“A heavily worn, yellowed Bible opened to the parable of the merciful Samaritan, with a red line marking its title and a handwritten ‘YES!’ note on the side.”
The above-mentioned Bible belonged to Józef & Wiktoria Ulma and is an exhibit at the Ulma Family Museum of Poles Saving Jews. They were Polish farmers who sheltered eight fellow citizens of Jewish origin during WWII: Gołda Grünfeld, Lea Didner with her little daughter and Saul Goldman with his four sons.
Just before dawn on March 24, 1944, the German Nazis invaded the farm in Markowa where they shot the Jews in hiding and their protectors. The tragic victims included not only Józef Ulma and his pregnant wife Wiktoria but also their six young children.
“The German Nazi occupation, the Holocaust and the mass crimes against Poles are profoundly important and still painful parts of their history. Every year on 24 March Poles celebrate a public holiday, the National Day of Remembrance for Poles who rescued Jews during German occupation.”
“For centuries, Poland had been known as a tolerant country where Christian values shaped culture and social relations. Therefore, the German occupation authorities expected resistance to their criminal actions. To minimise defiance, they threatened death to anyone in our lands who even attempted to help a Jew in hiding. But despite these harsh sanctions, thousands of Polish Jews found life-saving aid. They were helped escape the ghetto and provided with hiding places, food, money and false documents.”
“So far, more than seven thousand Poles, including Wiktoria and Józef Ulma, have been honoured with the title of Righteous Among the Nations, awarded by the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem. In the venerable circle of the righteous, Poles are the largest national group. Polish authorities and state institutions continue their efforts to commemorate these silent, often anonymous heroes – especially those killed for their courage and sacrifice.”
“As Poles, we are proud that on 10 September 2023, the Ulma family will be added to the ranks of the Blessed of the Catholic Church. The significance of this event goes beyond the religious dimension – it will also be a tribute to heroes embodying the highest ideals of humanity. The story of their martyrdom deserves global recognition, for although it is horrifying, it is also an empowering testament to loving one’s neighbor. May it change hearts and be a model of openness and solidarity.”
The story of the Ulmas’ martyrdom should be known worldwide – The Polish Weekly | Tygodnik Polski
VATICAN CITY, Sept 5 (Reuters) – The Catholic Church is to beatify a Polish family of nine including a new-born baby who died at the hands of the Nazis during World War Two, the Vatican’s saint-making department said on Tuesday.
“The service to beatify Jozef and Wiktoria Ulma and their seven children will be held on Sunday in the Polish town of Markowa where they died in March 1944. The family was killed by German military police for sheltering a family of Jews.”
“The Ulmas hid them for a year and a half and were shot with them when Nazi guards discovered them.”
“Beatification is the last step before sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church. Vatican media have noted that it is the first time that an entire family has been honoured together in this manner. However, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints clarified that the beatification would not include an unborn child, as has been claimed by several media reports in the past few days.”
“Wiktoria Ulma was heavily pregnant and gave birth as she was killed, giving her youngest son a “blood baptism”, the dicastery said.”
“On its website, the Vatican department says the baby boy’s body was found when the family was exhumed to give them “a more dignified” burial. The other six Ulma children executed by the Nazis were aged between 18 months and seven, it added.”
Reporting by Keith Weir and Alvise Armellini, editing by Nick Macfie. Catholic Church to beatify Polish family, including new-born baby, killed by Nazis | Reuters
The name “Poland” (Polska) Has a Meaning.
It originates from the name of the tribe Polanie, which means “people living in open fields”.
Marie Curie Was Actually Polish
Marie Curie, the woman who discovered Polon and Rad, wasn’t French, but Polish. Her name was Marie Sklodowska before she married a Frenchman named Pierre Curie. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person and only woman to win twice, the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences.
Kissing Woman’s Hand is Still in Fashion in Poland
Polish men generally still tend to observe “the chivalry protocol”. Don’t be surprised if you see this, upon the first introduction between total strangers.
Poles Celebrate a Name Day
In addition to birthdays, Poles celebrate their name day or imieniny, which is the day commemorating the Saint they are named after. The names associated with each day is listed in all calendars in Poland, so the Name Day is often more important than a birthday because everyone remembers about it.
