption = St. George's ...

). The city was looted during the

Confederation of Bar The Bar Confederation ( pl, Konfederacja barska; 1768–1772) was an association of Polish nobles (szlachta) formed at the fortress of Bar in Podolia (now part of Ukraine) in 1768 to defend the internal and external independence of the Polish� ...

(1768–1772) by the confederates, the king's army, and by the Russians. In 1770 it was devastated by an outbreak of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) ce ...

. In 1772, after the First Partition of Poland, the city came under Austrian rule. In 1809, after the

War of the Fifth Coalition The War of the Fifth Coalition was a European conflict in 1809 that was part of the Napoleonic Wars and the Coalition Wars. The main conflict took place in central Europe between the Austrian Empire of Francis I and Napoleon's French Empir ...

, the city came under Russian rule, incorporated into the newly created ''Ternopol krai''. In 1815 the city (then with 11,000 residents) returned to Austrian rule in accordance with the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

. In 1820

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

expelled from

Polatsk Polotsk (russian: По́лоцк; be, По́лацк, translit=Polatsk (BGN/PCGN), Polack (official transliteration); lt, Polockas; pl, Połock) is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina River. It is the center of the Polotsk Distr ...

by the Russians established a gymnasium in Tarnopol. In 1843 the last city's owner Jerzy Michal of Turkul sold the city to its residents for 175,000

florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purch ...

s. In 1870 the

Galician Railway of Archduke Charles Louis The Imperial and Royal privileged Galician Railway of Archduke Charles Louis (german: k.k.priv. Galizische Carl Ludwig-Bahn, pl, c.k. uprzyw. Kolej Galicyjska im. Karola Ludwika) was a privately owned railway company in the Austro-Hungarian prov ...

connected Tarnopol with

Lemberg Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, accelerating the city's growth. At that time Tarnopol had a population of about 25,000.

20th Century

The region was part of Habsburg Galicia and was an ethnic mix of mainly Roman Catholic Poles, Greek Catholic Ruthenians, and Jews. Intermarriage between Poles and Ruthenians was common. Church of St. Mary of the Perpetual Assistance was consecrated in 1908, with its main tower reaching . In 1954, the church was blown up by Communist authorities and in its place, the city's central supermarket was built. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

the city passed from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n forces to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

several times. In 1917, the city and its castle were burnt down by fleeing Russian forces. After the dissolution of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with t ...

, the city was proclaimed as part of the

West Ukrainian People's Republic The West Ukrainian People's Republic (WUPR) or West Ukrainian National Republic (WUNR), known for part of its existence as the Western Oblast of the Ukrainian People's Republic, was a short-lived polity that controlled most of Eastern Galic ...

on 11 November 1918. After Polish forces captured

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...

during the Polish-Ukrainian War, Tarnopol became the country's temporary capital (22 November to 30 December 1918). The Jewish and German population accepted the new Ukrainian state, but the Poles started the

military campaign A military campaign is large-scale long-duration significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from the ...

against the Ukrainian authority ..On November 11, 1918 following bloody fighting, the Polish forces captured Lwów. The government of the WUPR moved to Ternopol and from the end of December the Council and the Government of the WUPR were located in

Ivano-Frankivsk Ivano-Frankivsk ( uk, Іва́но-Франкі́вськ, translit=Iváno-Frankívśk ), formerly Stanyslaviv ( pl, Stanisławów ; german: Stanislau), is a city located in Western Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Obl ...

.
West Ukrainian People's Republic
in the "Dovidnyk z istoriï Ukraïny" (A hand-book on the

History of Ukraine Prehistoric Ukraine, as a part of the Pontic steppe in Eastern Europe, played an important role in Eurasian cultural contacts, including the spread of the Chalcolithic, the Bronze Age, Indo-European migrations and the domestication of the ho ...

), 3-Volumes, Kyiv, 1993–1999, (t. 1), (t. 2), (t. 3). After the act of union between the West Ukrainian Republic and the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was declared following the February Revolution in Russia by the First Universal. In March 1 ...

(UPR), Ternopol formally passed under the UPR's control. On 15 July 1919, the city was captured by Polish forces. In 1920 the exiled

Ukrainian government The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine ( uk, Кабінет Міністрів України, translit=Kabinet Ministriv Ukrainy; shortened to CabMin), commonly referred to as the Government of Ukraine ( uk, Уряд України, ''Uriad Ukrai ...

