Ulma family beatified for heroic Christianity during WW2

The beatification of the Ulma family has taken place in Rome today.

Probably at the end of 1942, Wiktoria and Józef Ulma from Markowa decided to take eight Jews under their roof: five men, two women and one girl. They hoped that in this way they would be able to save these people from death. Unfortunately, on March 24, 1944, all residents of the house in Markowa were murdered. The Ulmas and their children as well as the Jews hiding with them were killed.

Members of two Jewish families, probably related to each other, were hiding with the Ulma family. The first one included Saul Goldman (age 64) from Łańcut and his four sons: Baruch Goldman (age 33), Mechel Goldman (age 30), Joachim Goldman (age 25) and Moses Feiwel Goldman (age 23). The second one - two sisters: Gołda Grunfeld (aged 31) and Lea Didner (aged 37) and Reszla Didner, her 6-year-old daughter. Gołda and Lea were the daughters of Chaim Goldman from Markowa.

From the spring of 1942, as part of Operation Reinhardt, the Germans began the systematic liquidation of the Jewish community in the General Government. The deportation of Jews from Markowa and the surrounding area took place in the first half of 1942. From July, "hunts" for those in hiding continued. The displacement operation in Łańcut took place on August 1, 1942. The Jews were transported to the camp in Pełkinie, where the old and sick were murdered, and then to the extermination camp in Bełżec.

Those who were hiding or escaping were shot on the spot when caught.

Initially, Saul and his four sons were helped in hiding by his old friend from before the war, a blue policeman, Włodzimierz Leś. He expected payment for his help and the Goldmans gave him a significant portion of their property. After some time, however, when it was clear that helping Jews could actually result in death, Leś refused to provide support.

Then Saul and his sons went to the Ulma family from Markowa.

onet.pl/informacje/kai/kim-byli-zydzi-ktorzy-ukrywali-sie-u-ulmow/vxn92dk,30bc1058

- These Jews were like a family, they lived with the Ulmas - recalled the Ulmas' relative, Stanisława Kuźniar. Wiktoria and Józef Ulma took the Goldmans from Łańcut under their roof, probably at the end of 1942. Their Jewish neighbors from Markowa - Gołda and Lea with their daughter Raszla - also came to live with them. A total of 16 people lived in the Ulma house, including seven children.

They had to support themselves somehow. The Ulmas were poor because they had invested all their savings just before the war in purchasing 5 hectares of land in Sokal in the Lviv District, where they intended to move. Józef Ulma, together with the Jews, started tanning leather, which he sold in large quantities. Jews also helped in the fields, sawed boards and chopped firewood. The Ulma household was located somewhat out of the way, but not so much that the presence of Jews could not be discovered, especially since they moved freely within the house, where people came with skins to be tanned and those who wanted Józef Ulma , a photographer, took a photo of them for their ID card.

Gołda and Lea came from a wealthy home and probably had some funds that they could provide for their maintenance. (Besides, the fact that valuables were found on the body of the murdered Gołda may indicate that the Ulma family did not demand payment). In turn, Saul and his sons left their property to Włodzimierz Leś and tried to recover it from him.

- People said that there were Jews at the Ulma family, Stanisława Kuźniar recalled in an interview with KAI. - They often repeated: "Józek, throw these Jews out, because they will harm you and themselves." He replied: "Judge not another person, you will not be judged." They also sent him letters with warnings, said a relative of the Ulmas, who is now deceased.

Was it Włodzimierz Leś who betrayed the Ulmas and the Jews hiding with them to the Germans? This cannot be stated unequivocally, although there is no doubt that many things could point to this.

Ulma family - mother with kids. Father was taking the photo.

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On March 24, 1944, just before dawn, a group of German gendarmes and navy blue Polish policemen approached the Ulma house. The operation was commanded by Lieutenant Eilert Dieken.

Two Goldman brothers and Gołda Grunfeld were shot in their sleep. Then, in front of the eyes of Polish peasants brought as witnesses to the execution, two more brothers and Lea and her child were murdered. The last person to die was 64-year-old Saul Goldman.

