Limits to "Jewish power": How Slovak Jewish leaders negotiated restitution of property after the second world war

This article examines how Jewish leaders in post-war Slovakia negotiated the restitution of property with the legislative and executive powers in Bratislava and Prague. The Jewish leaders were affiliated with two Slovak Jewish organisations founded in 1945: the Central Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Slovakia (Ústredný sväz židovský ch náboženských obci na Slovensku, ÚSŽNO) and the Organisation of Victims of Racial Persecution at the Hands of the Fascist Regime in Bratislava (Sdruženie fašistickým režimom rasovo prenasledovaných v Bratislave, SRP). The Secretary General of the SRP, Dr Vojtech Winterstein, was the main voice negotiating and promoting the interests of the post-war Jewish community. His invaluable collection of documents-the Winterstein collection-provides the source base for this article.