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Although many Jews were educated, they were excluded from most of the government bureaucracy.<ref name="government_jobs">Joseph Marcus (1983), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=82ncGA4GuN4C&pg=PA228 Social and Political History of the Jews in Poland, 1919–1939.]'' Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin. {{ISBN|9027932395}}.</ref> A good number therefore turned to the liberal professions, particularly medicine and law. In 1937 the Catholic [[trade union]]s of Polish doctors and lawyers restricted their new members to [[Christians|Christian]] Poles (in a similar manner the Jewish trade unions excluded non-Jewish professionals from their ranks after 1918).<ref>Herbert A. Strauss (1993), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=SOFkWX8EC4cC&pg=PA1059 Hostages of Modernization: Studies on Modern Antisemitism, 1870-1933/39.]'' Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin. {{ISBN|3110137151}}.</ref> The bulk of Jewish workers were organized in the Jewish trade unions under the influence of the [[General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland|Jewish socialists]] who split in 1923 to join the [[Communist Party of Poland]] and the [[Second International]].<ref name="JC352">{{cite book |title=European Labor Unions |author=Joan Campbell |page=352 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=23dUzlVxphMC&q=BUND+1923#v=snippet&q=BUND%201923&f=false |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1992 |ISBN=031326371X}}</ref><ref>Zvi Y. Gitelman (2002), ''The Emergence of Modern Jewish Politics: Bundism and Zionism in Eastern Europe.'' University of Pittsburgh Press. {{OCLC|795425570}}.</ref>
 
Anti-Jewish sentiment in Poland had reached its zenith in the years leading to the [[Second World War]].<ref>Mordecai Paldiel [https://books.google.com/books?id=YCz0J-8HIIMC&pg=PA181&lpg=PA181 The path of the righteous: gentile rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust], KTAV Publishing House, 1993 {{ISBN|0-88125-376-6}}, p. 181</ref> Between 1935 and 1937 seventy-nine Jews were killed and 500 injured in anti-Jewish incidents.<ref>''The Routledge Atlas of the Holocaust'' by [[Martin Gilbert]], [https://books.google.com/print?id=PnE6TXjt4hkC&pg=PA21 p.21]</ref> National policy was such that the Jews who largely worked at home and in small shops were excluded from welfare benefits.<ref>Herbert Arthur Strauss (1993). ''Hostages of Modernization: Studies on Modern Antisemitism, 1870-1933/39.'' Walter de Gruyter, pp. 1081–1083. {{OCLC|490035434}}</ref> In the provincial capital of [[Łuck]] Jews constituted 48.5% of the diverse multiethnic population of 35,550 Poles, Ukrainians, Belarusians and others.<ref name="1931.pdf">[[Central Statistical Office (Poland)]], [[:File:Woj.wołyńskie-Polska spis powszechny 1931.pdf|Drugi Powszechny Spis Ludności. Woj.wołyńskie, 1931.]] PDF file, 21.21 MB. The complete text of the [[Polish census of 1931]] for the [[Wołyń Voivodeship (1921–39)]], page 59 (select, drop-down menu). [[Wikimedia Commons]].</ref> Łuck had the largest Jewish community in the voivodeship.<ref>[http://www.historia-polski.com/XX/1931/rok_1931.htm Wydarzenia 1931 roku.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323184935/http://www.historia-polski.com/XX/1931/rok_1931.htm |date=2012-03-23 }} Historia-Polski.com. Wykaz miast RP z populacją żydowską powyżej 12 tysięcy. Łuck: 17.366 czyli 48% ludności.</ref> In the capital of [[Brześć]] in 1936 Jews constituted 41.3% of general population and some 80.3% of private enterprises were owned by Jews.<ref name="Davies">[[Norman Davies]], ''[[God's Playground]]'' (Polish edition), Second volume, pp. 512–513.</ref><ref name="Jerzy Tomaszewski">{{cite book |title=Economic Change and the National Question in Twentieth-century Europe |author1author=[[Alice Teichova]]|author2=, Herbert Matis|author3=, Jaroslav Pátek |year=2000 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8UVxY-8Xk-sC&pg=PA345&dq=nowogrodek++++minorities&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a |isbn=978-0-521-63037-5 |pages=342–344}}</ref> The 32% of Jewish inhabitants of [[Radom]] enjoyed considerable prominence also,<ref name=radom>Pinkas Hakehillot Polin, [http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/pinkas_poland/pol7_00530.html Radom.] Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities in Poland, Volume VII. Translation of "Radom" chapter published by Yad Vashem.