Symon Petlura Symon Vasylyovych Petliura ( uk, Си́мон Васи́льович Петлю́ра; – May 25, 1926) was a Ukrainian politician and journalist. He became the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Army and the President of the Ukrainian People' ...

accepted Polish control of Tarnopol and of the entire area after receiving the assurance of

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Naczelnik państwa, Chief of State (1918–1922) and Marshal of Poland, First Marshal of Second Polish Republic, Poland (from 1920). He was ...

, the Lithuanian born Field Marshal of the Polish Army, that there would be no peace with the Russians without creating a Ukrainian state. In July and August 1920 the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

captured Tarnopol in the course of the Polish-Soviet War. The city then served as the capital of the

Galician Soviet Socialist Republic The Galician Soviet Socialist Republic was a short-lived, self-declared Bolshevik political entity that existed from 15 July to formally 21 September 1920 with the capital in the city of Tarnopol. The communist state was established during a suc ...

. Although the Poles and their Ukrainian allies badly defeated the Russians on the battle field and the Russians had offered to cede Ukraine and Belarus , Polish politicians in Warsaw refused to honor Piłsudski's promise. By the terms of the

Riga treaty The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga ( pl, Traktat Ryski), was signed in Riga on 18 March 1921, among Poland, Soviet Russia (acting also on behalf of Soviet Belarus) and Soviet Ukraine. The treaty ended the Polish–Soviet War. ...

, the Soviets and Poles effectively partitioned Ukraine. For the next 19 years, the ethnically mixed Ternopol area remained in Polish control. After Poland established control over the

, the Polish government started political repressions against ethnic Ukrainians, which culminated in the

Pacification of Ukrainians in Eastern Galicia The Pacification of Ukrainians in Eastern Galicia was a punitive action against the Ukrainian minority in Poland, carried out by police and military of the Second Polish Republic from September until November 1930 in reaction to a wave of sabotag ...

in 1930. From 1922 to September 1939, Tarnopol served as the capital of the

Tarnopol Voivodeship Tarnopol Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo tarnopolskie) was an administrative region of interwar Poland (1918–1939), created on 23 December 1920, with an area of 16,500 km² and provincial capital in Tarnopol (now ''Ternopil'', Ukraine). The voi ...

that consisted of 17

powiat A ''powiat'' (pronounced ; Polish plural: ''powiaty'') is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture ( LAU-1, formerly NUTS-4) in other countries. The term "''powiat ...

s. According to the

Polish census of 1931 The Polish census of 1931 or Second General Census in Poland ( pl, Drugi Powszechny Spis Ludności) was the second census taken in sovereign Poland during the interwar period, performed on December 9, 1931 by the Main Bureau of Statistics. It e ...

, individuals speaking Ukrainian/Ruthenian accounted for 46% of the Tarnopol Voivodeship, while Polish speaking population consisted of 49%. The city itself consisted of 77.7% Poles, 14.0% Jewish and 8.05% Ukrainian/Ruthenian population. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Communist Party historians reported that Edward Szturm de Sztrem, the pre-war chairman of the Polish census statistical office, admitted that the census returns, particularly those from the south-east, had been altered at the executive level. Another account stated that he admitted "that officials had been directed to undercount minorities, especially those in the eastern provinces".

World War II

At the onset of World War II, the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military operation by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west. Subs ...

began on September 17, 1939. The Red Army entered eastern Poland in furtherance of the secret

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that enabled those powers to partition Poland between them. The pact was signed in Moscow on 23 August 1939 by German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ri ...

and contrary to the

Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact The Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact ( pl, Polsko-radziecki pakt o nieagresji, russian: Договор о ненападении между СССР и Польшей, transliterated as ) was a non-aggression pact signed in 1932 by represent ...

. Tarnopol was captured, renamed Ternopol (in Russian) or Ternopil (in Ukrainian), and incorporated into the

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

under Ternopol Oblast. The Soviets made it their first priority to decimate the Polish intelligentsia and destroy Ukrainian political movements. Ukrainian nationalist leaders were imprisoned. Mass arrests, torture, and executions of Ukrainians, Poles and Jews followed. The Soviets also carried out mass deportations of "enemies of the working class" to

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental coun ...

. In practice, this translated into members of the former state administration, police, border service, and land and business owners, Christians and Jews alike. On 2 July 1941, the city was occupied by the Nazis who immediately led a Jewish pogrom, partly assisted by the local population. Several thousand Jews were murdered until the Germans ordered the program stopped. Between then and July 1943, 10,000 Jews were murdered by Nazi Germans, another 6,000 were rounded up and sent to

Belzec extermination camp Belzec (English: or , Polish: ) was a Nazi German extermination camp built by the SS for the purpose of implementing the secretive Operation Reinhard, the plan to murder all Polish Jews, a major part of the "Final Solution" which in total ...

, and a few hundred others to labor camps. During most of this time Jews lived in the

Tarnopol Ghetto The Tarnopol Ghetto ( pl, getto w Tarnopolu, german: Ghetto Tarnopol) was a Jewish World War II ghetto established in 1941 by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (''SS'') in the prewar Polish city of Tarnopol (now Ternopil, Ukraine). Joshua D. Zimmerman (2015 ...

. Many Ukrainians were sent as forced labour to Germany. In the years 1942–1943, the Polish Armia Krajowa was active opposing Nazi rule and performing operations in a bid to incorporate Ternopil into a future Polish state. Ukrainians, politically represented by

Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists ( uk, Організація українських націоналістів, Orhanizatsiya ukrayins'kykh natsionalistiv, abbreviated OUN) was a Ukrainian ultranationalist political organization est ...

(OUN), on the other hand, fought for the creation of their independent state. In the years 1942 – 1949,

Ukrainian Insurgent Army The Ukrainian Insurgent Army ( uk, Українська повстанська армія, УПА, translit=Ukrayins'ka povstans'ka armiia, abbreviated UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist paramilitary and later partisan formation. During Worl ...

(UPA) was active in Ternopil region and battled for independence of Ukraine (opposing Nazis, Polish Armia Krajowa and

People's Army of Poland The Polish People's Army ( pl, Ludowe Wojsko Polskie , LWP) constituted the second formation of the Polish Armed Forces in the East in 1943–1945, and in 1945–1989 the armed forces of the Polish communist state ( from 1952, the Polish Peo ...

as well as the Soviets), following

Act of restoration of the Ukrainian state The act of restoration of the Ukrainian state or proclamation of the Ukrainian state of June 30, 1941 was announced by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) under the leadership of Stepan Bandera, who declared an independent Ukraini ...

proclaimed in

on 30 June 1941. During the Soviet offensive in March and April 1944, the city was encircled. In March 1944, the city was declared a ''fortified place'' (Gates to the Reich) by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, to be defended until the last round was fired. The stiff German resistance caused extensive use of Artillery, heavy artillery by the Red Army on March 7–8, resulting in the complete destruction of the city and killing of nearly all German occupants (55 survivors out of 4,500). Unlike many other occasions, where the Germans had practised a Scorched earth, scorched earth policy during their withdrawal from territories of the Soviet Union, the devastation was caused directly by the hostilities. Finally, Ternopol was occupied by the Red Army on 15 April 1944. After the second Soviet occupation, 85% of the city's living quarters were destroyed. Due to heavy destruction, the regional seat was moved to Chortkiv. From 1944 to 1949 (active) and 1949–1956 (localized), the

resisted Soviet rule in the region and fought for Ukraine's independence. Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, the ethnic Polish population of Ternopil and its region was Polish population transfers (1944–46), forcibly deported to postwar Poland and settled in, and near Wrocław (among other locations), as part of Stalinist ethnic cleansing in the Soviet Ukraine. In the following decades, Ternopil was rebuilt in a typical Soviet style and only a few buildings were reconstructed.

Jewish Ternopil

Old synagogue in Ternopil, western Ukraine

History of the Jews in Poland, Polish Jews settled in Ternopil beginning at its founding and soon formed a majority of the population. During the 16th and 17th centuries there were 300 Jewish families in the city. The Great Synagogue of Ternopil was built in Gothic architecture, Gothic Survival style between 1622 and 1628. After the first partition of Poland, Ternopil came under Austrian domination. Nevertheless, Joseph Perl was able to continue his efforts to improve the condition of the Jews, which he had begun under the Russian rule. In 1813 he established a Jewish school which had as its chief object the instruction of Jewish youth in German language, German as well as in Hebrew language, Hebrew and in various other subjects. Controversy between the traditional Hasidim and the modernising Haskalah, Maskilim which this school caused, resulted four years later in a victory for the latter, whereupon the institution received official recognition and was placed under communal control. Starting in 1863, the school policy was gradually modified by Polish influences, and very little attention was given to instruction in German. The ''Tempel für Geregelten Gottesdienst'', opened by Perl in 1819, also caused dissensions within the community, and its rabbi, Samuel Judah Löb Rapoport, was forced to withdraw. This dispute also was eventually settled in favour of the Maskilim. As of 1905, the Jewish community numbered 14,000 in a total population of 30,415. Jews took an active role in the import/export trade with Russia conducted through the border city of Pidvolochysk. In 1939, the Jewish population was 18,500.