After murdering the Jews, the Germans shot Wiktoria and Józef Ulma in front of the house, in front of the children (Wiktoria was very pregnant), and then they also murdered the children - 8-year-old Stanisława, 6-year-old Barbara, 5-year-old Władysław, 4-year-old Franciszek, 3-year-old Antoni and 1.5-year-old Maria.

Jeiwsh survivors from Markowa

Saul, Baruch, Mechel, Joachim, Moses, Gołda, Leah and Reszel could not be saved. However, other Jews were also hiding in the houses in Markowa, at least 21 of whom survived until the end of the German occupation.

Chaim and Rozalia Lorbenfeld and their daughter Pepka were hidden by Michał and Maria Bar. Fortunately, they survived the occupation and left for the USA.

Jakub and Ita Reisenbach and their three children Josek, Genia and Mania survived thanks to Julia and Józef Bar and their daughter Janina. They hid in the attic of their house and, during severe frosts, in the basement under the beets. Despite several German searches, everyone survived the occupation. After the war, the Reisenbachs emigrated to Canada, maintaining contact with the Bars by letter and sending them small gifts and small amounts of money.

Antoni and Dorota Szylar hid the seven-member Bezem family (who changed their surname to Weltz). It was Miriam Bezem, born in 1886 (daughter of Baruch Goldman and aunt of Saul, who was hiding with the Ulmas) and her children: Moniek, Abraham, Rachela and Aron, as well as Aron's wife, Shirley (also née Goldman) and their several-year-old son Leon. They survived in the attic above the stable until the arrival of the Red Army. The survivors went to Jarosław, then to Germany, and finally to the USA.

Katarzyna and Michał Cwynar hid a Jew using the name Władysław, while Jan and Helena Cwynar gave shelter to a thirteen-year-old boy who was looking for work in Markowa, introducing himself as Roman Kaliszewski. In fact, it was Abraham Isaac Segal, whose entire family was murdered. At some point, the Cwynars realized who the boy was, but decided not to reveal it to anyone. They even planned to adopt him. After the end of the German occupation, the teenager escaped to Prague and then to Israel, from where in 1950 he wrote a letter to the Cwynar family. He re-established contacts with this family in the 1990s.

Wiktoria (nee Ulma) and Michał Drewaniak hid Jakub Einhorn, called Szmul or Jankiel, in the barn. He also took refuge in the house of Jan and Weronika Przybylak, together with a three-person Jewish family of unknown surname, Szmul, Sianga and their daughter Pesa. In the summer, the Jews stayed in the attic of the thatched house of the Przybylak family, and in the winter in the stable, where it was warmer. The Przybylaks had two small children. "We knew perfectly well that hiding Jews meant death for the entire family, yet we took this risk day and night. (...) In Markowa, next door, the Nazis shot the entire Ulma family for helping Jews. I was terrified because the same thing awaited us, but we, thank God, survived. (...) When I look back on that terrible time, I am satisfied that I did everything

Ulma family

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Not Rome, but Markowa, the Ulma family`s home town. The Pope in Rome only stamped the beatification.

Celebration in Markowa

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More stories like theirs need to be told. Selflessness rather than selfishness and being firm in the worst adversity rather than fleeing and looking after number one.

Altruism is what separates us from lower species. People often forget this.

Such valiant acts by gentile Poles towards Jewish fellow citizens, usually at gravest personal risk, both to themselves as well as their families, should vanquish all naysayers, sadly many from the world Jewish community, who have shamefully branded all Poles as unrepenitant anti-Semites!!

May such people well ask themselves if they would have acted with such valor if the tables were turned.

A plaque on their grave installed by Markowa residents.

Saving the lives of others, they sacrificed their own.

Let their sacrifice be an inspiration for respecting and loving other people. They were sons and daughters of this land. They will remain forever in our hearts/memories.

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If you belive in God, such act make sense. If you don't such act can be viewed as iressponsible, after all his children safety was at stake.


Not everyone put their trust in God.

It does, and you don't have to have particular religious views.

The fact is that they did something that was the right thing to do and came at enormous cost to them. Most people whether Poles or any other nationality would probably take the easy option.

It need to be Christianity..

It can be any really, or none.

Decency is what it is wherever you're from or whoever you are.

theortically it could anything but that is rather an idea for a new topic or random rumination not a seriuos argument.


