Budapest is a stunning city with many cultural attractions and with rich Jewish history.
In 1941 there were about 184.000 Jews in the city. Jews lived there as shopkeepers, merchants and craftsmen. Unfortunately, many of them did not survive World War II. Nearly half of the Jews died during the Holocaust.
And the dark eras are always hard to forget.
Budapest is a beautiful and magnificent city and everybody knows the must-see places.
Everybody knows about the famous Buda Castle District, the Chain Bridge, thermal baths, the Heroes’ Square, the Gellért Hill and the large Parliament building. Not many people know about the Shoes on the Danube, a moving memorial created by Gyula Pauer and Can Togay.
The memorial contains 60 pairs of iron shoes dedicated to the Jews who were lined up, shot and thrown into the Danube. The fascist Arrow Cross militia forced many Jews to take take off their shoes and to face the river. The prisoners fell into the Danube after they were shot.
You can find here different styles and sizes of shoes, and also iron signs with the following text in 3 languages:
“To the memory of the victims shot into the Danube by Arrow Cross militiamen in 1944–45. Erected 16 April 2005”.
The horror
The hatred
Looking around the world today
You have to wonder
Will we ever learn?
probably not 😦
Very interesting and very sad…
Haunting…
Sad indeed. You would hope that we would learn and strive for peace seeing such reminders?
Beautiful piece, thank you x
A sad reminder of our past….
Such a powerfully, sad reminder… never to be forgotten.
So true 😦
Even its a sad story, This is very amazing blog to read and learn.
Thank you so much!
I didn’t know about this monument. Very poignant. Thanks for posting.
Thank you for your visit!
Compelling and tragic. I had not heard of this monument. Thank you for sharing this with us!
Thank you for posting I found it very interesting but a very very sad time in our history.
I didn’t know this stuff about Budapest… It is a beautiful city but what a sad history.
So true.
Thank you for your visit!
I agree with above, very interesting , but very sad:-(
Really sad 😦
Reblogged this on idealisticrebel and commented:
My heart breaks for these souls. May Adonai keep them ever in His care.
Speechless….x
This is so sad and what is sadder is that no one has learned and we still hear about exterminations in other countries. Will mankind ever learn? My heart just breaks at what is going on around the world.
So much sadness in the history. I haven’t traveled to Budapest, but in other cities where atrocities occurred, its amazing how the people remember but go on with a zest for life that can’t be trampled.
What an amazing way to make something ordinary devastatingly poignant. Thank you for bringing this to my attention it is a must see if I ever get to Budapest.
What a thoughtful and moving piece of sculpture.
visiting this site must have been very moving, the shoes left as if the owners expected to come back for them and didn’t……. thanks for sharing this story with us.
Unfortunate and sad
Brief and effective piece–well done.
So sad to think of the poor souls that were lost during that time period. I lost precious family in Poland. Thanks for sharing this with your followers. Susanne
I am very sorry to hear that, Susanne :-(. The first time I visited this spot, I couldn’t stop crying.
wow, you made me cry. I remember how my grandparents ran away during the Holocaust.
I can only imagine how you feel 😦
Thank you for sharing this. The book I wrote, “Twelve Smooth Stones” is about a young Jewish girl that survives Auschwitz. I had to do a lot of research for it and it broke my heart. Thanks for stopping by.
Reblogged this on The Inter-railing Diaries and commented:
I unfortunately couldn’t make it to Budapest, but this is a lovely post about a war memorial on the Danube’s river bank. Thanks for sharing!
lovely post, reblogged to my site, thanks for this!
Thank you for sharing your travel discoveries. You show some unpublicized places, and I like you for that.
When I visited Budapest 2 years ago I saw these shoes and cried. A very moving tribute and reminder to love thy neighbour.