Wiktoria Ulma

Wiktoria Ulma, née Niemczak (10 December 1912 – 24 March 1944) was a Polish Righteous among the Nations, from Markowa village near Łańcut, Servant of God, and wife of Józef Ulma. She was killed with her husband and their six children by a patrol of German police for hiding Jews in their own home during the Holocaust in Poland. She was nine months pregnant, at the time of her death.[1] Notably, despite the murder of Ulmas meant to strike fear into the hearts of villagers, their neighbours continued to hide Jewish fugitives until the end of World War II in Europe. At least 21 Polish Jews survived in Markowa during the occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany.[2]

Polish Righteous Józef and Wiktoria Ulma

Life

Wiktoria was born in Markowa as the seventh child of Jan Niemczak and his wife Franciszka. At the age of six, Wiktoria lost her mother.[3] She took courses at the folk high school in Gać.[4] In 1935, she married Józef Ulma, 12 years' her senior, with whom she had six children: Stanisława, age 8 at the time of her death, Barbara, age 7, Władysław, age 6, Franciszek, age 4, Antoni, age 3 and Maria, age 2 in 1944.[5] Wiktoria was an educated housewife, taking care of home and their offspring.[3] Through hard work, persistence and determination, the Ulmas were able to purchase a bigger farm (5 hectares in size) in Wojsławice near Sokal (now Ukraine), and have already begun planning a relocation when the war began.[5] At the moment of her death, Wiktoria was about to give a birth to their seventh child.[3]

Holocaust rescue

Wiktoria with six of her children, photographed by her husband Józef

In the second half of 1942, Wiktoria and her husband Józef took in eight runaway Jews from families of Goldman, Szalli, Grünfeld and Didner.[3][2] Among them, six members of the Szall (Szali) family including Saul Goldman with his wife and their four adult sons, as well as the two daughters of Chaim Goldman, Golda (Gienia), and Layka (Lea) Didner.[6]

The Ulmas were denounced by Włodzimierz (Volodymyr) Leś, a Ukrainian Blue Police member, who had taken possession of the Szall (Szali) family's real estate in Łańcut in spring 1944 and wanted to get rid of its rightful owners. On 24 March 1944 the patrol of the German police from the station in Łańcut raided the farm, and shot the Ulma couple along with their six children. The Polish Jews, they sheltered, were executed along with them. It is likely that during the mass execution Wiktoria went into labour, because the witness to her exhumation testified that he saw a head of a new-born baby between her legs.[3]

Józef and Wiktoria Ulma were posthumously honored with The Righteous Medal on September 13, 1995.[7][8] On 24 March 2004 a stone memorial to honor memory of the Ulma family was erected in Markowa.[3]

The beatification process

On 17 September 2003 the Pelplin Diocese's Bishop Jan Bernard Szlaga initiated beatification process of 122 Polish martyrs died during World War II, including Józef and Wiktoria Ulma with their six children among the others. On 20 February 2017 Congregation for the Causes of Saints allowed to take over management of the process of Ulma family by Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Przemyśl.[9]

The fate of the Ulmas become a symbol of martyrization of Poles killed by the Germans for helping Jews. On 17 March 2016 The Ulma Family Museum of Poles Saving Jews in World War II was opened in Markowa in presence of the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Poland (25 February 2018). "The Ulma Family: Symbol of Polish Heroism in the Face of Nazi German Brutalities". German Camps, Polish Heroes. Instytut Lukasiewicza. What Was the Truth? Project under the honorary patronage of the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda. Project coordinators: Auschwitz Memorial and State Museum in Oświęcim, and Institute of National Remembrance, Warsaw.
  2. 1 2 Polish Press Agency PAP. "Commemorations in Markowa, on the 71st anniversary of the murder of Ulma family" [W Markowej uczczono 71. rocznicę zamordowania Ulmów i ukrywanych przez nich Żydów]. Dzieje.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2018-02-22 – via Internet Archive.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mateusz Szpytma (2006-03-25). "Lay down their lives for their fellow man. Heroic family who perished for hiding Jews" [Oddali życie za bliźnich. Bohaterska rodzina Ulmów zginęła za ukrywanie Żydów]. Nasz Dziennik. Vol. 72 (2482) – via Internet Archive.
  4. ↑ Mateusz Szpytma (2014-03-24). "Martyrdom of Ulma family. Polish people murdered for rescuing Jews" [Kaźń rodziny Ulmów. Polska rodzina zamordowana za ratowanie Żydów]. NowaHistoria.Interia.pl.
  5. 1 2 Teresa Tyszkiewicz. "Rodzina Ulmów. Miłość silniejsza niż strach". Adonai.pl. Bibliography: M. Szpytma: "Żydzi i ofiara rodziny Ulmów z Markowej podczas okupacji niemieckiej" [in:] W gminie Markowa, Vol. 2, Markowa 2004, p. 35; M. Szpytma, J. Szarek: Sprawiedliwi wśród narodów świata, Kraków 2007. – via Internet Archive.
  6. ↑ Włodzimierz Redzioch, interview with Mateusz Szpytma, historian from the Institute of National Remembrance (4 March 2016). "They gave up their lives". Tygodnik Niedziela weekly. Częstochowa, Poland. Vol. 16/2007, Editor-in-chief: Fr Ireneusz Skubis – via Internet Archive.
  7. ↑ Israel Gutman (red.): Księga Sprawiedliwych wśród Narodów Świata. Ratujący Żydów podczas Holocaustu: Polska. T. II. Kraków: Jad Waszem, 2009, s. 777. ISBN 978-83-87832-59-9.
  8. ↑ "Jozef and Wiktoria Ulma | Paying the Ultimate Price | Themes | A Tribute to the Righteous Among the Nations". www.YadVashem.org. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  9. ↑ "Proces beatyfikacyjny Rodziny Ulmów będzie prowadzony przez Archidiecezję Przemyską | Archidiecezja Przemyska". Archidiecezja Przemyska (in Polish). 2017-03-08. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  10. ↑ "Uroczystość otwarcia Muzeum Polaków Ratujących Żydów im. Rodziny Ulmów w Markowej". Dzieje.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2018-02-22.
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