Shoes on the Danube Promenade, Budapest
A touching, yet powerful scene I sighted in Budapest was that of 60 pairs of iron shoes on Danube Bank. It is in honor of the Jews who had fallen victim to Arrow Cross Militiamen. The Danube embankment between the Chain Bridge and Margaret Bridge is a World Heritage Site and at one part you can find these 60 pairs of shoes.
The incident happened sometime between 1944 and 1945. The fleeing Jews were ordered to take off their shoes, and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away.
The sculpted shoes represent the shoes left behind on the bank when the fleeing Jews fell into the river after they were shot dead. All are old-fashioned shoes. These were the kind of shoes that people wore in the 1940s.
This holocaust shoe memorial was created by Gyula Pauer, Hungarian sculptor, and his friend Can Togay in 2005.
Iron Shoes on the Danube Promenade Budapest
My fourteen year old and ten year old (then) were shocked to silence learning about this incident. Such grim reminders are essential so that we know how we got a ‘peaceful present’ today. Truly emotional! Makes you feel endlessly sorry for those lost their lives and their dear ones. Definitely not a place for Instagram photos.
If having this exhibit stops tragic things like this happening again, it has served its purpose. It is a haunting spectacle. Most of the shoes on the Danube Promenade Budapest have rusted. The Budapest shoes are set tightly on the concrete of the embankment.
Cast iron signs in Hungarian, English and Hebrew read: “To the memory of victims shot into the Danube by Arrow Cross militiamen in 1944-45.”
Budapest Shoes
Danube was known as “the Jewish Cemetery.”
In 1944-45, the Germans had toppled the government of Miklos Horthy. Ferenc Szálasi and his fascist and violently anti-Semitic Arrow Cross Party came to power and it was a reign of terror in Budapest after that. The Arrow Cross militiamen ruthlessly killed thousands of Jews publicly.
How the Jews were killed on Danube promenade?
They mostly resorted to shooting the Jews into the Danube. It was convenient because the river carried the bodies away. It pains to read the kind of atrocities carried out on Jews.
The murderers would force their terrified Jewish victims to remove their shoes before shooting them into the Danube. Shoes were a valuable commodity during World War II and they could use them, or trade them. This is the sad historical reality behind the monument.
When shoes were worn-out and useless the militiamen simply killed the Jews with their shoes still on. Other times the Arrow Cross men pulled the shoestrings out of children’s shoes, and used them to tie the helpless Jewish victims’ hands together before they were shot.
It is said the killers treated their victims without mercy; the victims faced the killers without blindfolds. Yet another cruel way they devised was tying together the hands of 2 or 3 Jews and shot only one among them. All 3 would fall into the Danube, the dead body pulling the still-living victims with it.
If the militiamen noticed that Jews were still alive, they used them for target practice. However, most of the Jews – especially the children – died immediately because the water was freezing cold.
Why the Holocaust memorial is important?
To keep the tragic memory alive so that we do not repeat the crimes of our past. Today tourists and locals adorn the shoes with candles and stones commemorating the victims.
Guess why the prisoners were asked to take off their shoes?
Shoes were valuable commodity during World War II. The prisoners were ordered to leave them behind so that they could be collected and traded in the black market.
When was the shoes memorial Budapest made?
The memorial opened in 2005.
Why 60 pairs of shoe sculptures made?
60 represented the 60th year of holocaust.
Shoes on Danube Bank Tourism Information
Location: Located on the bank directly down river of the parliament building after crossing the statue of Attila Jozsef, Hungary’s most loved 20th century poet. You will come across it when you take a walking tour of the Pest side. This part is inaccessible to cars and handicapped persons.
Address: Budapest, Id. Antall József rkp., 1054 Hungary
Google Coordinates: 47.50434776806134, 19.044887330685405
Timings: Visible all day and night
Tickets: It is a free sight
You may want to read these sad destinations
- Somme WWI Battlefields and Cemetery in France
- Anne Frank’s House in Amsterdam
- Jauhar Smarak of Chanderi India
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The other day saw 'Steal a Pencil for Me' and 'Nowhere in Africa' on Netflix. Each story from that time is so different and yet so same, so hopeful in spite of being so sad..
The sculpted shoes look so realistic. Grim reminder of the atrocities that Jews were subjected to during war time.
That's so sad. Like your kids I am shocked to silence too. A nice tribute both your post and the shoes. Thanks for sharing.
What a wonderful tribute and two great shots. Thanks foe sharing!
What a touching pictures. I didn't know about this monument. Very intriging. We should never forget! Thanks for sharing.
Shalom Indrani and thanks for your words, photos, and link. I didn't know about this memorial or even about the shooting. I'm thinking it is too bad for your kids and for us Jews that the majority of sculptures about Jewish people in the world concern death and horror.
shocking…and what a way to capture this event in art…
I am very touched. I am glad your kids were able to see this and learn from this.
This is a very poignant memorial. I had not heard of it before. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Some of my friends' relatives come from Hungary. It was a terrible time.
Thank you for posting and for sharing the story with your children. We live in a difficult world, even today.
Horrific as this is…tis good to have these reminders!! We need to remember!!!
Hugs
SueAnn
An interesting and unusual concentration of shoes, good pictures.
That's just horrible but a nice tribute too !
powerful image
So touching and terrible. Thanks for sharing these images for a deep meditation, Indrani.
Such a terrible and moving scene! I sincerely hope we learn from our past horrors.
Thank you for showing us
Aloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
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Sad..
hope we learn
Bikram's
Very touching…thanks for sharing
A true scene of horror it must have been…
Pheno
Heart wrenching incident.
Interesting ……..
Very interesting pictures.
This is truly touching.
I'm having trouble typing because of the tears in my eyes! This is such a heartbreaking reminder of the horror of those days. I will never, ever forget, but a reminder like this in our world today is a good thing. Thank you, Indrani!
Sylvia
It makes me cry, and I don't do that.