The first historical mention of Chortkiv dates to 1522, when Polish KingSigismund I the Old granted an ownership order for Jerzy Czortkowski over the town and allowed him to name it after himself—Czortków. The small community, numbering at 50 families, were almost all massacred during the Chmielnicki Uprisings of 1648–9. Jewish leadership opposed the resettlement of Jews in Chortkiv until 1705. During that time, the town was also granted Magdeburg rights. However, Chortkiv would later decline in the second half of the 17th century during Ottoman Expansion of central Europe. The town was taken over by Ottoman Empire, whose rule lasted 27 years. It was part of the short-lived TurkishPodolia Eyalet, which lasted from 1672 to 1699. During this period, it was nahiya centre in Yazlofça sanjak as Çortkuv. After First Partition of Poland Chortkiv came under Austro-Hungarian rule which lasted from 1772 to 1918, during the time of which it was the center of the Chortkiv Bezirk except brief Russian rule between 1809 and 1815 as part of Tarnopol Governorate. On June 8, 1919 the Ukrainian Galician Army broke for couple months through the Polish front at Chortkiv and began the Chortkiv offensive. Soon afterwards, the town was seized by the Poles. It was ceded to sovereign Poland in the Peace Treaty of Riga between Poland, Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine, and remained part of the Tarnopol Voivodeship of the Second Polish Republic until the Soviet invasion of Poland in September 1939. In 1931, the town had 19,000 inhabitants, 22.8 percent of whom were Ukrainians, 46.4 percent of whom were Poles, and 30 percent of whom were Jews. Chortkiv was an important garrison of the Polish Border Defence Corps Brigade "Podole", whose commandant from 1935 to 1938 was General Stefan Rowecki. Furthermore, it was home to the 36th Reserve Infantry Division. The town was annexed to the Soviet Union from September 17, 1939 until June 1941. Its Polish inhabitants, particularly students of the localhigh school, organized a failed uprising in January 1940, which would serve as the first Polish uprising of World War II. From 1941-1944 it was annexed to Nazi Germany. After the defeat of the Nazis by the Red Army in 1944, the town returned to Soviet control until in 1991 it became part of independent Ukraine. Polish residents of the town were transferred to the Recovered Territories in the immediate postwar period. Due to heavy destruction of Ternopil, in 1944 Chortkiv served as a regional seat. In January 1989 the population was 26 681 people. In January 2013 the population was 29 640 people.
Bernard Hausner father of Gideon Hausner. Gideon was the Prosecutor of Adolf Eichmann, and Attorney General of Israel. Bernard was a Rabbi in Lemberg, Polish consul to Palestine, and Zionist. Migrated to Israel in 1927.
