(AP) Monika Scislowska - 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 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. Last year, Francis pronounced the Ulma family as martyrs for the faith. Polish President Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, and Poland's Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich attended the event in Markowa. The Ulmas were killed at home by German Nazi troops and by Nazi-controlled local police on March 24, 1944, together with the eight Jews they were hiding at their home, after they were apparently betrayed. The suspected betrayer was Wlodzimierz Les, a member of the local police. Poland's wartime resistance sentenced him to death and executed him in September 1944.
2023-09-14 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive