The Ulma family () or Józef and Wiktoria Ulma with Seven Children () were a Polish Catholic family in Markowa, Poland, during the Nazi German occupation in World War II who attempted to rescue Polish Jewish families by hiding them in their own home during the Holocaust. They and their children were summarily executed on 24 March 1944 for doing so.Mateusz Szpytma, "The Righteous and their world. Markowa through the lens of Józef Ulma" , Institute of National Remembrance, Poland. Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, Wystawa „Sprawiedliwi wśród Narodów Świata”– 15 czerwca 2004 r., Rzeszów. "Polacy pomagali Żydom podczas wojny, choć groziła za to kara śmierci – o tym wie większość z nas." (Exhibition "Righteous among the Nations." Rzeszów, 15 June 2004. Subtitled: "The Poles were helping Jews during the war - most of us already know that."); accessed 8 November 2008.
Notably, despite the murder of the 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. In 1995, the adult Ulmas have been recognized by the State of Israel as Righteous Among the Nations. They are venerated in the Catholic Church as martyrs following their beatification by Pope Francis in 2023; their feast day is celebrated on 7 July (day of the anniversary of Józef and Wiktoria's wedding).
Biography Józef Ulma Józef Ulma (2 March 1900 – 24 March 1944) from the Village of Markowa near in Przemyśl, son of Marcin Ulma and Franciszka Ulma (née Kluz), well-off farmers. In 1911, he took short courses in a general school. In his youth, he became involved in social activities. At the age of seventeen, he was a member of the association in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Przemyśl, whose purpose, apart from prayer, was to collect funds for the construction and maintenance of churches and chapels. In addition, he became an active member of the Catholic Youth Association and later the Rural Youth Association. At this time he worked as a librarian and photographer. He was also known locally for his passions in gardening, beekeeping, and bookbinding.
In 1921 to 1922, he completed his compulsory military service in Grodno. From 1 November 1929 to 31 March 1930, he studied at the National Agricultural School in Pilzno. After obtaining a diploma, he became a market gardener, growing fruit trees, raising bees and silkworms. In 1933, he received an award from the Przeworsk District Agricultural Society for these activities. He was the first to introduce electricity to Markowa. Furthermore, he was passionate about photography, and indulged in it during cultural events in his village and during family celebrations. He also wrote articles for a local weekly newspaper. In addition, he was a member of the Agricultural Circle and other organizations.
Wiktoria Ulma Wiktoria Ulma, née Niemczak, (10 December 1912 – 24 March 1944) from the Village of Markowa near in Łańcut, daughter of Jan Niemczak and Franciscka Niemczak (née Homa). Her mother died when she was six years old. She completed her primary and secondary education in her hometown, after which she took courses at the People's University in Gać. In her hometown, she was a member of an amateur theater troupe. Wiktoria was an educated housewife, taking care of the home and the children. Through hard work, persistence and determination, the Ulmas were able to purchase a bigger farm ( in size) in Wojsławice near Sokal (now Ukraine), and had already begun planning a relocation when the war began.
Józef and Wiktoria married on 7 July 1935. After their marriage, they earned their living as farmers on a small farm they owned. Together they had six children and were expecting their seventh:
Stanisława (born 18 July 1936), aged 7 Barbara (born 6 October 1937), aged 6 Władysław (born 5 December 1938), aged 5 Franciszek (born 3 April 1940), aged 3 Antoni (born 6 June 1941), aged 2 Maria (born 16 September 1942), aged 1 Unborn child, aged 8 months
The couple were active members in the Church of Saint Dorothy in Markowa. They deepened their faith through family prayer and participation in the sacramental life of the church. They both belonged to the Association of the Living Rosary. After the outbreak of World War II, Józef was mobilized and took part in the Polish campaign.
Holocaust rescue
Extermination of Jews in Markowa Before World War II, nearly 30 Jewish families (about 120 people) lived in Markowa, near Łańcut. After the beginning of the German occupation, the village was incorporated into the Jarosław County within the General Government.
In late July or early August 1942, Jarosław County became part of Operation Reinhard. The local Jews were gathered in a transit camp in Pełkinie, from where they were transported either to the Belzec extermination camp or executed in the forests near Wólka Pełkińska. In some villages and settlements, residents were murdered on the spot.
Only a few Jews from Markowa, probably no more than 6 or 8 people, heeded the German authorities' call and reported for the supposed "resettlement". The rest, numbering around several dozen, went into hiding. Some found shelter with Polish families, while others hid in farm buildings without the knowledge of the owners or roamed the nearby forests and fields. The fugitives were hunted by German gendarmes and Polish Blue Police officers, who killed any Jews they captured.
