Moral Dilemma in Extreme Situation. An Analysis of the Decision by the Blessed Józef and Wiktoria Ulma to Give Shelter to Jews During World War II
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15633/ps.28404Keywords:
Blessed Ulma family, moral dilemma, extreme situation, love for one’s neighbourAbstract
Recently, a particularly significant — both for the Church and for our Homeland — has been the beatification of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma together with their children. The Blessed couple, motivated by their faith and the evangelical ideal of love for one’s neighbour, gave shelter to eight Jews and kept them under their roof even though they realized the risk they were taking and the possible consequences. On finding it out, German occupation authorities had them shot together with their children and the Jews on 24 March 1944. Although their attitude is universally acknowledged to be heroic and praiseworthy and its rightness has been confirmed by the Church through the Act of Beatification, occasionally opinions are voiced suggesting that the decision was irresponsible and that it exposed their family to danger. This article presents an analysis of the decision by the Blessed Józef and Wiktoria Ulma from the moral theology perspective and is aimed at clarifying the controversy. By placing the core of the problem of whether “to protect one’s own family or rescue others” not on the axis of the conflict between moral duty and a facultative action, but in the area of the dilemma between two duties (the Ulmas’ deeply interiorized evangelical ideal of love for one’s neighbour was for them a moral duty as well), the present study justifies their effort to simultaneously fulfil two moral challenges, arduous but likely to be reconciled and fulfilled. Facing this challenge is testimony to the enormity of their humanity and the heroism of their faith.
References
Borys B., Sytuacje ekstremalne i ich wpływ na stan psychiczny człowieka, „Psychiatria” 1 (2004) nr 2, s. 97–105.
Burda W., Ku szczytom świętości, Przemyśl 2023.
Chyrowicz B., O sytuacjach bez wyjścia w etyce. Dylematy moralne: ich natura, rodzaje i sposoby rozstrzygania, Kraków 2008.
Jan Paweł II, Encyklika Veritatis splendor, w: Jan Paweł II, Veritatis splendor. Tekst i komentarze, red. A. Szostek, Lublin 1999, s. 5–103.
Kozak-Śmigiel A., Problemy moralnego obowiązku. Czy moralni święci istnieją?, „Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska. Sectio 1: Philosophy and Sociology” 40 (2015) nr 2, s. 137–144, https://doi.org/10.17951/i.2015.40.2.137.
Nagel T., Pytania ostateczne, Warszawa 1997.
Olejnik S., Teologia moralna fundamentalna, Włocławek 1998.
Rosik S., Wezwania i wybory moralne, Lublin 1992.
Szpytma M., Samarytanie z Markowej. Słudzy Boży Ulmowie — rodzina, która oddała swoje życie za pomoc Żydom, w: Ulmowie. Przestrzeń świętości, red. W. Janiga, Przemyśl 2023, s. 123–146.
Ślipko T., Zarys etyki ogólnej, Kraków 2004.
Urmson J. O., Saints and Heroes, w: Ethics. History, Theory and Contemporary Issues, eds. S. M. Cahn, P. Markie, Oxford–New York 1998, s. 699–708.
Vardy P., Grosch P., Etyka. Poglądy i problemy, Poznań 1995.
Wojtyła K., Transcendencja osoby w czynie a autoteleologia człowieka, w: Karol Wojtyła, „Osoba i czyn” oraz inne studia antropologiczne, red. T. Styczeń, W. Chudy i in., Lublin 2000, s. 477–490 (Człowiek i Moralność, 4).
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Tomasz Picur

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain the copyright and full publishing rights without restrictions, and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).