Who were the Ulmas? When we started to create our latest reliquary, we already knew who the Ulmas were. However, during our preparations, we learned many previously unknown details about their lives. Read the article and learn more about the people who gave their lives helping their Jewish neighbours.
Who were the Ulma family?
Wictoria and Józef Ulma lived in the village of Markowa, located in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in the Łańcut County. They were well-known and well-liked community activists.
Józef was a man of many talents. He promoted gardening, vegetable growing, and beekeeping in his village, bred silkworms and ran a fruit tree nursery. He lit his house with electricity from his own wind turbine. His great passion was photography, so that he documented the lives of his family and the other residents of Markowa. He also constructed a bookbinding machine.
Wiktoria was also a community activist. She acted in the village theater and attended courses at the Adult Education Centre. The Ulmas married in 1935. And then the war began…
Jews in Markowa
Before the World War II, in Markowa lived 120 Jews. On September 22, 1939, the Germans ordered all the Jews to relocate immediately across the Bug River. Some, however, remained in the village. In August 1942, the Germans banned Jews from residing in Markowa and organized a resettlement operation. However, only few Jews volunteered for the “resettlement.” They were taken to Łańcut, where they were placed in a ghetto and soon died.
Those Jews who did not volunteered to face certain death in the ghetto were forced to go into hiding. They lived in the forest surrounding the village. Some of them have found shelter at Polish families. Thanks to Polish families who were hiding them during the occupation, 21 Jews survived the war in Markowa. The rest of them were killed. After the war, the remains of 49 Jews were exhumed.
The Ulma family – how did it happen?
At the end of 1942, Józef and Wiktoria Ulma, raising six young children, decided to hide eight Jews from the Grünfeld, Goldman, and Didner families. Knowing of the danger, they hid them for a year and a half.
They were most likely denounced by a policeman, Włodzimierz Leś, who had seized the property of one of the families so that he wanted to get rid of its owners. The whole family, including Wiktoria Ulma, who was heavily pregnant, were murdered by German gendarmes on March 24, 1944. All the Jews hiding in their home were also killed.
The Blessed Ulma Family
On September 10, 2023, Pope Francis beatified the entire family, Józef and Wiktoria Ulma, along with their seven children. They were Stasia, Basia, Władzio, Franio, Antoś, Marysia, and a child who was due in the spring of 1944. This is an extraordinary event, that the entire family was beatified.
In the article: “Blessed are the Righteous. The Life of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma and Their Family,” we found information that one of the neighbors warned Józef not to risk his family’s life by hiding Jews. He heard from Józef these words: “They are people too. I will not remove them.” The same article mentioned that in a Holy Bible belonging to Ulmas, the fragments of the parable of the Good Samaritan and of love our neighbors were found highlighted.
The Ulma Family Named Patrons of the Year 2024
In 1995, the Ulma family was honored with the title of Righteous Among the Nations. In 2010, President Lech Kaczyński awarded them the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. On March 17, 2016, a museum bearing their name was opened in Markowa. It is the Museum of Poles Saving Jews during World War II.
This family symbolizes all the Poles whose only “sin” was selflessly helping Jews, for which they were killed by the Germans during World War II. As March 2024 marks the 80th anniversary of the murder of the Ulma family by the German gendarmerie, the Sejm of the Republic of Poland declared the Ulma family as Patrons of the Year 2024.
Who were the Ulmas is based on:
- Website of the Archdiocese of Przemyśl dedicated to Blessed Józef and Wiktoria Ulma and their seven children: www.ulmowie.pl
- Website of the Museum of Poles Saving Jews in World War II named after The Ulma Family: www.muzeumulmow.pl/pl/muzeum/o-muzeum/
- Wikipedia: The Holocaust in Markowa https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zag%C5%82ada_%C5%BByd%C3%B3w_w_Markowej
- “Blessed Righteous. The Life of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma and Their Family”, Przystanek Historia https://przystanekhistoria.pl/pa2/tematy/rodzina-ulmow/103158,Blogoslawieni-Sprawiedliwi-Zyciorys-Jozefa-i-Wiktorii-Ulmow-oraz-ich-rodziny.html
We hope that now You understand, who were the Ulmas. If you would like to read about other saints and blesseds, we invite you to read the article about Saint Jose Sanchez del Rio. You can find it at the link below: Article about Saint Jose Sanchez del Rio.
A reliquary for the Ulma family relics is now available in our store. You can find it at the link below: Reliquary for the Ulma family relics.
