A beatification Mass service has been held in Poland for a Catholic family murdered by Nazis for hiding Jews during World War Two.
Poland’s president and more than 30,000 pilgrims attended the outdoor service, led by Pope Francis’ envoy.
This was the first time an entire family has been beatified, a great honour and a step towards sainthood.
They were executed in 1944 with the Jews they sheltered in south-eastern Poland, after they were betrayed.
In late 1942, motivated by their Christian values, farmers Jozef and WiktoriaUlma and their six young children – Stanislawa, Barbara, Maria, Wladyslaw, Franciszek and Antoni – hid eight Jews in their farmhouse in the village of Markowa
Saul Goldman, 70, was hiding with his sons Baruch, Mechel, Joachim and Mojzesz. Also there was Golda Grunfeld and her sister Lea Didner with her daughter Reszla, according to Poland’s state Institute of National Remembrance.
Unlike in Nazi-occupied western Europe, the penalty for aiding Jews in occupied Poland was summary execution.
Credit: bbc.com
