The Ulma Family

The beatification of the Ulma family from Markowa in south-eastern Poland was an unprecedented event in the history of the Church. For the first time ever, an entire family were raised to the glory of the altars together. The family, murdered on 24 March 1944 by the Germans for helping Jews during the Second World War, became an example of love of one’s neighbour and affirmation of life. This is borne out by the witnesses to their lives, researchers, and the objects associated with the future Blesseds.

Although they led a simple peasant life, thanks to the numerous surviving photographs by Józef Ulma we can get to know and describe the family from Markowa quite well. The very fact that in a large peasant family before the war there was a camera, constructed by Józef himself, indicates the uniqueness of the Samaritans from Markowa. Why Samaritans? This term stuck to the Ulmas due to an underline phrase found in a Bible belonging to this Polish couple. Someone marked the parable of the merciful Samaritan with a red crayon and added “YES!”. Elsewhere, the commandment to love your neighbour was highlighted. “This shows how much their everyday life was based on the Gospel, on union with God and full obedience to what God invites us to”, said Father Witold Burda, the postulator of the beatification process.

Józef Ulma had been helping Jews even before he decided to host in his home eight members of the Goldman, Didner, and Grünfeld families at the end of 1942. Before that, he had helped to make a hiding place in the ravines for another Jewish family. The windows of the Ulmas’ house overlooked the execution site where, in 1942, the Germans shot 34 Jews from Markowa and the surrounding area. The risk was enormous; unlike in Western European countries, the German occupation authorities introduced a regulation in Poland providing for the death penalty for any help to Jews. In addition, those with mere knowledge of support given to Jews could be punished in the same way on the basis of collective responsibility. Despite this, Józef Ulma replied to all those who advised him against hosting Jews in his home: “They are people too”. They welcomed Jews because they were people in the full sense of the word, said Władysław Ulma, Józef’s brother.

The Ulmas paid for this heroic decision with their lives. An estimated 1,000 people were killed in German-occupied Poland for helping Jews. More stories ended successfully; according to the Institute of National Remembrance, during the Second World War Poles saved several tens of thousands of their Jewish compatriots, despite the risk of death. The Ulmas were not the only family helping Jews in Markowa. Like them, the Bar and Szylar families were honoured with the Righteous Among the Nations medal by Yad Vashem. In total, 21 Jews survived the Holocaust in Markowa.

The birth of the seventh child began at the time of the murder or shortly after death. Wiktoria Ulma had previously given birth to six children: Stanisława, Barbara, Władysław, Franciszek, Antoni, and Maria. The photographs taken by Józef show the warmth of the family home and the joy of the family who, despite the modest living conditions, welcomed eight more people under their roof. “The Ulma family is a model for those who welcome refugees and immigrants” – observed Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. In this context, the additional symbolism of the beatification of the Ulma family is the fact that it is the Archdiocese of Przemyśl, where the Ulmas lived and died, that in 2022 became the centre of assistance for the millions of refugees from Ukraine fleeing the Russian invasion.