On 6 March 2024, the Deputy President of the Institute of National Remembrance Mateusz Szpytma, Ph.D, took part in the event commemorating the Ulma family. The ceremony was preceded by a general audience with Pope Francis, during which a painting depicting the Ulma Family was presented to the Pope.
The apple tree, grafted by Blessed Jozef Ulma, was planted in the Vatican Gardens with the participation of the IPN Deputy President Mateusz Szpytma, Ph.D. – as part of the You will know them by their fruits campaign commemorating the 80th anniversary of the death of the Righteous Among the Nations, Jozef and Wiktoria Ulma, and their children, which falls on 24 March 2024.
The event was also attended by Polish Ambassador to the Holy See Adam Kwiatkowski, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland Grażyna Ignaczak-Bandych and Marshal of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship Władysław Ortyl.
Grażyna Ignaczak-Bandych read out a letter by the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda, in which he recalled that during the war Poles opened their hearts and homes to Jews. The story of their martyrdom marked by horrifying cruelty, but it is, above, all a story of love overcoming fear.
The apple tree in the Vatican Gardens is a symbol of remembrance of the blessed Ulma Family. It is meant to remind us that Józef Ulma was involved in fruit farming. He graduated from an agricultural school and ran a fruit tree nursery on his farm. He also spread the practice of grafting apple trees among his neighbors.