Shoes by the Danube

If you've ever been to Budapest, Hungary, it would be a shame not to visit the picturesque Danube River, immortalized in poetry. Walking along the riverbank, you'll encounter many historical buildings reflected in the blue water. When the riverside path intersects with Szechenyi Street at a junction, a famous Holocaust memorial appears before you: The Shoes by the Danube. These are over 60 pairs of rusted iron shoes firmly anchored to the riverbank.

Located about 300 meters from the Hungarian Parliament building, this 40-meter-long iron sculpture is a memorial to the Jewish people executed on the banks of the Danube River during the winter of 1944-1945. Before being murdered by members of the Arrow Cross – a pro-Hitler faction in Budapest – many victims, young and old, male and female, were herded to the riverbank. They were forced to remove their shoes and leave them on the bank before being shot and their bodies thrown into the river to be swept away. The victims had to leave their shoes behind because they were valuable items during wartime, and the Nazis collected them for trading on the black market.

During their brief period in power (from October 1944 to March 1945), the Arrow Cross murdered approximately 50,000 people along the Danube River and transported nearly 80,000 others to the Auschwitz death camp in Poland. The dark past and bloody crimes of the Nazi regime still send shivers down the spines of the local people, leaving them with a deep sense of dread and sorrow. Today, the sight of abandoned shoes of various shapes and sizes scattered along the riverbank has become a popular landmark in Budapest.

Visitors come here not only to observe a minute of silence for those who died, but also to gain a clearer and more thorough understanding of the hardships and losses that the Hungarian people endured during the war.

Known as "The Shoes on the Danube Promenade," this monument was conceived by film director Can Togay and sculpted by the talented Gyula Pauer. It also features a 70cm tall plaque in three languages ​​(Hungarian, English, and Hebrew) explaining the meaning of the shoes.