Shoes on the Danube
Holocaust memorial featuring sixty pairs of cast-iron shoes that honor the victims executed by the Arrow Cross Militia during World War II. It commemorates those who were forced to remove their footwear before being shot into the river in 1944 and 1945. Read more…
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The memorial was created by film director Can Togay and sculptor Gyula Pauer to commemorate the thousands of people, primarily Hungarian Jews, who were massacred by the fascist Arrow Cross Party during World War II. Inaugurated on April 16, 2005, the installation honors those who were shot into the water between 1944 and 1945. In 2016, the work was recognized as the second-best public sculpture in the world.
The installation consists of 60 pairs of iron shoes fixed to the stone embankment. These cast-iron sculptures represent the footwear left behind by victims who were forced to remove them before their execution. The site serves as a symbolic reminder of both anonymous victims and specific individuals, such as Gedeon Richter.
This solemn site on the riverbank promenade is accessible to the public. The iron shoes are modeled after authentic 1940s footwear, intended to serve as a poignant reminder against forgetting the historical events of the Holocaust.
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