It elevates the Ulma family’s deed of mercy to an entirely different level – this is what Dr. Mateusz Szpytma, vice president of the Institute of National Remembrance and privately a relative of the Ulmas, says about the beatification of the Samaritans from Markowa, scheduled for September 10. On March 24, 1944, German gendarmes murdered Jozef and Wiktoria Ulma, their seven children, including one still in the womb, and the eight Jews they were hiding. On the anniversary of this tragedy, the National Day of Remembrance of Poles who Rescued Jews under German Occupation has been observed since 2018.
Free download of a new comprehensive monograph on how the Church in Poland was involved in the rescue of Jews is available here: .
credit. ulmowie.pl
The Day of Remembrance celebrations will take place in Markowa today with the participation of President Andrzej Duda. At the same time, the Committee for the Celebration Accompanying the Beatification of the Ulma Family will be initiated. „It is mobilizing so that there will be more large-scale initiatives. The beatification will be an important event primarily for the Church, but also for the Polish state, so it is understandable that the head of state – President Andrzej Duda – will also be involved,” stressed Dr. Mateusz Szpytma, who will be part of the Committee.
Our interviewee’s grandmother’s sister was Wiktora Ulma. The future blessed is also the godmother of Mateusz Szpytma’s father. How does he perceive the beatification of the family whose history he has studied for many years?
„It’s a great joy for me, and what always moves me about this story is that the Ulmas, despite such a modest formal education, were extremely open-minded and involved in social activities. (…) The great astonishment for me was that despite a bunch of children and a difficult situation, they decided to help those who were in a far more difficult situation, doomed to the Holocaust. And such an act should be commemorated because it is uncommon and heroic,” confessed Dr. Mateusz Szpytma.