The Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D. C is hosting a display on the lives of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma and their seven children. The Polish family, beatified last September, was declared martyrs because they were executed for sheltering Jews during World War II.
Titled “The Good Samaritans of Markowa: The Sacrificial Love of the Ulma Family,” the display includes 20 poster panels highlighting the Ulma family’s daily life, their devotion to their Catholic faith and information on the Jewish community of the little village.
The display also includes a unique reliquary that includes a first-class ex ossibus (piece of bone) relic of each member of the Ulma family, and depicts the family members connected by the branches of the Tree of Life.
Józef and Wiktoria Ulma and their children lived in Markowa in the District of Rzeszow in southeastern Poland. Józef was a farmer and beekeeper who occasionally wrote articles for the local newspaper. Wiktoria was a homemaker who participated in amateur theater productions. The family attended Mass at their village’s St. Dorothy Church, and the couple was active in their parish’s Living Rosary Association.
After the outbreak of World War II and the Nazi occupation of Poland, assisting Jews was an offense punishable by death. Indeed, one panel in the display includes a list of Markowa residents who were scheduled to be executed for hiding Jews, as well as the promise of a reward of more than 200 pounds of rye to anyone who turned in Jews or their benefactors.
It was during this time the Ulmas decided to act on their faith and help the persecuted Jews. The display includes a photo of the Ulma family Bible, and a photo of Bible passages highlighted by either Józef or Wiktoria that discuss love and mercy toward others.
In 1942, the Ulmas took in a total of eight Jews from two families: Saul Goldman and his sons, Baruch, Mechel, Joachim and Moses. There were also two sisters Gołda Gruenfell and Layka Didner, who were distant relatives of Saul Goodman, and Layka’s daughter Reszla. All eight were hidden in the attic of the Ulma home for nearly two years.
Acting on information from a Markowa village policeman, Nazis stormed the Ulma family home in the early morning hours of March 24, 1944. All eight Jews were executed first, shot in the back of the head.
Then the Nazis shot and killed Wiktoria, who was eight months pregnant with her seventh child, and Józef in front of their six children: Stanisława, 8; Barbara, 7; Władysław, 6; Franciszek, 4; Antoni, 3; and Maria, 2. When the children began to scream seeing their dead parents, they were also shot and killed.
The Nazis forced several village residents to watch the executions as a warning against future assistance to Jews. The family was immediately buried in front of their home. When Ulma relatives exhumed the bodies almost a year later to bury them properly in the parish cemetery, it was discovered that the unborn child – a boy – had emerged from Wiktoria’s womb, either as she was dying or right after her death.
The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints noted that since the unborn baby boy was delivered at the time of Wiktoria’s martyrdom, he could be included as a martyr based on the doctrine of “baptism of blood.”
The Ulma beatification last September is believed to be the first time an entire family has been beatified as martyrs.
The St. John Paul II National Shrine exhibit – offered in English, Polish and Spanish – includes photos and panels focusing on the Ulmas’ family life, their marriage, their children, their spiritual life, their political, social and artistic activities. There are also panels focusing on the Jewish community of Markowa and a diagram showing where Jews were assisted in the village.
There are also reflections by Pope St. John Paul II on the family as the cornerstone of civilization.
Some of the reproduced photos were taken by Józef himself, an avid amateur photographer who chronicled much of his family’s daily life. Particularly touching in the exhibit is a reproduction of a photo he took of Jewish women from Markowa. It is stained with blood from one of the Ulmas when they were executed.
Included is a picture of the Ulma family’s entries in their parish death registry. There is also a copy of the Yad Vashem (the Holocaust memorial in Israel) declaration in 1995 of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma as Righteous Among the Nations. The Yad Vashem has recognized more than 7,200 Poles as Righteous Among the Nations, and states that by nationality, Poles represent the largest group of persons who rescued Jews during the Holocaust.
Much of the information presented on the panels at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine comes from the Polish Institute of National Remembrance.
The exhibit – which runs through March, the 80th anniversary of the family’s martyrdom, is a worthy tribute to the family whom Pope Francis said is “for all of us a model to imitate in striving for goodness and in the service of those in need.”
The Saint John Paul II National Shrine is located at 3900 Harewood Rd. NE, Washington. It is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is no admission fee.
