3 Powerful lessons from the unforgettable Ulma family

Some saint stories are very hard to read: Good, kind people who suffered so much that it seems wrong and unfair.

But when you read the story of the Ulma family -- as horrifying as their death was -- you can’t help but get chills at their almost unbelievable courage. 

Hunted by the Nazis for sheltering a Jewish family, Jozef and Wiktoria Ulma and their seven children — including an unborn baby who lost his life — were executed on March 24, 1944, along with the Goldmanns, the Jewish family of eight they had been sheltering for a year and a half.

The Ulmas are the first family in history to all be beatified together and collectively recognized as martyrs. You can read more about them in our dedicated section on Aleteia. 

Their feast day is celebrated on July 7, which was not the day of their martyrdom but actually their wedding anniversary. While most saints’ feast days fall on the day they died, in the case of the few married couples who have been recognized as blesseds or saints, their wedding anniversary is often chosen, such as Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin, whose liturgical feast is July 12.

At the Jubilee of Families, Pope Leo XIV encouraged married couples to look to them as an example. He said of them:

Do you want some concrete ideas to imitate the Ulma family? Here are three lessons from their lives.

Although the Ulmas were farmers who lived in a simple two-room wooden house, they were known for their generosity throughout their lives, often in small and simple ways.

“Wiktoria learned in her family that you do not have to have much in order to help someone in need,” said Father Witold Burda, the postulator of the Ulma family’s cause for canonization. 

Józef often lent out books from his sizable collection and taught others how to grow exotic plants. Our own time and talent may be all we need to make a lasting difference for someone else.

In a world where so many are only in it for themselves, the Ulmas were willing to be inconvenienced for others. 

Perhaps the best way of understanding their rare daring is the Parable of the Good Samaritan, which the Ulmas took to heart:

Like the Good Samaritan, the Ulmas were not content to turn a blind eye to injustice or remain passive observers. They took action even when many others did not.

How can we imagine what it took for these parents of young children to step forward and choose the hard, right thing? 

It is hard to imagine, but their example can inspire us not to give up on whatever hard and holy work is in front of us.

The Good Samaritan acts differently from the people who pass along the road before him. In the same way, the Ulmas were willing to live differently than those around them. 

What did they understand that others didn’t? To follow Christ is to live differently. Anything run by a follower of Christ—whether a family, a farm, a business, or an entire nation—should look different. 

What does this “living differently” actually look like? The answer lies in another passage underlined in the Ulma family Bible: 

“They will know we are Christians by our love”: What does this look like in practice? The answer will look a little different for each of us, but we know where we can begin. We won't get it right every time, but we will never regret the effort to try.