On March 24, 1944 a Polish married couple and their seven children were killed by Nazis for hiding Jewish families in their home.

The process of canonization is currently under way at the Vatican for this family of nine.

Their historic beatification is scheduled for September 10, 2023.

Beatification, in the Roman Catholic Church, is the second of the three stages in the process of canonization. In beatification a deceased person is declared “Blessed” and worthy of limited public veneration (Britannica).

Even though they haven’t been canonized (declared “Saints”) yet, I feel called to share their story.

This Saint Spotlight is dedicated to: The Ulma Family.

Below is an article from the National Catholic Register about the Ulma Family – Feb. 15, 2023

The beatification date has been announced for Józef and Wiktoria Ulma and their seven children, who were killed by the Nazis for hiding a Jewish family in their home in Poland.

The Archdiocese of Przemyska announced Tuesday that the entire Ulma family — including one unborn child — will be beatified on Sept. 10.

Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, will preside over the beatification ceremony in Markowa, the village in southeast Poland where the Ulma family was executed in 1944.

Pope Francis recognized the martyrdom of the couple and their children in a decree signed in December. The World Holocaust Remembrance Center has honored the Ulmas as Righteous Among the Nations for the sacrifice of their lives.

Early on March 24, 1944, a Nazi patrol surrounded the home of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma on the outskirts of the village of Markowa in southeast Poland. They discovered eight Jewish people who had found refuge on the Ulma farm and executed them.

The Nazi police then killed Wiktoria [age 31], who was seven months pregnant, and Józef [age 44]. As children began to scream at the sight of their murdered parents, the Nazis shot them too: Stanisława, [almost] age 8, Barbara, [almost] 7, Władysław, [almost] 6, Franciszek, [almost] 4, Antoni, [almost] 3, and Maria, [almost] 2.

Father Witold Burda, the postulator for the Ulma family, has said that a Bible was found inside the Ulma house in which the parable of the Good Samaritan had been underlined in a red pen.

The postulator added that Józef and Wiktoria were known in their community for being “willing to help anyone who knocked on their door.”

“They built their family on the foundation of faith with fidelity to the two essential commandments: the commandment to love God and the commandment to love one’s neighbor,” Burda said.

Timeline

• Mar. 2, 1900 – Józef Ulma born
• Dec. 10, 1912 – Wiktoria Niemczak born
• July 7, 1935 – Józef and Wiktoria marry
• July 1936 – first child, Stanisława, born
• Oct. 1937 – Barbara born
• Dec. 1938 – Władysław born
• Apr. 1940 – Franciszek born
• June 1941 – Antoni born
• Sept. 1942 – Maria born
• Mar. 24, 1944 – Nazis kill Józef, Wiktoria, their seven children, and the eight Jews they hid for almost two years
• 1995 – World Holocaust Remembrance Center posthumously honors family as “Righteous Among the Nations” (non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews)
• 2003 – Diocese of Pelplin initiates cause for beatification of 88 martyrs of World War II, including the Ulma family
• 2010 – President Lech Kaczyński posthumously awards the family with Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta
• Mar. 17, 2016 – “Ulma Family Museum of Poles Saving Jews in World War II”opens in Markowa
• 2017 – Archdiocese of Przemyśl takes over the cause for the Ulma family
• Dec. 17, 2022 – Pope Francis signs decree recognizing the martyrdom of the Ulma family, which permits the beatification to be scheduled (for martyrs, the typical requirement of a miracle prior to beatification is waived, but one is still required for canonization)
• Sept. 10, 2023 – Beatification in Markowa

Interesting Facts

• Józef graduated from an agricultural school. He founded the first nursery of fruit trees in Markowa and began to make a living by selling seedlings. He was involved in fruit and vegetable cultivation, beekeeping and silkworm breeding.
• Józef built a backyard wind farm. He was the first in the village to light the house with electricity, rather than an oil lamp.
• Józef’s loved photography, and he used a self-assembled camera initially. He documented life in the town, and many photos are in circulation today.
• Józef and Wiktoria lived in the village of Markowa. Before the war it was the Lwów Voivodeship, and now it is the Podkarpackie Voivodeship. The village had four and a half thousand residents.
• In 1938, they bought five hectares (approximately twelve acres) of land in the eastern outskirts of the Lwów Voivodeship, but they couldn’t move because of the war.
• Wiktoria bought large amounts of food, which attracted attention and suggested that not only family members lived in their house. It’s not known who ultimately told the Nazis about the Ulmas.
• Wiktoria was seven months pregnant with their seventh child when they were discovered by the Nazis. She went into labor at the moment of her execution because of the extreme trauma. A witness later said he saw a newborn baby beside her body.
• In January 1945, the bodies of the Ulma family were exhumed from the original burial site (a pit the villagers were forced to dig) and moved to the local parish cemetery.
• During World War II, Poland was the only country in occupied Europe where the death penalty was imposed on anyone who decided to give shelter or help Jews survive in any way.
• Jews were hidden in Markowa by several families, but the largest group was taken in by the Ulmas.
• Of the 120 Jews living in Markowa before the war, 29 were helped and hidden by the inhabitants of the village. 21 survived.
• The Ulmas are called “The Mercy Samaritans of Markowa”.
• Since 2018, March 24th has been celebrated as the National Day of Remembrance of Poles who saved Jews under German occupation.
• This is the first time the Church will beatify an entire family.
• The liturgical feast of the Ulma family will be celebrated on July 7th, the couple’s wedding anniversary.
• “There was a question about the child not being baptized but the notion throughout the process was that the little one was baptized not by water, but by blood.” – Mateusz Szpytma, vice president of Polish Institute of National Remembrance and descendant of the Ulma family

Prayer for the Intercession of the Ulma Family

Almighty and eternal God,
we thank You for the testimony of the heroic love
of the spouses Józef and Wiktoria with their children,
who gave their lives to save persecuted Jews.

May their prayers and example
support families in Christian life
and help everyone to follow the true path of holiness.

Lord, if it is in accordance with Your will,
kindly grant me the grace (include petition) for which I am asking You
through their intercession
and count them among the Blessed.
Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…

Prayer from: Archdiocese of Przemyśl