We, Poles, are proud that on September 10, 2023, the Catholic Church will bless our compatriots, the Ulm family. The significance of this event extends beyond the boundaries of the religious aspect. It will also be a fitting tribute to heroes who embody the highest ideals of humanity.
A yellowed, badly worn Bible, distinguished at the place where the parable of the Good Samaritan is described, the title of this passage underlined with a red line and handwritten: YES! It is this exhibit that stands before my eyes when I remember the Museum named after the Ulm family in honor of the Poles – the saviors of Jews during the Second World War, located in the south of Poland, in the village of Markowa.
This copy of the Holy Scriptures belonged to the married couple Yusef and Viktoria Ulma. They were Polish farmers who sheltered eight fellow citizens of Jewish origin in their home: Saul Goldman with four sons, Golda Greenfeld and Leah Didner with their little daughter. Just before dawn on March 24, 1944, German gendarmes broke into the Ulm farm in the village of Markova. The hidden Jews as well as their rescuers were shot on the spot. Not only Yusef Ulma and his expectant wife Victoria were killed, but also their six children.
Nazi Germany’s occupation of Poland, the Holocaust and mass crimes against Poles are an extremely important and still painful thread in the history of my homeland. The fate of the Ulm family befell many of my compatriots. Every year on March 24, we celebrate a national holiday – the national day of remembrance in honor of the Polish-Jewish saviors during the German occupation.
Before the Second World War, Poland was home to the largest Jewish community, which was also one of the largest in the history of this nation. For centuries, Jews gladly settled in our country, giving it an expressive name – Polin, which translates as “here you will rest”. In Poland, Jews enjoyed peace and could take advantage of development opportunities, but our capital, Warsaw, at the end of the 1930s, was the second largest Jewish population center in the world, right after New York. The Germans had to take these facts into account when developing plans for the total extermination of the Jews, the inhuman, mechanical, almost industrial nature of which was shocking. Therefore, it was in occupied Poland that the German Nazis created death factories – extermination camps, to which Jews were also transported from other countries conquered by the Third Reich. Moreover, Poland has been known for centuries as a tolerant country whose culture and social relations were built on Christian values. Consequently, the German occupying power expected that there would be resistance to these criminal activities. Therefore, in our land, anyone was threatened with death just for trying to give any kind of support to Jews seeking salvation. However, despite such a severe punishment, thanks to the help of the Poles, thousands of Polish Jews managed to escape. Poles helped Jews escape from the ghetto, created hiding places for them, provided them with food, money, and forged documents. Historians are still working on reconstructing the course of the dramatic events of that time. The Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem has so far awarded the honorary title of Righteous Among the Nations to more than seven thousand Poles, including Viktoria and Józef Ulma. Among the Righteous Among the Nations, the Poles constitute the largest national group. The Polish government and public authorities are also continuing their efforts to pay due respect to these silent, often anonymous heroes – especially those who paid for their sacrifice and bravery with their lives.
We, Poles, are proud that on September 10, 2023, the Catholic Church will bless our compatriots, the Ulm family. The significance of this event extends beyond the boundaries of the religious aspect. It will also be a fitting tribute to heroes who embody the highest ideals of humanity. The whole world should know the story of their martyrdom, which is shocking but also inspiring because it is an extraordinary testimony of love for one’s neighbor. May it change people’s hearts, serve as an example of openness towards other people and solidarity.
2023-09-08 14:23:16
#world #martyrdom #Ulm #family