The largest manhunt for Jews hiding in Markowa occurred on 13 December 1942. It was ordered by the village head, Andrzej Kud, at the behest of the German authorities. Members of the local fire brigade and village watch, possibly supported by Blue Police officers and ordinary villagers, participated in the manhunt. Between a dozen and 25 Jewish men, women, and children were captured. They spent the night of 13/14 December in the local jail. The next day, German gendarmes arrived from Łańcut and executed all the Jews at an old trench, which was also used as an animal burial site. According to Jakub Einhorn, a Jew from Markowa who survived the German occupation, the Poles involved in the manhunt were notably zealous and even brutal. The Jews detained in the jail were reportedly tortured and robbed; a young Jewish woman was said to have been repeatedly raped. However, the credibility of Einhorn's account is disputed.After the war, criminal proceedings were initiated against several residents of Markowa on suspicion of involvement in crimes against the Jewish population. The accusations were mostly based on the testimony of Jakub Einhorn. However, none of the suspects were ultimately convicted. This was partly due to the courts deeming Einhorn's testimony insufficiently credible. During the proceedings, it was demonstrated that some of the events he claimed to have witnessed firsthand were, in fact, known to him only through third-party accounts ().
Aid given to Jews by the Ulma family In the summer and autumn of 1942, the Nazi police deported several Jewish families of Markowa as part of Operation Reinhard, the Nazi plan to exterminate Polish Jews in the General Government district of German-occupied Poland. Only those who were hidden in Polish peasants' homes survived. Eight Jews found shelter with the Ulmas: six members of the Szall (Szali) family from Łańcut including father, mother and four sons, as well as the two daughters of Chaim Goldman, Golda (Gienia) and Layka (Lea) Didner.Chaim Goldman was most likely the brother of Saul Goldman from Łańcut ().Wlodzimierz Redzioch, interview with Mateusz Szpytma, historian from the Institute of National Remembrance (4 March 2016), "They gave up their lives." Tygodnik Niedziela weekly, 16/2007, Editor-in-chief: Fr Ireneusz Skubis Częstochowa, Poland. Internet Archive. Józef Ulma put all eight Jews in the attic. They learned to help him with supplementary jobs while in hiding, to ease the incurred expenses.
The two Jewish families hidden by the Ulmas stayed at their farm until the spring of 1944. No extraordinary precautions were taken to hide them. The Jews lived in the attic of the house, and retreated to the attic only at night or in times of danger. The Ulmas were supported in their efforts by Józef's close friend, Antoni Szpytma.
Arrest and execution The Ulma family were denounced by Włodzimierz Leś, a member of the Blue Police, 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. As a Greek Catholic from the village of Biała near Rzeszów, which was considered "Ruthenian", he is often referred to as Ukrainian in various sources. are highly critical of attributing Ukrainian origins to Leś. In their view, this assumption, repeated in all texts about the Ulma family, serves to diffuse responsibility for the betrayal. Before the war, Leś had connections with the Goldman family. In the early period of the occupation, he agreed to shelter them in exchange for part of their property. However, when the Germans intensified their repression against those hiding Jews, Leś refused further help and seized the property left under his care. The Goldman family then took refuge with the Ulmas, but they continued to demand the return of their property from Leś. Probably wanting to rid himself of the rightful owners of the seized property, Leś betrayed the Goldman family and the Ulma family hiding them to the German gendarmerie. He had previously visited the Ulmas under the pretense of asking for a photograph, ensuring during that visit that the Goldman family was hiding in their home.
Course of the massacre In the early morning hours of 24 March 1944 a patrol of German police from Łańcut under Lieutenant Eilert Dieken came to the Ulmas' house which was on the outskirts of the village. The four coachmen with horses and carts were instructed to report to the town stables and await further instructions. According to the German orders, each coachman was to come from a different village, with none from Markowa. On March 24, around 1:00 AM, the coachmen were ordered to drive to the gendarmerie post and transport a group of German gendarmes and Polish Blue Policemen to Markowa. The expedition was personally led by Lieutenant , the commander of the Łańcut gendarmerie. He was accompanied by four other Germans: Josef Kokott (a Volksdeutsche from Czechoslovakia), Michael Dziewulski, Gustaw Unbehend, and Erich Wilde (a Volksdeutsche from the Lublin Land). Additionally, from 4 to 6 members of the Polish Blue Police participated in the operation. The names of two policemen were identified: Eustachy Kolman and Włodzimierz Leś.
Just before dawn, the wagons arrived in Markowa. The Germans ordered the coachmen to stay aside while they, along with the Blue Policemen, proceeded to the Ulma farm. Leaving the policemen as guards, the Germans surrounded the house and caught all eight Jews belonging to the Szali and Goldman families. They shot them in the back of the head according to eyewitness Edward Nawojski and others, who were ordered to watch the executions. Then the German gendarmes killed the pregnant Wiktoria and her husband so that the villagers would see what punishment awaited them for hiding Jews. The six children began to scream at the sight of their parents' bodies. After consulting with his superior, twenty-three year old Jan Kokott, a Czech Volksdeutscher from Sudetenland serving with the German police, shot three or four of the Polish children while the other Polish children were murdered by the remaining gendarmes. The last of the Jews to be killed was the 70-year-old father of the Goldman brothers. Within several minutes 17 people were killed. 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 newborn baby between her legs.