Old European diamonds from holocaust?

[vinjewels]

I have no doubt that some OECs probably have a troubling past. A few days ago, I was talking to a friend whose parents are Holocaust survivors and she was mentioning that her mother's family was somehow able to save a few of their jewelry pieces but the majority was lost to them. A number of my dad's family members - grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins, perished in the Holocaust. Of course, any jewelry they owned was stripped from them. No family heirloom, no matter how small, remains.

There is no way any diamonds taken from Holocaust victims can be united with surviving descendants so I just hope that they end up on the fingers, necks or ears of ladies who will enjoy them for many years.

This. So many good points. And sorry about the grammar in the last post...geez! I must have been in a hurry. Thanks for getting the idea though. I love the history, good and bad of mine. I am lucky enough to know it. I am just writing another chapter. That is the way I see it. Can you have a RB cut into an OEC. There is a recent thread about someone doing this...

 

[Dougsgirl]

My 2 cents...

If I KNEW the diamond had an ugly, violent past, I would not buy it.
If I don't know the origin of the stone, I would gratefully take it as my own and then purpose in my heart to honor the memory of whatever love and life is contained within it's history. We likely will NEVER know for sure, but we can let it represent GOOD things going forward.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

As a grandchild of a holocaust survivor, and someone who gave this subject a lot of thought here is what I think.

Even if the OEC you end up with belonged to a Jewish family that did not survive holocaust, the diamond was not the reason for the family to be killed. If anything there is always a chance that this diamond was used to buy a passport and escape.

Watch "Gloomy Sunday" movie, it shows how rich families gave away their family heirlooms for passports in order to leave Hungary.

I grew up thinking how lucky I am to be born thirty years after the Holocaust. But if I was born earlier I wish that my family had few of those OECs, just to have a chance for survival.
So in my mind and heart those OECs are tokens of protection and survival and that is one of the big reasons I love them so much.
I do collect them partially because in the back of my mind it makes me feel safer to know that I have something to trade for the passports for my family if the need will arise. I don’t want to think this way, but I guess it’s in my genes.

Now that is a beautiful and heartfelt post, Inna.

 

[junebug17]

My 2 cents...

If I KNEW the diamond had an ugly, violent past, I would not buy it.
If I don't know the origin of the stone, I would gratefully take it as my own and then purpose in my heart to honor the memory of whatever love and life is contained within it's history. We likely will NEVER know for sure, but we can let it represent GOOD things going forward.

I really like your post Dougsgirl - beautifully put.

 

[motownmama]

recall Naomi Campbell taking those diamonds from Charles Taylor!! Ugh!

 

[backwardsandinheels]

What a terribly insensitive thing that person said. Just hang onto the good things people say, like, "Wear it in good health!" or "Enjoy!". Diamonds aren't the only spoils of war and if you do happen to have one, I'm sure the original owner would want someone to love it and give it as good a home as I know you will
Also this from the Berganza website:

"Ever innovative, the Asscher cut was the first diamond cut ever to be patented, the history of which adds to both its beauty and rarity.   The company held the exclusive rights to produce this cut until World War II.  Shortly after the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam in 1940 the Asscher Diamond Company’s assets were seized and the company dissolved.  As a result the patent for the cut expired, and other companies began to utilize this cutting style, though not necessarily according to the specific proportions of the Asscher patent."

 

[TitanCi]

OP - if the person telling you that is wearing a stone, tell them their's is a blood diamond and see how they react. That's retarded without concrete facts!

 

[SB621]

Even though it was an absolute embarrassing example of the humans that lead/participated in it, the holocaust (of Jews) is over. The middle man is probably dead by now and it has probably changed hands several times. Your buying it doesn't in any way "support" it, make rich, or the absolute nastiness that surrounds it. If the history was not known, I would not make myself paranoid over something that may or may not be. If it is something that you can get around worrying about, I would skip old cuts altogether. And there is nothing wrong with that. You have to love what you wear.

11 million people were killed in the holocaust. Only 6 million were Jewish.

My grandfather was born in 1919 and has vivid memories of the dark times during WWII. He is still alive today at the good ole' age of 93. Through him and my grandmother I have grown up hearing stories about how they sold their silver and jewelry to get away from the Nazi's. It worked a little- they are still alive but the rest of their familes were not so lucky. I'm telling you all of this because if I did buy a OEC I really doubt my grandfather or my grandmother for that matter would associate it to the jewels their family sold or were taken from them during that time. Honestly I think both of them would be happy that you enjoy such a piece of history and appreciate the old cuts in diamonds.

Also as already pointed out there is no way to check on the diamond's past. I wouldn't tell you to not get an OEC because it *might* be associated with the holocaust...which by the way I have never heard of before. As my grandfather would say there is no point living in the past, so I would go for it.