Decency is rather vagye word. I would say that all europen moral and ethical background is bulid on Christian morality and worldview that derivers its dogamas and rules stright from the Gospel.

Protestants took a big step backwood in this regard refusing to recognize universal character of the religion, reverting t o tribalism.
There are no a universal humanist book of rules on what right and what wrong and what decent or not.
Humanism of today is a bastard child of Christian Europe!


I'm not sure about it. You see I tended to think this way but too many examples like above comes to light. Isn't that an empirical proof to the contrary? In fact there is something in the water that specifically Poles and Catholics were taking those crazy, unresonable, dangers chanes with their lives and lives of their familes to help some people, often strangers.

Sure not everyone was helping like that, sure there was some that would snich to Germans on those who were helping but look at odds and numbers, like in every 1000 people there were a snich (guessing) and how many people keep their mouth shut even they knew about it, what about those who were helping?

Being in a dire situation themselves their risked their lives and seems to me we can talk about 10 of 1000 people rather than few. (guessing as to numbers).

As far as I know, it doesn't make that much difference.


It was happening here, and there were people who stepped up at a time of need. Most didn't and some did the opposite.

The Ulma family however, did an immensely brave thing.

Yes, that is irrevelent here, just a thought.


Don't you ask why? Think about pattern, see difrences? If you want to keep it simple I'm all for it.
One thing is certain they wouldn't act that this way if not for their Christian faith. Which is even more astounding given a fact that Germans supposed to be Christians as well... so?

I'd say that people of any religion or none caan do the most exceptional thing, however the ethics code that comes with religion does help, providing someone is serious about it, as they evidently were.

Belief in a higher, omniscient entity that knows all and sees all, and will eventually either reward of punish our deeds definitely helps. From the point of view of practical ethics in a society one could hardly come up with a better idea.

@Ironside,
You're aware of course, that the Germans then WEREN'T (perhaps even aren't now) Christians!
Whereas the rest of Europe underwent a religious, if not always spiritual, transformation prior to the rise of the Protestant Church, in Germany, all outpouring of spiritual values such as "All men are created equal (...in the eyes of G-d)" or "Love thy neighbor as thyself" essentially withered on the vine of local authority and the sort of grassroots Christianity that developed in the UK, the US, France, Italy, Spain and so forth was never allowed to blossom. Such was replaced by a harsh paganism, harking back to the Germanic deities, all but absorbed through the pores of Wagner, later devoured by the a majority of Nazi supporters.

Instead of the sacred writings of the early Church Fathers (all of whom were Jews, by the way), Germans were subverted by the writings of Kant with his unwavering obedience to the Highest Will, therefore ignoring the existence of empathy, of questioning authority), later by the irrationalism of the Romantic Age, later, by the biology of racism. I'm vulgarly simplifying here, of course.

Thus Hitler was not as much of a stretch of the German imagination as one might think.

Your comment was puzzling. Explain what you meant.

The heroic exception in my examples were of course The White Rose, who were true Christians!

The German press never failed in producing their hate induced opinions. Little pricks.
They have issue with Ulma family beatifications, apparently Poland is doing that to cover up for Jedwabne...what a degenerate German dick come up with that crap? Where is pawian to F his jew/poles murdering granpa?

well pawian is just a monkey....
I just don't belive that cheek......of SOME german press.
( 10 000 documented cases Poles saving Jews/ 1000 were killed for that - and counting as the resarch goes on).

This is Poland - inhabited by various people. During WW2, most were indifferent to Jewish tragedy and did nothing. Some helped and rescued Jews. Some hunted them down and murdered.


Yes, it is a fact well established in nature - baboons are monkeys or apes.:):):)

in your case it is just a fiiting monkier for a german bootlicker and degenrate/

You must be a bit biased. :):):)

well PO is German party and PiS is American one .....and you rather east rotten banana then criticise Germans, even your stance to war in Ukrianie chaned when Gretman attuitude changed. Bised? Got away degnerate..

It is a lie. :):):)


It is dyslexia. :):):)


It is an order which I can`t obey. :):):)

Anything else???? hahahaha

And where is any Polish party?

Konfa of course!

O kurwa☹

Russians, of course! hahaha

That's a RuSSian party then lol