WARSAW, Poland -- In an unprecedented move, the Vatican on Sunday beatified a Polish family of nine -- a married couple and their small children -- who were executed by the Nazis during World War II for sheltering Jews.
During a ceremonious Mass in the village of Markowa, in southeastern Poland, papal envoy Cardinal Marcello Semeraro read out the Latin formula of the beatification of the Ulma family signed last month by Pope Francis.
In his homily, Semeraro noted that for their "gesture of hospitality and care, of mercy" the Ulmas "paid the highest price of martyrdom."
A contemporary painting representing Jozef and a pregnant Wiktoria Ulma with their children was revealed near the altar. A procession brought relics taken from their grave to the altar. It was the first time that an entire family has been beatified.
At the Vatican, speaking to the public from a window in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis said the Ulmas "represented a ray of light in the darkness" of the war and should be a model for everyone in "doing good and in the service of those in need."
The pope then invited the crowd below to applaud the family, and he clapped his hands. Those gathered in Markowa watched Francis' address on giant screens placed by the altar.
Last year, Francis pronounced the deeply Catholic Ulma family, including the child that Wiktoria Ulma was pregnant with, martyrs for the faith. The Ulmas were killed at home by German Nazi troops and by Nazi-controlled local police in the small hours of March 24, 1944, together with the eight Jews they were hiding at their home, after they were apparently betrayed.
Jozef Ulma, 44, was a farmer, Catholic activist and amateur photographer who documented family and village life. He lived with his 31-year-old wife Wiktoria; their daughters Stanislawa, 7; Barbara, 6; Maria, 18 months; and sons Wladyslaw, 5; Franciszek, 3; and Antoni, 2.
With them were killed 70-year-old Saul Goldman with his sons Baruch, Mechel, Joachim and Mojzesz, along with Golda Grunfeld and her sister Lea Didner with her little daughter Reszla, according to Poland's state Institute of National Remembrance, IPN, which has meticulously documented the Ulmas' story.
Giving the orders was Lt. Eilert Dieken, head of the regional Nazi military police. After the war he served in the police in Germany. Only one of his subordinates, Josef Kokott, was convicted in Poland over the killings, dying in prison in 1980. The suspected betrayer was Wlodzimierz Les, a member of the Nazi-controlled local police. Poland's wartime resistance sentenced him to death and executed him in September 1944, according to IPN.
The Catholic Church had faced a dilemma in beatifying Wiktoria's unborn child and declaring it a martyr because, among other things, it had not been baptized, which is a requirement for beatification.
Information for this article was contributed by Nicole Winfield and Frances D'Emilio of The Associated Press.
A priest bringing to the altar relics of the Polish Ulma family during beatification Mass in which the Vatican beatified the family, including small children, who were killed by the Nazis in 1944 for having sheltered Jews, in the Ulmas' home village of Markowa, Poland, on Sunday, Sept.10, 2023. The Vatican beatified also the Ulmas' unborn child, saying it was born during the killings and was baptized in the martyred mother's blood. (AP Photo)
This undated photo shows Polish farmer Jozef Ulma with his pregnant wife Wiktoria and their six children. The Ulmas were killed with their children by the Nazis in 1944 for having sheltered Jews during World War II. The Ulma family, including the child that Wiktoria was pregnant with, are being beatified by the Vatican in a ceremonious Mass in their home village of Markowa, Poland, on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. (Mateusz Szpytma, Deputy head of Poland's IPN history institute via AP)
This undated photo shows Polish farmer Jozef Ulma with his wife Wiktoria. The Ulmas were killed with their seven children by the Nazis in 1944 for having sheltered Jews during World War II. The Ulma family, including a child that Wiktoria was pregnant with, are being beatified by the Vatican in a ceremonious Mass in their home village of Markowa, Poland, on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. (Mateusz Szpytma, Deputy head of Poland's IPN history institute via AP)
Crowd attending a Mass in which the Vatican beatified the Polish Ulma family, including small children, who were killed by the Nazis in 1944 for having sheltered Jews, in the Ulmas' home village of Markowa Poland, on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. The Vatican beatified also the Ulmas' unborn child, saying it was born during the killings and was baptized in the martyred mother's blood. (AP Photo)
Crowd attending a Mass in which the Vatican beatified the Polish Ulma family, including small children, who were killed by the Nazis in 1944 for having sheltered Jews, in the Ulmas' home village of Markowa Poland, on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. The Vatican beatified also the Ulmas' unborn child, saying it was born during the killings and was baptized in the martyred mother's blood. (AP Photo)