Renovating Jewish Life in Post-World War II Madrid: Competing Trajectories of Jewish Entrepreneurs

Several of the Jewish entrepreneurs who made it into Spain in the 1940s and the 1950s quickly understood the rules of state capitalism promoted by Francoism, and within a relatively short time, they had joined the group known as the “ricos de Franco”. Their wealth enabled them to penetrate the higher echelons of Spanish society, as Catholic and reactionary as it was. This article examines the diverse strategies adopted by four Jewish businessmen—Andrés Zala, Ernesto Koplowitz, Isaac Salama, and Max Mazin— on their way to the top, with a particular focus on Mazin, who, from the late 1950s onward, devoted himself to the renovation of Jewish life in Madrid. The trajectories of these businessmen shed light on various historical processes that marked the lives of several generations of Jews and Spaniards. Their experiences also offer a lens through which we can observe from new perspectives the discussions on the nature of Franco’s dictatorship and on the authorities’ attitudes towards Jewish issues in general, as well as towards specific Jews.