The Ulma family: seven martyrs of the Christian faithThe Ulma family: a normal life, the basis of their extraordinary dedicationIn the village of Markowa, in southeastern Poland, on Sunday, September 10, the family The entire group - Wiktoria and Józef Ulm and their seven children - will be raised to the glory of the altars as martyrs. Inspired by love for their fellow man, they hid eight Jews for about a year and a half during World War II, thus saving them from death. For this they were executed by the Germans in 1944.
The eldest of the Ulma children was eight-year-old Stasia. She was followed in quick succession by Basia, Władzio, Franek and Antoś. The youngest, Marysia, was one and a half years old at the time of her death. The birth of another child began during the execution or just after.
An ordinary family
The couple married when Wiktoria was 23 and Józef 35. They were an ordinary, poor peasant family, at the same time socially committed and open to learning. Józef worked the land, ran the farm and was also involved in beekeeping, silkworm breeding and fruit farming. Photography was also his passion. He built a camera himself. Wiktoria attended courses at the People's University. The Ulmas also subscribed to the press.
In Markowa there was a sizeable Jewish community, as in many towns in Poland at that time. During World War II, the policy of the German occupying state condemned Jews to extermination. In Poland, the occupiers punished aid to Jews with death, an exception in Europe.
Nevertheless, the Ulma took eight Jews under their roof. They hid them under difficult wartime conditions from the autumn of 1942. The title of the parable of the Merciful Samaritan and the word TAK (YES), which is underlined in a book with a selection of Scripture texts belonging to the Ulma, shed light on the motives for their decision. Most likely, a so-called local "blue policeman," Włodzimierz Leś, informed the Ulma occupants.
On March 24, 1944 they were executed in their home in Markowa. First the Jews were killed. Then Wiktoria and Józef. Then the German military policeman Eilert Dieken, who commanded the action, ordered the children to be killed as well.
The beatification of the Ulma family
The beatification is an unprecedented event, as the parents will be raised to the altars together with all their children - including the one who did not yet have a name, we do not even know his sex. A few days after the execution it turned out that her head came off, so the birth began during or even after Wiktoria's death.
The beatification of the Ulma family, with the participation of Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, takes place near the stadium in the village of Markowa. In this village was created the Museum of the Ulma Family of Poles who saved Jews during the Second World War, which shows the magnitude of the help given by the Poles to the Jews.
The Ulma were awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations in 1995. The Yad Vashem Institute has so far awarded this title to 28,000 people, including 7,000 Poles.