Buying an Even Number of Flowers for Funerals is Considered a Faux Pas
On the other hand, chrysanthemums, white lilies, and red carnations are considered the funeral flowers so make sure that you don’t buy them for other occasions. Some people take this very seriously.
Poland Has Its Own Version of Valentine’s Day
Kupała or Wianki is celebrated on June 21st, the ‘Feast of St. John the Baptist’ day. Men jump over bonfires and, women hope for wreaths. Wreaths with candles on one side of the river are floated to the other side and if one comes to you, you’ll be lucky in love.
Poland is One of the Most Religious Countries in Europe
While Poland doesn’t have a ‘Pope Channel’ on TV (I’m not sure where some editors of other articles took this from?), it does have a popular Catholic TV Station and a Catholic Radio. Religion also isn’t separated from the State. Not to mention that Poland is a proud owner of the tallest statue of Jesus in the world. Move over Christ the Redeemer…
25 Interesting Facts About Poland That Most People Don’t Know (annaeverywhere.com)
Just a little bit more…
“Restored as a nation in 1918 but ravaged by two world wars, Poland suffered tremendously throughout the course of the 20th century. World War II was particularly damaging, as Poland’s historically strong Jewish population was almost wholly annihilated in the Holocaust. Millions of non-Jewish Poles also died, victims of more partition and conquest. With the fall of the Third Reich, Poland effectively lost its independence once again, becoming a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union. Nearly a half century of totalitarian rule followed, though not without strong challenges on the part of Poland’s workers, who, supported by a dissident Catholic Church, called the economic failures of the Soviet system into question.”
“In the late 1970s, beginning in the shipyards of Gdańsk, those workers formed a nationwide movement called Solidarity (Solidarność). Despite the arrest of Solidarity’s leadership, its newspapers kept publishing, spreading its values and agenda throughout the country. In May 1989 the Polish government fell, along with communist regimes throughout eastern Europe, beginning Poland’s rapid transformation into a democracy.”
“A land of striking beauty, Poland is punctuated by great forests and rivers, broad plains, and tall mountains.”
“Other cities of historic and cultural interest include Poznań, the seat of Poland’s first bishopric; Gdańsk, one of the most active ports on the busy Baltic Sea; and Kraków, a historic centre of arts and education and the home of Pope John Paul II, who personified for the Polish their country’s struggle for independence and peace in modern times.”
“Its current frontiers, stretching for 2,198 miles (3,538 km), were drawn in 1945. Except for its southern mountainous regions, the country consists almost entirely of lowlands within the North European Plain.”
“More than one-fourth of the country is wooded, with the majority set aside as public property.”
“Deer and wild pigs roam the woods; elk inhabit the coniferous forests of the northeast; and steppe rodents, such as the brindled gopher, live in the south. Wildcats live in the mountain woods, and the chamois and marmot are found at the highest levels. Brown bears live in the Carpathian Mountains. The European bison, or wisent, which once roamed widely across the continent but became extinct in the wild following World War I, once again roams the great Białowieża (Belarusian: Belovezhskaya) Forest in national parks on both sides of the Polish-Belarusian border, having been reintroduced by using zoo-bred animals.”
“The overwhelming majority of the Polish population is Roman Catholic, and a large number are practicing Catholics. Though the country claims no official religion, Poland is among the most uniformly Catholic countries in the world, and the Roman Catholic Church in Poland enjoys immense social prestige and political influence.”
“Following World War II, during the communist era, all religious institutions became subject to the control of the state. In practice the Roman Catholic Church wielded a full measure of independence, partly through the sheer force of the faithful and partly because in all important matters it answered to the pope in Rome and not to the government in Warsaw. Those opposed to communism within Poland were greatly encouraged by the election in 1978 of the archbishop of Kraków, Karol Cardinal Wojtyła, as Pope John Paul II, the first non-Italian pope since the 16th century.”
“The religious minorities, though encouraged by the anti-Roman Catholic policies of the communist state, were barely visible except in local areas. The influence of the Catholic Church became even greater after the fall of communism in Poland in 1989, and this led to its greater involvement in state schools and to the replacement of the country’s liberal abortion law, by 1993, with much more restrictive legislation.”
