[1] The village was founded in the 14th century by the Polish noble family of Pilecki, and was settled by the descendants of German colonists, who called it Markhof.

On 24 March 1944 a patrol of German police came to the house of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma, where they found eight Jewish members of the Szall and Goldman families.

When the six children began to scream at the sight of their parents' bodies, Joseph Kokott, a German police officer (Volksdeutsche from Koblov in Hlučín Region), shot them after consulting with his superior.

The family was beatified by the Catholic Church, with the ceremony taking place in Markowa on 10 September 2023 by papal delegate Cardinal Marcello Semeraro.

[2] The Markowa Ulma-Family Museum of Poles Who Saved Jews in World War II is located in the village.