The beatification of Józef and Wikoria Ulma and their seven children will take place on 10 September in Markowa in the Podkarpacie region. The information about Pope Francis’ decision was provided by the Archdiocese of Przemyśl.

“We are happy to announce that the Holy Father Francis has decided that the rite of beatification of the Venerable Servants of God Józef and Wiktoria Ulma and their seven children will take place on 10 September 2023 in Markowa. The papal legate for the beatification will be the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints Cardinal Marcello Semeraro.

Archdiocesan spokesman Father Bartosz Rajnowski expressed the hope that the beatification ceremony would show the story of the Ulma family to as many people as possible from Poland and around the world.

“This was a family which, living the Decalogue and the commandment to love God and neighbour, became capable not only of accepting the gift of life in the form of seven children, but also of showing self-sacrificing love to others. The heroism of love they showed by giving shelter to eight Jews can be a testimony of faithfulness to their vocation for lay and clerical people today”, said Fr Rajnowski.

Józef and Wiktoria Ulma lived in the village of Markowa in the pre-war Lwów (Lviv) Province, now Podkarpacie Province. In the spring of 1944. The Ulmas were denounced, probably by a Blue Police officer, that they were hiding Jews.

On 24 March 1944, German gendarmes from the Łańcut police station executed Józef Ulma and his wife, who was nine months pregnant, as well as their children: eight-year-old Stanisława, six-year-old Barbara, five-year-old Władysław, four-year-old Franciszek, three-year-old Antoni and one-and-a-half-year-old Maria. Together with the Ulmas, the hidden Jews also died.

In 1995. Wiktoria and Józef Ulma were honoured posthumously with the title of Righteous Among the Nations. In 2016, the Ulma Family Museum of Poles Saving Jews was opened in Markowa.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński