March 24 is Poland’s National Day of Remembrance of Poles Saving Jews under German Occupation. Polish President Andrzej Duda posted on X, calling March 24 “a day of homage to the silent guardians of humanity. This holiday is a monument to the solidarity, immense suffering and sacrifice of our compatriots who remained faithful to the highest ideals and did not renounce them even in the face of mortal danger. The Republic of Poland will always remember its Heroes and cherish the truth about their heroism. Honor Their Memory!”
Back in 2018, Duda initiated this form of commemoration of Poles who helped Jews during World War II, under German occupation, despite the death penalty. The choice of date refers to the day when the Germans murdered the Ulma family in Markowa. On March 24, 1944, Józef Ulma, his pregnant wife Wiktoria, their six children (and one unborn), as well as eight Jews from the Didner, Grünfeld and Goldman families who were hidden by a Polish family, lost their lives.
Before the war, 120 Jews lived in Markowa, 21 survived. Some of them hid in the village. For helping Jews, in 1995 Wiktoria and Józef Ulma were posthumously honored with the title Righteous Among the Nations. In 2010, President Lech Kaczyński awarded them the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. On Sept. 10, 2023, by decision of Pope Francis, the Ulma family was beatified.
“They maintained their humanity in inhuman times Seventeen people – nine Poles and eight Jews – died right after each other only because the Germans divided people into those ‘worthy of life and those not worthy of life,’ and for any help that was provided to the excluded and persecuted, they killed entire families. 81 years ago, their victims were the Ulmas and the Jews they hid,” wrote the Institute of National Remembrance.
“Markowa in the Podkarpacie region. Here, on the night of March 23-24, 1944, an unimaginable tragedy of innocent people took place. The Germans were literally the masters of life and death that day. It was not even dawn when the German gendarmes surrounded the farm of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma. The orders were issued by Lieutenant Eilert Dieken – the head of the gendarmerie station in nearby Łańcut. He was assisted by four other Germans: Josef Kokott, Michael Dziewulski, Gustaw Unbehend and Erich Wilde,” recalls the institute.
“Several so-called blue policemen (officers of the Polnische Polizei im Generalgouvernement formation created by the Germans, in which Poles served) also appeared at the Ulmas’. It all started with one of them – Włodzimierz Leś. It was most likely he who informed on the Ulmas to the Germans… First, eight Jews were killed by the Germans – members of the Szal and Goldman families, including a mother with a small child. Then it was the Poles’ turn. The executioners led the large family out in front of the buildings. The first to be shot was Józef Ulma – the 44-year-old breadwinner. The Germans also shot the farmer’s wife, Wiktoria, who was 12 years younger than her. At the time of her death, she was in the last month of pregnancy,” we read.
“There was a moment’s pause because the executioners did not know what to do with the children of the murdered couple. But Dieken quickly dispelled their doubts, ordering them to shoot. In quick succession, the Germans also killed: 8-year-old Stanisława, 6-year-old Barbara, 5-year-old Władysław, 4-year-old Franciszek, 3-year-old Antoni. The youngest victim – Maria – was only 1.5 years old.”
As part of the celebrations of the National Day of Remembrance of Poles Saving Jews under German Occupation, a number of events have been planned. One of them is a meeting with Manuela Tulli, a journalist for the Italian ANSA news agency, co-author of the book “They Even Killed Children. The Story of the Ulma Family, Martyrs Who Helped Jews.”
In an interview with PAP, Tulli assessed that outside Poland’s borders there is still little information in the public space about Poles who saved Jews during the Holocaust.
“There is a gap that needs to be filled, both in education and in international awareness,” she said. Tulli admitted that she learned about the history of the Ulma family while preparing a report on the help that Poles gave to Ukrainians after the Russian aggression against Ukraine.
“The story of the Ulma family moves Italian public opinion with its simplicity and at the same time extraordinary heroism. As an Italian and a friend of Poland, I believe that there is still a lack of awareness of the great value of such stories and how much they can contribute to contemporary reflection on humanity, courage and solidarity,” she stated.
She pointed out that in Markowa there were about 20 families who also hid Jews from German Nazi persecution.
“Even after the tragic massacre of March 24, 1944, they continued their mission, risking their own lives and the lives of their loved ones. They are anonymous heroes who deserve our memory, respect and recognition. Their attitude is a model from which we can all learn,” Tulli said.
The meeting with Tulli was organized by the Abraham J. Heschel Center for Catholic-Jewish Relations of the Catholic University of Lublin.