The Holocaust

In 1941, soon after the Operation Barbarossa, German invasion of the Soviet Union, 2,000 Jews were killed in a pogrom. In September 1941, the Germans announced the creation of the

for Jews still remaining in the city. In the winter of 1941–42, mortality in the ghetto escalated to such a degree that the ''Judenrat'' was forced to bury the dead in a common grave. Between August 1942 to June 1943 there were 5 "selections" that depleted the Jewish population of the ghetto by sending the Jews to

. A few hundred Jews from Tarnopol and its vicinity attempted to survive by hiding within the town limits. Many were denounced to the Germans, including some 200 people shortly before the Soviets established control over the area. A number of Jews survived by hiding with Ukrainians and Poles. A monument in memory of the The Holocaust, Holocaust victims was built at Petrikovsky Yar in 1996. On September 19, 2012, the monument was desecrated, in what seems to be an antisemitism, anti-Semitic act.

After World War II

Following Potsdam Conference in 1945, Poland's Territorial changes of Poland after World War II, borders were redrawn and Tarnopol (then again, Терно́поль) was incorporated into the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. The Polish population was Polish population transfers (1944–1946), resettled to new Poland before the end of 1946. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, Ternopil has become part of the independent

. In 2013, the mayor of the city Serhiy Nadal issued an order which announced the 2013 year as the year of Jan Tarnowski, the Crown Hetman and Voivode. In 2015, the National Bank of Ukraine released jubilee coins commemorating the founder of Ternopil Jan Tarnowski. Until 18 July 2020, Ternopil was designated as a City of regional significance (Ukraine), city of oblast significance and did not belong to Ternopil Raion even though it was the center of the raion. As part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Ternopil Oblast to three, the city was merged into Ternopil Raion.

Climate

Ternopil has a moderate humid continental climate, continental climate with cold winters and warm summers.

Higher education

Universities include: * West Ukrainian National University * Ternopil Ivan Pul'uj National Technical University * Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatyuk National Pedagogical University * Ternopil State Medical University On 31 December 2013, the 11th Artillery Brigade (Ukraine), 11th Artillery Brigade, descendant of artillery units that had been based in the city since 1949, was disbanded.

Main sights

*Ternopil Regional Art Museum *Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, Ternopil *Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of The Blessed Virgin Mary * The sanctuary of Our Lady of Zarvanytsia with a miraculous icon of the 13th century called icon of the Mother of God of Zarvanytsia, sanctuary of Greek-Catholic rite. Located about 40 km from Ternopil, celebrated on 22 July.

People

* Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz (1890–1963), Polish philosopher and logician, researched model theory * Henryk Baranowski (1943–2013) a Polish theatre, opera and film director, actor, playwright and poet. * Vasyl Barvinsky (1888–1963) a Ukrainian composer, pianist, conductor and musicologist * Eugeniusz Baziak (1890–1962) Archbishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lviv, Lviv and apostolic administrator of Kraków. * Natalia Buchynska (born 1977), singer, brought up in Ternopil. * Daria Chubata (born 1940), Ukrainian physician, author and social activist * Mykola Chubatyi (1889-1975), historian of Ukrainian Church * Cyryl Czarkowski-Golejewski (1885–1940) aristocratic Polish landowner, Katyn massacre victim. * Charlotte Eisler (1894-1970) Austrian singer and pianist with the Second Viennese School. * Kornel Filipowicz (1913–1990) a Polish novelist, poet, screenwriter and short story writer * Franciszek Kleeberg (1888–1941) a Polish general in the Austro-Hungarian Army * Bohdan Levkiv (1950–2021) a Ukrainian politician, mayor of Ternopil from 2002 to 2006. * Pepi Litman (1874–1930) a cross-dressing female Yiddish vaudeville singer * Kazimierz Michałowski, (1901–1981), Polish archaeologist, Egyptologist and art historian * Serhiy Nadal (born 1975) a Ukrainian politician; mayor of Ternopil since 2010 * Yuriy Oliynyk (1931–2021) a Ukrainian composer, concert pianist and professor of music in the US * Joseph Perl, (1773–1839), an Ashkenazi Jewish educator and writer, a scion of the Haskalah * Simhah Pinsker (1801–1864) a Polish-Jewish scholar and archeologist * Rudolf Pöch (1870–1921), doctor and anthropologist; pioneer photographer and cinematographer * Roza Pomerantz-Meltzer (1880–1934) a Polish writer and novelist based in Lviv and politician. * Solomon Judah Loeb Rapoport (1786–1867), a Galicia (Eastern Europe), Galician and Czech rabbi and Talmid Chakham, Jewish scholar. * Karol Rathaus (1895—1954), Polish-Austrian-American modernist composer * Eduard Romanyuta (born 1992) a Ukrainian singer, songwriter, actor and TV presenter. * Lajos Simonyi, Baron Lajos Simonyi de Barbács et Vitézvár (1824–1894) a Hungarian politician * Ruslan Stefanchuk (born 1975) a Ukrainian politician, party chairman and lawyer * Yaroslav Stetsko (1912–1986), a leader of

