The Ulma Family; Dad, Mom, Children; Stanislaw, age 8, Barbara, age 7, Vladyslaw, age 6, Franciszek, age 4, Antoni, age 3,  Maria, age2, and  newborn (no name) all martyred  by the Nazis on March 24, 1944  Entire family will be Beatified on September 10, 2023

By Larry Peterson

When I discover a hidden gem in the saintly logs, I like to make friends with them (just a head game I play with myself), and I will call them by nicknames and “talk” to them as if we were hanging out. Here is one saintly family that met the criteria for membership. Meet Joe (Jozef) and Vicki (Wiktoria) Ulma.

Joe and Vicki lived in southern Poland in a town called Markowa. Joe was a librarian, a photographer, and a bee-keeper. He was active with the local Catholic Youth Organization. Vicki was 12 years younger than her husband and they had six kids: Stanislaw, age 8, Barbara, age 7, Vladyslaw, age 6, Franciszek, age 4, Antoni, age 3, and Maria, age 2.  Then along came the Nazis.

During the summer of 1942 the Nazi military police began deporting Jewish families from Markow to the death camps. Joe and Vicki, good Catholics who loved their faith and Jesus, knew what they had to do. During the darkness of night they snuck their Jewish neighbors, the Szall family, into their home. Joe and Vicki, knowing the consequences of their actions, had to help those in danger.

The Szall family consisted of a mom, dad, four kids and two sisters from the Goldman family. Joe and Vicki hid them in their attic and they remained there for a year and a half. This was toward the end of summer.

A neighbor who had harbored some ill will toward the Szall family eventually informed on them. Early on the morning of March 24, 1944, Lt. Eilert Dieken, led his band of German soldiers to the Ulma house and surrounded it. They promptly found the two adults and six children hiding there.

They were all brought outside and several people were ordered to act as witnesses. One by one the each were shot in the head and killed. Then Lt. Diekens ordered Joe, Vicki and their kids outside. Vicki was now pregnant with her seventh child and almost full term.

Diekens, enjoying the power he had been given, had the Ulma kids line up facing their mom and dad. Then he made them watch as Joe and Vicki were shot to death right in front of them. The kids began screaming and one of the soldiers, Joseph Kott, asked for permission to silence them. Diekens quickly approved and, in a matter of minutes, 17 people had been executed. The 17^th was Vicki’s baby, who was discovered upon exhumation, to have been almost born as Vicki lay in her grave. What evil there is in the hearts of so many.

The Ulmas and their neighbors were no different than the rest of us.. They had family and friends whom they loved. They laughed, they cried, they loved to dance and sing, to hug their children and to eat cake. They enjoyed a Sunday picnic and loved Christmas or Passover. And they all had every shred of personal dignity  ripped unmercifully from their very existence.  The crime for the Ulmas, loving their neighbors through Christ. As for me, I need people like that in my life to show me how that is done.

The story of the Ulma family became a symbol of martyrdom of Poles killed by the Germans for hiding and protecting Jews. Jozef and Wiktoria Ulma were declared Righteous Among the Natiuons by Yad Vashem in 1995. The Ulma Family Museum of Poles saving Jews in World War II was dedicated on March 17,2016. The Polish President, Andrzej Duda, officiated at the ceremony.

On December 18, 2022, Pope Francis declared the entire Ulma family Venerable and officially set their beatification ceremony for sometime during 2023.

We can ask the entire Ulma family, Jozef, Wiktoria, and their children, to please pray for us all.

In Odium Fideii*  In Hatred of the faith

copyrightLarry Peterson 2023 (republished)

9-6-2023

VATICAN CITY, Sept 5 (Reuters) – The Catholic Church is to beatify a Polish family of nine including a new-born baby who died at the hands of the Nazis during World War Two, the Vatican’s saint-making department said on Tuesday.

The service to beatify Jozef and Wiktoria Ulma and their seven children will be held on Sunday in the Polish town of Markowa where they died in March 1944. The family was killed by German military police for sheltering a family of Jews.

Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the prefect for th Cases for Saints will preside.