The Vatican for the first time beatified a family from Poland that hid Jews
The Vatican for the first time beatified a Polish family for hiding Jews from the Nazis during the Second World War, when Poland was under German occupation. All family members and Jews in hiding were killed by the Nazis in 1944, Deutsche Welle reports. On Sunday, September 10, the murdered Polish family with many children – 44-year-old Józef Ulm, his pregnant 31-year-old wife Victoria and their six children under the age of 8 – were included (beatified) among the blessed. They were executed by the German police on March 24, 1944, after being handed over to the Nazis. The family hid eight Jews in their attic, who were also killed. Portraits of members of the Ulm family in the museum in Markov. Photo: Darek Delmanowicz/PAP/dp Beatification is one of the highest honors of Catholicism. More than 30,000 people, including a delegation from Israel, took part in the beatification ceremony in Markov, Poland. Beatification is a term that means that the Catholic Church believes that a deceased person has “gone to heaven” and can intercede for people who pray in his name. This is a key step on the possible “path to holiness” in the Catholic Church. It is noted that the beatification of the family is exceptional, since the newborn seventh child of the couple will also be beatified, although he was not baptized. It is known that Józef Ulma was a farmer, fond of photography and documenting family and village life. Jozef and Victoria are zealous Catholics. In Israel, the couple is recognized as “Righteous Among the Nations” who tried to save the Jews from death during the Holocaust. There is a museum dedicated to this family in the Polish city of Markowa. The day of their death – March 24 – is now a day of remembrance for Poles who saved or tried to save Jews during the German occupation, when they could be executed without trial or investigation. We previously reported that the corporal of the Pope’s guard married a Ukrainian woman in the Vatican. Read also: Demanded a meeting with the Pope: in the Vatican, a tourist crushed two antique busts
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