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"G-d took a piece of Eretz y'israel, which he had hidden away in the heavens at the time when the Temple was destroyed, and sent it down upon the earth and said, "Be my resting place for my children in their exile." That is why it is called Poland (Polin) from the Hebrew "poh lin, which means: " Here shalt thou lodge" in the exile. That is why Satan has no power over us here, and the Torah is spread broadcast over the whole country. There are synagogues and schoools and Yeshivahs. G-d be thanked."and what will happen in the great future when Messiah will come? What are we going to do with the synagogues and settlements which we shall have built up in Poland?" asked Mendel...If God did indeed take Poland and transport its Synagogues, Torahs and Children to the Land of Israel, it was even then the fulfillment of Covenant: large in the History of World, but the restitution owed the Jews after WWII was even greater. As the Jews were liberated from the Killing Centers, from Hiding, from incarceration and slavery, their freedom was a most pyrhicc victory. Most of the liberated Jews had either no or fragmented families. They were without friends, vocation, income, housing, and civil liberties. Most had their health devastated to the point that even if they chose to work or could find work among the rubble of Europe, they were too weak. In short, everything we normally require to define ourselves as part of the human community, was taken. Their new found freedom was truly a great relief; but it was bittersweet: the future held no certain promises.
"How can you ask? In the great future when Messiah will come, God will certainly transport Poland with all its settlements and synagogues and Yeshivahs to Eretz Y'israel. How else could it be?"And it was
Many years and nations later, the Jews were still 'broadsided' in their attempts to regain what was rightfully theirs. When they returned to their villages, towns and cities from the Camps, they were not openly welcomed; they were met with a combination of fear, horror and disdain. They were ghosts; they were not supposed to have returned.1 Their homes and shops were occupied by those whom they had previously known, who were not willing to give back their confiscated property and positions. With Hitler and the 3rd Reich disempowered, some civil rights began to return, but the process was slow, and most of those returning did not have the resources to pursue long and difficult legal proceedings: it was also post-wartime, and many persons had suffered severe personal losses because of the war. It would take literally the next sixty years to begin to seek repairs and restoration of lost possessions for the victims of Shoah.
Restoration vs Reparation
There is a difference which is important to understand between the restoration of previously owned property, business and possessions, and in the necessity of reparative measures. Restoration is the restitution of property and resources to the rightful and previous owner. Upon proof, there is no legal question: property wrongfully acquired through fraud or war crimes, belonged rightfully to the previous owners after the war. Taking back those resources, has been a difficult and complex problem: even when litigation was successful, the social problems of taking back businesses assets and homes were fraught with horrifying social problems which did little to aid the lessening of anti-Semitism in Europe. 2 Furthermore, many parties that were involved directly or peripherally did not then and still do not fully reveal the extent of their assets; the Vatican for example, is facing litigation currently due to withheld information and assets still remaining.When RESTITUTION is made to survivors, it is often little and problematic. In Germany, holocaust survivors 7 or 8 years ago, received only what amounted to about 300 or $400 a month: hardly restitution or enough to survive, and they had to prove overwhelmingly they were entitled to it. Unfortunately, part of the reason is far too many non-Jewish and non-survivors tried to take advantage of limited resources, leaving the true survivors once again, without mercy.
RESTORATION efforts may overlap, but involves the recovering of property which was already the property of the survivor or his family or benefactor, but which was illegally confiscated during the war. This can include houses, businesses, business assets, insurance policies, wills, bank accounts and financial assets and any other event of ownership. Recovering property and finances has proved extremely difficult and many institutions (not just banking ones) have made it so difficult and lengthy, that they have essentially "crowded out" the survivors: another 10 years, and rightful owners will have mostly passed away due to age, leading to the institutions or wrongful owners being able to keep the property without great challenge. Most know that survivor's relatives are at a loss to provide needed and essential documentation to gain back what is legally theirs. There was in fact a second silent holocaust lasting decades, which kept the remnant of survivors at bay, having escaped death, starvation, slavery and brutality, the end of the war saw nothing for them but having to start from ground zero. Most never recovered property belonging to them. Art treasures were among the most frequently recovered items, often because the families to whom they belonged had registries, were widely known and the money and attorney's to pursue the cases. Swiss banks, the Vatican Bank and even American and European Institutions and businesses, not only did not help in recovery, but often circumvented it. Many survivors today, especially those in Poland (only about 5000) die alone and in near poverty, a tragic commentary on our lack of responsibility and mercy.
Displaced Persons
At the end of the war, most survivors of the Lagers (camps) had no where to go: families were deceased or
lost, they had no funds, they were too ill to work and Europe was still highly anti-semitic. When some
returned to reclaim houses and businesses, they found them bombed or occupied by angry tenants, who were
supported against the Jews: no one wanted to be 
reminded what they
had done. Towns such as Mielec, which had been mostly Jewish at one point (Osweiczm, also) were now
completely 'aryanized'. Many Jews expatriated to the Allied Countries:
many artists, musicians and scientists came to the United States as soon as immigration opened up or
arrangements could be made (so did over 10,000 Nazis). A great many sought residence in Israel. The
British, while instrumental in establishing the Israeli Homeland from 1917-1948, were reluctant to freely
open borders to returning Jews: ships of Jews escaping Europe for Israel were often fired upon and
refused entry.
In Israel, Europe, and even in America, "DISPLACED PERSON" camps were set up. Some were not better than the work-lagers: hundreds of families and single persons were crowded in, sleeping quarters were often only a small space in a large room separated by hanging blankets, with no privacy. Some found their way to kibbutzim or communal work farms in Israel, and learned skills while either becoming a part of the kibbutz or getting back on their feet. In short, for a few years, conditions for many survivors were little better than the ones they had left: there was less brutality and terror, but freedom did not come easy. Even today, many Jews, for example from Russia, face a 'waiting period' as displaced persons when arriving in Israel. For those experiencing Genocides and natural disasters in other parts of the world, this is also not an uncommon or past event.
Since the Shoah, most survivors went on to lead productive lives, although the trauma of their experience cast a shadow over the rest of their lives. ( See for example "Going home" and Children, Shoah and Loss.) Many prominent people, 50 or 60 years ago, stood at a point in their lives of having lost everything: family, friends, possessions, health, hope and courage. A few famous survivors include Eli Weisel, author and professor, Simon Weisenthal, once at Mauthausen, the famed Nazi Hunter, Bruno Walter and Arnold Schoenberg,(deceased) great Musicians, Marc Chagall, the artist and many others. Most have done as much as possible to let others know what happened, and to refuse to allow the world to forget.