</ref> with 90% of small businesses in the city owned and operated by the Jews including tinsmiths, locksmiths, jewellers, tailors, hat makers, hairdressers, carpenters, house painters and wallpaper installers, shoemakers, as well as most of the artisan bakers and clock repairers.<ref name="radom29">{{cite web |title=Radomski rynek rzemiosła i usług według danych z lat 1926–1929 |trans-title=The Radom business environment in late 1926–29 |work=The Jewish history of Radom |authors=Gedeon & Marta Kubiszyn |publisher=[[Virtual Shtetl]] |location=Poland |at=page 2 of 6 |quote=''Source:'' Piątkowski S., ''Dni życia, dni śmierci. Ludność żydowska w Radomiu w latach 1918–1950'', Warszawa 2006. {{OCLC|176630823}} |url=http://www.sztetl.org.pl/pl/article/radom/5,historia/?action=view&page=1}}</ref> In [[Lubartów]], 53.6% of the town's population were Jewish also along with most of its economy.<ref name="Taube">[https://web.archive.org/web/20120216021119/http://www.jhi.pl/en/gminy/miasto/423.html Lubartow during the Holocaust in occupied Poland.] The Taube Foundation for Jewish Life and Culture.</ref> In a town of Luboml, 3,807 Jews lived among its 4,169 inhabitants, constituting the essence of its social and political life.<ref name="1931.pdf"/>
[[File:Ghetto benches.jpg|thumb|left|Demonstration of Polish students demanding implementation of "ghetto benches" at [[Lwów Polytechnic]] (1937).]]
 
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{{main|Nationalization in Poland}}
 
SuccessiveAfter restitutionthe lawswar onended, “abandonedPoland's property”Communist ofgovernment Marchenacted 2,a 1945,broad Mayprogram 6,of 1945nationalization and Marchland 8reform, 1946,taking whichover remainedlarge in effect until the endnumbers of 1948properties, allowedboth property owners who had been dispossessed during the war or, if deceased, their relatives (children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, spousesPolish- and siblings), whether residing in Poland or outside the country, to reclaim privately Jewish-owned property that was not subject to .<ref>[[nationalization]https://www.ft.com/content/c47fcb02-749d-11e9-bbad-7c18c0ea0201]Polish bynationalists wayprotest ofat alaw simplified,on expeditedrestitution andof farJewish lessproperty expensive procedure than the regular civil procedures12. This simplified process was enacted primarily for the benefit of the Jews05.19</ref>{{cite book|author1=MarekAs Jan Chodakiewicz|author2=Wojciech Jerzy Muszyński|author3=Paweł Styrna|title=Golden Harvest Or Heartspart of Gold?:the Studies onreform the Fate[[Polish ofPeople's WartimeRepublic]] Polesenacted andlegislation Jews|year=2012|publisher=Leopolis Press|isbn=978-0-9824888-1-2|pages=225-230}}</ref> Until unclaimedon "abandoned propertiesproperty", becameplacing nationalizedsevere atlimitations theon endinheritance ofthat 1955,were suchnot persons,present asin wellprewar asinheritance morelaw, distantfor relatives,example couldlimiting claimrestitution propertyto ofthe deceasedoriginal owners underor thetheir regularimmediate civil proceduresheirs.<ref name="Cichopek-Gajraj2014-73AJYB 1947">{{citeUnder book|author=Annathese Cichopek-Gajraj|title=Beyondlimitations, Violence:restitution Jewishseemed Survivorsto inproceed Poland and Slovakiawell, 1944–48|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dDezAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA73|date=19at Juneleast 2014|publisher=Cambridgefor Universitya Press|isbn=978-1-107-03666-6|pages=73-75}}</ref><ref>{{citetime book|author1=Marek(see Jan''The Chodakiewicz|author2=WojciechAmerican JerzyJewish Muszyński|author3=PawełYear Styrna|title=GoldenBook'', Harvestvol. Or49, Hearts1947, ofp. Gold?: Studies on the Fate of Wartime Poles and Jews|year=2012|publisher=Leopolis Press|isbn=978-0-9824888-1-2|pages=228}}390).</ref>> According to some scholars{{who?|date=May 2019}}, theThe 1945 and 1946 laws governing restitution were enacted with the intention of restricting Jewish restitution claims.<ref name="Stola 2008">{{Cite book| isbn = 978-1-306-54603-4| pages = 240–255| editors = Martin Dean, Constantin Goschler, Philipp Ther (eds.)| last = Stola| first = Dariusz| title = Robbery and restitution: the conflict over Jewish property in Europe| chapter = The polish debate on the holocaust and the restitution of property| accessdate = 2019-05-14| date = 2008| chapterurl = http://site.ebrary.com/id/10856066}}</ref><ref name="Weizman">{{cite journal|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/1462169X.2016.1267853|title=Unsettled possession: the question of ownership of Jewish sites in Poland after the Holocaust from a local perspective|first=Yechiel|last=Weizman|date=2 January 2017|publisher=|journal=Jewish Culture and History|volume=18|issue=1|pages=34–53|via=Taylor and Francis+NEJM|doi=10.1080/1462169X.2016.1267853}}</ref> The 1946 law<ref>[https://books.google.co.il/books?id name=dDezAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA72&dq=%22%22property+which+is+abandoned+or+left+behind%22+poland&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjDgdjpoNfgAhVK2KQKHS0TAPQQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=%22%22property%20which%20is%20abandoned%20or%20left%20behind%22%20poland&f=false"CG Beyond2014" Violence: Jewish Survivors in Poland and Slovakia, 1944–48], Cambridge University Press, Anna Cichopek-Gajraj, page 72</ref> hadcarried a deadline of 31 December 1947 (later extended to 31 December 1948), after which unclaimed property devolved to the Polish state; many survivors residing in the USSR or in [[Displaced persons|DPdisplaced-persons camps]] were only repatriated only after the deadline had passed.<ref name="Beker"/><ref name="Beker">[https://books.google.co.il/books?id=j6B_DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA101&dq=%2231+december+1947%22+%2231+december+1948%22+%22dp+camps%22+murdered+%22place+the+number+at%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjKgtzCyvzgAhXNwosKHetJAGEQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=%2231%20december%201947%22%20%2231%20december%201948%22%20%22dp%20camps%22%20murdered%20%22place%20the%20number%20at%22&f=false The Plunder of Jewish Property during the Holocaust], Palgrave, page 101</ref> All other properties that had been confiscated by the Nazi regime were deemed "abandoned"; however, as Yechiel Weizman notes, the fact most of Poland's Jewry had died, in conjunction with the fact that only Jewish property was officially confiscated by the Nazis, suggest "abandoned property" was equivalent to "Jewish property".<ref name="Weizman"/> InAccording theto years{{ill|Łukasz 1948-1971Krzyżanowski|pl|Łukasz Krzyżanowski}}, the communiststate governmentactively insought Polandto signedgain severalcontrol treatiesover witha 14large othernumber countriesof housing"abandoned" formerproperties.<ref propertyname="Krzyżanowski owners,2014">{{cite andbook|author1=Jan payingGrabowski|author2=Dariusz equivalentLibionka|title=Klucze ofi today'skasa: 1.2O billionmieniu [[zloty]]s<ref>[https://www.rp.pl/Nieruchomosci/302049966-Opinia-organizacji-zydowskich-na-temat-ustawy-reprywatyzacyjnej.html]Rzeczpospolitażydowskim 04.02.2018w OpiniaPolsce organizacjipod żydowskichokupacją naniemiecką temati ustawywe reprywatyzacyjnejwczesnych latach powojennych 1939–1950|publisher=Stowarzyszenie Centrum Badań nad Zagładą|location=Warsaw|year=2014|language=Polish|pages=605-607}}</ref> InAccording 1960to aKrzyżanowski, treatythis signeddeclaration betweenof People's"abandoned" Republicproperty ofcan Polandbe andseen Unitedas Statesthe statedlast stage of the expropriation process that began during the German wartime occupation; by approving the status-quo shaped by the German occupation authorities, the Polish authorities became "the beneficiary of the murder of millions of its Jewish citizens, who were deprived of all compensationtheir claimsproperty inbefore USdeath".<ref needname="Krzyżanowski to2014" be/> directedA to1945 memorandum by the US[[American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee|Joint]] states that "the new economic tendency of the Polish government,... asis Polandagainst, hador paidat 40least millionmakes dollarsdifficulties (in, 1960getting value)back tothe Jewish property robbed by the USGerman authorities."<ref name="CG 2014">[https://www.rp.pl/Nieruchomosci/302049966{{Cite book| publisher = Cambridge University Press| isbn = 978-Opinia1-organizacji107-zydowskich03666-na6| last = Cichopek-tematGajraj| first = Anna| title = Beyond violence: Jewish survivors in Poland and Slovakia, 1944-ustawy-reprywatyzacyjnej.html]48| Rzeczpospolitalocation 04.02.2018= OpiniaNew organizacjiYork| żydowskichseries na= tematNew ustawystudies reprywatyzacyjnejin European history| date = 2014}}</ref> Later laws, while more generous, remained mainly on paper, with an "uneven" implementation.<ref name="CG 2014" />
 
Many of the properties that were previously owned or by Jews were taken over by others during the war. Attempting to reclaim an occupied property often put the claimant at a risk of physical harm and even death.<ref name="Kopciowski">Adam Kopciowski. ''Zagłada Żydów w Zamościu'' (Lublin: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej, 2005), 203; Adam Kopciowski, "Anti-Jewish Incidents in the Lublin Region in the Early Years after World War II," ''Holocaust: Studies and Materials'' vol. 1 (2008), 188.</ref><ref name="Bazyler">{{Cite journal| volume = 41| issue = 3| pages = 273| last1 = Bazyler| first1 = Michael| last2 = Gostynski| first2 = Szymon| title = Restitution of Private Property in Postwar Poland: The Unfinished Legacy of the Second World War and Communism| journal = Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review| accessdate = 2019-05-12| date = 2018| url = https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ilr/vol41/iss3/2}}</ref><ref name="Stola 2008" /><ref name="CG 2014" /><ref name="Skibinske 2014">Alina Skibińska, “Problemy rewindykacji żydowskich nieruchomości w latach 1944–1950: Zagadnienia ogólne i szczegółowe (na przykładzie Szczebrzeszyna),” p. 493-573 in ''Klucze i kasa: O mieniu żydowskim w Polsce pod okupacją niemiecką i we wczesnych latach powojennych 1939–1950'', ed. by Jan Grabowski & Dariusz Libionka (Stowarzyszenie Centrum Badań nad Zagładą Żydów, Warszawa 2014)</ref> Many who proceeded with the process were only granted possession, not ownership, of their properties;<ref name="Krzyżanowski 2014" /> and completeing the restitution process, given that most properties were already occupied, required additional, lengthy processes.<ref name="Justice">[https://books.google.co.il/books?id=foN8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA325&dq=%22rarely+as+simple+as+going+to+court+and+having+a+judge+issue+an+eviction+notice%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiLiImI5tfgAhVis4sKHSnVCswQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=%22rarely%20as%20simple%20as%20going%20to%20court%20and%20having%20a%20judge%20issue%20an%20eviction%20notice%22&f=false Searching for Justice After the Holocaust: Fulfilling the Terezin Declaration and Immovable Property Restitution], Oxford University Press, page 325</ref> The majority of Jewish claimants could not afford the restitution process without financial help, due to the filing costs, legal fees, and inheritance tax.<ref name="CG 2014" /> While it is hard to determine the total number of successful reclamations, [[Michael Meng]] estimates that the it was extremely small.<ref>[https://books.google.co.il/books?id=oHfhPXlOyZIC&pg=PA52&lpg=PA52&dq=%22little+doubt+that+the+number+was+extremely+small+for+several+reasons%22&source=bl&ots=uEWCaxe_6T&sig=ACfU3U3xRYkzRYe6douPvOGPANyrmbFxow&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjsm-6e6NfgAhX8RxUIHbUXDUEQ6AEwAHoECAEQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22little%20doubt%20that%20the%20number%20was%20extremely%20small%20for%20several%20reasons%22&f=false Shattered Spaces], Harvard University Press, page 52</ref>
In general, restitution was easier for large organizations or well connected individuals.<ref name="Stanilov">{{Cite book| publisher = Springer| isbn = 978-1-4020-6053-3| others = Kiril Stanilov (ed.)| title = The post-socialist city: urban form and space transformations in Central and Eastern Europe after socialism| location = Dordrecht| series = GeoJournal Library| date = 2007}}</ref>. The majority of Jewish claimants could not afford the restitution process without financial help due to the filing costs, legal fees, and inheritance tax.<ref>[https://books.google.co.il/books?id=dDezAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA82&dq=Poland+Jewish+property+800+z%C5%82oty&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjjgJDNpdfgAhWIqaQKHQZeBcQQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=Poland%20Jewish%20property%20800%20z%C5%82oty&f=false false Beyond Violence: Jewish Survivors in Poland and Slovakia, 1944–48], Cambridge University Press, Anna Cichopek-Gajraj, page 82</ref> Impoverished claimants could however obtain exemptions from court for legal fees; financial and legal assistance was provided by various Jewish organizations.<ref name="Cichopek-Gajraj2014-82">{{cite book|author=Anna Cichopek-Gajraj|title=Beyond Violence: Jewish Survivors in Poland and Slovakia, 1944–48|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dDezAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA82|date=19 June 2014|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-03666-6|pages=82}}</ref>
 
In general, restitution was easier for larger organizations or well connected individuals,<ref name="Stanilov">{{Cite book| publisher = Springer| isbn = 978-1-4020-6053-3| others = Kiril Stanilov (ed.)| title = The post-socialist city: urban form and space transformations in Central and Eastern Europe after socialism| location = Dordrecht| series = GeoJournal Library| date = 2007}}</ref> and the process was also abused by criminal gangs.<ref name="Krzyżanowski 2014" />
Even if Jews regained control ''de jure'', most of the properties were already occupied and required additional lengthy proceedings.<ref>[https://books.google.co.il/books?id=foN8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA325&dq=%22rarely+as+simple+as+going+to+court+and+having+a+judge+issue+an+eviction+notice%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiLiImI5tfgAhVis4sKHSnVCswQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=%22rarely%20as%20simple%20as%20going%20to%20court%20and%20having%20a%20judge%20issue%20an%20eviction%20notice%22&f=false Searching for Justice After the Holocaust: Fulfilling the Terezin Declaration and Immovable Property Restitution], Oxford University Press, page 325</ref> However, attempting to reclaim an occupied property often put the claimant at a risk of physical harm and even death.<ref name="Kopciowski">Adam Kopciowski. ''Zagłada Żydów w Zamościu'' (Lublin: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej, 2005), 203; Adam Kopciowski, "Anti-Jewish Incidents in the Lublin Region in the Early Years after World War II," ''Holocaust: Studies and Materials'' vol. 1 (2008), 188.</ref><ref name="Bazyler">{{Cite journal| volume = 41| issue = 3| pages = 273| last1 = Bazyler| first1 = Michael| last2 = Gostynski| first2 = Szymon| title = Restitution of Private Property in Postwar Poland: The Unfinished Legacy of the Second World War and Communism| journal = Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review| accessdate = 2019-05-12| date = 2018| url = https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ilr/vol41/iss3/2}}</ref><ref name="Stola 2008" />{{dead link|date=May 2019}}<ref name="CG 2014">{{Cite book| publisher = Cambridge University Press| isbn = 978-1-107-03666-6| last = Cichopek-Gajraj| first = Anna| title = Beyond violence: Jewish survivors in Poland and Slovakia, 1944-48| location = New York| series = New studies in European history| date = 2014}}</ref> According [[Jan Gross]], "there was no social norm mandating the return of Jewish property, no detectable social pressure defining such behavior as the right thing to do, no informal social control mechanism imposing censure for doing otherwise."<ref name="Gross 2007">{{Cite book| edition = Random House trade paperback ed| publisher = Random House| isbn = 978-0-8129-6746-3| last = Gross| first = Jan Tomasz| title = Fear: anti-semitism in Poland after Auschwitz ; an essay in historical interpretation| location = New York, NY| series = A Random House trade paperback| date = 2007}}</ref>
 
"Movable" property such as housewares, that was either given by Jews for safekeeping or taken during the war, was rarely returned willfully; oftentimes the only resort for a returnee looking for reappropriatation was the courts.<ref name="Gross 2007" /> Most such property was probably never returned.<ref name="Krzyżanowski 2014" /> According [[Jan Gross]], "there was no social norm mandating the return of Jewish property, no detectable social pressure defining such behavior as the right thing to do, no informal social control mechanism imposing censure for doing otherwise."<ref name="Gross 2007">{{Cite book| edition = Random House trade paperback ed| publisher = Random House| isbn = 978-0-8129-6746-3| last = Gross| first = Jan Tomasz| title = Fear: anti-semitism in Poland after Auschwitz ; an essay in historical interpretation| location = New York, NY| series = A Random House trade paperback| date = 2007}}</ref>
According to the American Jewish Year Book, “The return of Jewish property, if claimed by the owner or his descendant, and if not subject to state control, proceeded more or less smoothly.”<ref name="American Jewish Year Book">American Jewish Year Book, 5708 (1947–1948), vol. 49 (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1947), p. 390.</ref> Based on studies of court records carried out by several historians, Alina Skibińska concludes that "relatively many" Jews were able to reclaim former Jewish properties. In [[Szczebrzeszyn]], a “typical” small town in the Lublin Province, at least one third of 210 private properties belonging to Jews were successfully recovered by 1950, and almost all of these properties were very quickly sold to Poles.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jan Grabowski|author2=Dariusz Libionka|title=Klucze i kasa: O mieniu żydowskim w Polsce pod okupacją niemiecką i we wczesnych latach powojennych 1939–1950|publisher=Stowarzyszenie Centrum Badań nad Zagładą|location=Warsaw|year=2014|language=Polish|pages=562-563, 571}}</ref> The situation was similar in other towns in the Lublin Province.<ref name="Kopciowski">Adam Kopciowski. ''Zagłada Żydów w Zamościu'' (Lublin: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej, 2005), 203</ref><ref>Adam Kopciowski, "Anti-Jewish Incidents in the Lublin Region in the Early Years after World War II," ''≈Holocaust: Studies and Materials'' vol. 1 (2008), p. 188.</ref> <ref>Mariusz Bechta, ''Pogrom czy odwet?: Akcja zbrojna Zrzeszenia “Wolność i Niezawiłość” w Parczewie 5 lutego 1946 r. '', Poznań: Zysk, 2014, p. 217.</ref>
 
Facing violence and a difficult and expensive legal process,<ref name="Bazyler" /><ref name="CG 2014" /> many returnees eventually decided to leave the country rather than attempt reclamation.<ref name="Bazyler" /><ref name="Gross 2007" /><ref name="Krzyżanowski 2014" />
Overall, it is hard to estimate how many Jews got property back. Based on research into court records, {{ill|Łukasz Krzyżanowski|pl|Łukasz Krzyżanowski}} concludes that "a relatively large number of properties" were returned.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jan Grabowski|author2=Dariusz Libionka|title=Klucze i kasa: O mieniu żydowskim w Polsce pod okupacją niemiecką i we wczesnych latach powojennych 1939–1950|publisher=Stowarzyszenie Centrum Badań nad Zagładą|location=Warsaw|year=2014|language=Polish|pages=605}}</ref> Decades later, reclaiming pre-war property would lead to a number of controversies, and the matter is still debated by media and scholars as of late 2010s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/3f1f6972-430c-11e8-93cf-67ac3a6482fd|title=Poland’s reclaimed properties create scars across Warsaw|last=|first=|date=24 April 2018|website=Financial Times|language=en-GB|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=2019-05-10}}</ref> Dariusz Stola notes that the issues of property in Poland are incredibly complex, and need to take into consideration unprecedented losses of both Jewish and Polish population and massive destruction caused by Nazi Germany, as well as expansion of Soviet Union and communism into Polish territories after the war, which dictated the property laws for the next 50 years.<ref name="Stola 2008"/>
 
Following the fall of the Soviet Union, a law was passed that allowed the Catholic Church to reclaim its properties, which it did with great success.<ref name="Stanilov" /><ref name="Denburg 1998">{{Cite journal| volume = 18| issue = 2| pages = 233| last = Denburg| first = Stephen A.| title = Reclaiming Their Past: A Survey of Jewish Efforts to Restitute European Property| journal = Third World Law Journal| date = 1998}}</ref> According to [[Stephen Denburg]], "unlike the restitution of Church property, the idea of returning property to former Jewish owners has been met with a decided lack of enthusiasm from both the general Polish population as well as the government".<ref name="Denburg 1998" /> However, the church's success in reclaiming its communal properties paved the way to similar claims by Jewish organizations, which in the earlier years proved difficult.<ref name="AJYB 1948">See The American Jewish Year Book, vol. 50, 1948, pp. 392-393</ref>
 
Poland remains "the only EU country and the only former Eastern European communist state not to have enacted [a restitution] law," but rather "a patchwork of laws and court decisions promulgated from 1945-present."<ref name="Bazyler" /><ref name="Stanilov" /><ref name="Stola 2008" /> As stated by [[Dariusz Stola]], director of the [[POLIN Museum]], "the question of restitution is in many ways connected to the question of Polish-Jewish relations, their history and remembrance, but particularly to the attitude of the Poles to the Holocaust."<ref name="Stola 2008" />
 
====Emigration to Palestine and Israel====
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