Yesterday in Poland, the Catholic Church beatified a Polish family murdered by the Nazi German occupiers for helping Jews during the Second World War, a milestone in ecclesiastical history, as it is the first time an entire family has been beatified.
On March 24, 1944, the Ulma couple, consisting of Jozef, 44, and Wiktoria, 31, seven months pregnant, and their six children aged between 7 and 18 months, were shot dead by the German police and the local Polish police. Eight Jews were staying in their farm in Markowa, a town in the south-east of the country, who were also killed. The Ulmas and their protégés were betrayed by a Polish policeman.
About 30,000 people, including 1,000 priests, took part in the ceremony in Markowa. The President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, the Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich, and a delegation from Israel attended. In 1995, the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem recognized the Ulmas as Righteous Among the Nations, for helping Jews during the Holocaust.
After the investigation necessary for the instruction of the cause of beatification, Pope Francis declared the entire family martyrs, which has allowed the beatification without the requirement of a miracle. For the Catholic Church it has been a dilemma how to approach the case of the baby that Wiktoria was expecting when she died, since he was not baptized and this is a necessary condition for beatification. Finally, the Dicastery for the Causes of the Saints said on September 5 that the boy was born during the murders and received the “baptism of blood” from his martyred mother. So, according to the Catholic Church, the beatified family is made up of mother, father and seven children.
Jozef was fond of photography and portrayed his family on the farm; that’s why there are photos of the children barefoot in the countryside, of the mother spreading the laundry or helping them with their homework, and preparing the food.
Law and Justice (PiS), the ultra-conservative party that governs Poland, emphasizes family values ??and also the heroism of Poles in the war, which is why the beatification of the Ulma family – a decision of the Holy See – fits into their campaign for the elections of October 15, in which he aspires to a third term.