(OUN) from 1968. * Oleh Syrotyuk (born 1978) a Ukrainian politician, Governor of Ternopil Oblast in 2014 * Jan Tarnowski (1488-1561), Polish general and nobleman, founder of Ternopil (as Tarnopol). * Judd L. Teller (1912–1972) Jewish author, social historian and poet; emigrated to the US in 1921. * Adelma Vay, Baroness Adelma Vay (1840–1925), a Mediumship, medium and pioneer of spiritualism in Slovenia and Hungary.

Sport

* Olga Babiy (born 1989), a Ukrainian chess player and Woman Grandmaster * Petr Badlo (born 1976) a Ukrainian football manager and former footballer with 470 club caps. * Olha Maslivets (born 1978) a Russian windsurfer who competed at four Summer Olympics * Ihor Semenyna (born 1989) a Ukrainian football midfielder with 330 club caps

People from Ternopil Oblast

* Aleksander Brückner, (1856 in Berezhany – 1939), a Polish scholar of Slavic studies, Slavic languages and literature * Volodymyr Hnatiuk (1871 in Velesniv, Buchach – 1926), Ukrainian writer, literary scholar, journalist and ethnographer. * Solomiya Krushelnytska (1872 in Biliavyntsi — 1952), an outstanding Ukrainian Soprano * Bohdan Lepky (1872 in Krehulets – 1941), a Ukrainian writer, poet, scholar, public figure, and artist. * Ivan Pului (1845 in Hrymailiv – 1918) physicist and inventor, developed use of X-rays for medical imaging. * Casimir Zeglen (1869 near Tarnopol - 1927), Polish-American engineer, inventor of commercial bulletproof vest * Serhiy Prytula (born 1981 in Zbarazh), Ukrainian TV show host, political activist, founder of Charity foundation of Serhiy Prytula, Charity Foundation of Serhiy Prytula[uk
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International relations

Ternopil is Twin towns and sister cities, twinned with: * Sliven, Bulgaria * Yonkers, New York, Yonkers, United States ''(since 1991)'' * Elbląg in Poland ''(since 1992)'' * Chorzów, Poland * Prudentopolis, Brazil * Batumi, Georgia (country), Georgia Former twin towns include: *

in Poland * Pinsk in Belarus In June 2021, the Polish city of Tarnów decided to suspend its partnership with Ternopil as a reaction to the naming of a stadium in Ternopil in honour of Roman Shukhevych, one of the leaders of the

responsible for the Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia between 1943–1945. In June 2022, due to full-scale Russian invasion and missile strikes from the territory of Belarus, Ternopil suspended its partnership with the city of Pinsk.

Festivals

An international open-air music festival called has been held annually near Ternopil for 2–4 days in July since 2013.

References

Sources

* A. Bresler, Joseph Perl, ''Warsaw'', 1879, passim; * ''Allg. Zeit. des Jud.'' 1839, iii. 606; * * J. H. Gurland, ''Le-Ḳarot ha-Gezerot'', p. 22, Odessa, 1892; * Meyers Konversations-Lexikon * Orgelbrandt, in ''Encyklopedia Powszechna'', xiv. 409;

External links

* * Volodymyr Kubiyovych, Volodymyr Kubijovyč, Roman Mykolaievych
Ternopil in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, updated in 2012.

Ternopil City Council

Ternopil photosTernopil City Sights

Historical footage of war damages at Ternopil (1917)
Filmportal, filmportal.de * {{Authority control Ternopil, Cities in Ternopil Oblast Ruthenian Voivodeship Populated places in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Tarnopol Voivodeship Holocaust locations in Ukraine Populated places established in 1540 Shtetls, Tarnopol Cities of regional significance in Ukraine City name changes in Ukraine Oblast centers in Ukraine Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust