Holocaust: 200 million euros of jewelry... Christie's sale of the year criticised by Jewish associations

700 jewels, a Cartier ring set with a ruby, a diamond of 90.36 carats... The auction of the jewels of Austrian billionaire Heidi Horten (1941-2022) held in May was supposed to be the event of the year for Christie's. Except that organizations are calling for her suspension because of her husband's ties to the Nazis during the war.

It was the origin of the fortune of Helmut Horten, who owned one of the largest department store chains in Germany, that drew criticism. In 1936, three years after Adolf Hitler became German Chancellery, he took over the Alsberg textile company after its Jewish owners fled, before taking over several other Jewish-owned stores before the war. He was later accused of profiting from the "Aryanization" of Jewish property (spoliation measures aimed at transferring ownership of businesses owned by people of Jewish origin). According to the Forbes ranking, the fortune of his wife, Heidi Horten, who died in June 2022, amounted to $ 2.9 billion.

In recent days, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which specializes in tracking former Nazis, and the American Jewish Committee have called on Christie's to suspend the sale. "Do not reward those whose families were able to enrich themselves thanks to desperate Jews targeted and threatened by the Nazis," Rabbi Abraham Cooper, one of the leaders of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said in a statement.

Jewelry worth millions of dollars

One of the centerpieces of this collection of 700 jewels that was in the possession of Heidi Horten is a Cartier ring set with a 25.59-carat "pigeon blood" ruby, estimated between 15 and 20 million dollars, said Rahul Kadakia, international director for jewelry at Christie's, at the presentation on Monday.

The Cartier ring set with a 25.59-carat ruby is estimated between $15 million and $20 million. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

"We also have the Briolette d'Inde," a 90.36-carat diamond "of color D, the whitest, estimated between 10 and 15 million dollars," attached to a necklace formed of a myriad of small white diamonds, he added. This briolette diamond had been acquired by Cartier in 1909, before being sold to the banker George Blumenthal in 1911 and then to the jeweler Harry Winston in 1946, then allegedly sold to a maharaja a year later. Subsequently bought several times, it was acquired by Heidi Horten in 1971.

The "Briolette d'Inde" diamond, weighing 90.36 carats, is estimated at at least $10 million. AFP/Fabrice COFFRINI AFP or licensors

Other flagship lots include a necklace of three rows of natural pearls, clasp with an 11.15 carat pink diamond (estimated at $7-10 million). Another necklace, less expensive (estimated 500,000-700,000 dollars), but very imposing, in gold and diamonds, has as a pendant a very large emerald of 362.45 carats of the nineteenth century carved representing a scene from the Hindu mythological epic "Ramayana".

An exceptional sale for Christie's

This "quite extraordinary" collection is valued between 150 and 200 million dollars, according to Rahul Kadakia. "The last time Christie's held an auction of this level was in 2011, when we sold Elizabeth Taylor's collection, which brought in about $145 million in two days, and there were 400 pieces of jewelry," he said. This time, "in order not to have so many jewels on the market at the same time", sales were spaced out. Thus, 300 lots are offered online from May 3 to 15, less than 100 will be scattered in theaters on May 10, 150 on May 12, and about 300 others online in November.

The auction house agreed to organize it because "all proceeds from the sale will go to charity, (...) and Christie's is separately making a significant donation to Holocaust research and education," said Rahul Kadakia. "We are therefore confident that at the end of the day, the proceeds of the sale will do good."

But for the American Jewish Committee, this is not enough: the sale must be suspended "until a serious effort is made to determine how much of this wealth came from Nazi victims," with a view to returning it to survivors and educational programs.