Based on primary research, the book offers a new understanding of cultural practices after the Second World War, while analysing the role of key Jewish cultural representatives who shaped museum collections that emerged during this period. The book investigates the ways Israel has dealt with the complicated history of ‘heirless’ Jewish cultural objects and questions of ownership, by providing a detailed examination of the process of allocation of ‘heirless’ Jewish cultural property handled by two American-Jewish organizations: the Jewish Restitution Successor Organization (JRSO) and the Jewish Cultural Reconstruction (JCR) in the immediate years following the Second World War. The book takes a material culture approach, which explores the meanings and values attached to an object over the course of time and during its transition between places and owners. is essential reading for academics, students and professionals working on and interested in Holocaust and Israel studies, art history, material culture studies, museum studies, cultural heritage and Middle Eastern Studies.