Grobstein

Chortkiv Чортків Czortków Чортков is located on the Seret River, in the northern part of Galician Podilia and is situated in the historic region of Galicia.

Chortkiv was the home of many Hasidic Jews.
The first Hasidic Rebbe of Chortkov was Rabbi Dovid Moshe Friedman, a son of Rabbi Yisroel Friedman (the Rizhiner Rebbe).
Rabbi Dovid Moshe's son was Rabbi Yisroel Friedman.
Rabbi Yisroel ran his Hasidic court with the concept of Hod ShebaTiferes ("Majesty in Glory"). He died in 1934.
After Rabbi Yisroel; his sons, Rabbi Nochum Dov Friedman and Rabbi Dov Ber Friedman, served as Rebbes. Rabbi Dov Ber died in 1936. Rabbi Nochum fled to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1939, and died in Jerusalem in 1946. His son Rabbi Shlomo Friedman led the Chortkover Hasidim until his death in Tel Aviv in 1959.

On August 26, 1942 at 2:30 am in the morning the German Schutzpolizei started driving Chortkiv's Jews out of their houses, split them in groups of 120, packed them into freight cars and deported 2000 local Jews to the Belzec death camp. Five hundred Jewish sick and children were murdered on the spot.
During this first Aktion, the detained Jews were divided into groups and to each of them a member of the Judenrat and two Jewish policemen were appointed to be responsible for the respective group. Although both the Judenrat and the Jewish police were personally spared in the first Aktion, nevertheless, some of their relatives were among those sent to the death-camp in Belzec. At the "registration area" near the bazaar the Germans made a selection and exempted about two hundred Jews who were needed to carry out their indispensable work.
After the first "Aktion" the ghetto was reduced. Szkolna and Podolska Streets were excluded and the ghetto comprised only the streets near the river Seret like Skladowa and Rzeznicka.