At the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, an exhibition of photographs depicting the story of the blessed Ulma family and their beatification this September in Markowa in the Podkarpacie region was opened. The album ‘Blessed Martyrs of Markowa’ was also presented.

The inauguration of the exhibition was attended by the Polish Ambassador to the Holy See, Adam Kwiatkowski, and the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, who on 10 September beatified the family of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma, who were murdered along with their children by the Germans for hiding Jews in 1944.

The Rector of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Father Luis Felipe Navarro Marfa, said at the ceremony that when he learned the story of the Ulma family and what happened in Markowa, he decided that he had to present it at this university.

The commemorative photo album includes archival photographs taken by Józef Ulma. They show, among other things, his mother Franciszka and the family farm. Józef Ulma immortalised scenes from his family’s life in the photographs: playing with the children, preparing meals, doing homework. There are also photographs of Jews who found shelter in the Ulma home, as well as photographs of Markowa in modern times and of the Ulma Family Museum of Poles Saving Jews During World War II with its Memorial Orchard.

The exhibition is one of a series of events devoted to the Ulma family, which began in Rome on Friday. It opened with a screening of the film ‘The Ulmas. A Blessed Family’. Screenings were also held in the Polish church of St Stanislaus. The exhibition ‘Samaritans from Markowa. The Ulmas – Poles murdered by the Germans for helping Jews’.

On Sunday, also in the Polish church, a nativity scene from Markowa was presented. The manger, also referring to the Ulma family, will be on display at the annual international exhibition ‘100 Nativity scenes in the Vatican’ in the colonnade wing of St Peter’s Square from 8 December.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński