Shoes on the Danube Bank

*Trigger Warning: The Holocaust*

PSA: Let me say first that I may post something that isn't correct when I discuss this next topic. I'm trying to learn as much as I can while I live in Budapest, but I'm still pretty ignorant to most of the WWII history that went on here.  Also let me say that as the wife of a diplomat, I absolutely will not go into the politics of it.  First, I am not knowledgeable enough; and, second, I couldn't even if I wanted to (which I don't).  I'm trying to research this before I post; but if you catch a mistake, please let me know.

     Hungary is rich in culture and history, and I am fascinated by so much of it.  You can't get away from it here: Parliament, Fisherman's Bastion, Buda Castle, and the history of the Jewish People and the horrific annihilation of around 600,000 of them (nearly all Hungarian Jews were murdered) during WWII.  Budapest has the biggest Jewish synagogue in Europe with a memorial tree on the grounds.  From what I understand, the tree, which is a sculpture, is a weeping willow.  Each leaf has the name of a murdered Hungarian Jew engraved on it.  The Jewish Quarter houses the synagogue, its cemetery, and tons of shops and restaurants run by Jews living here.  They aren't allowing anyone to forget what their people went through, and I think that's very important.  None of us should forget what happened.

     One part of the history here that I had never seen until today is a Jewish memorial called "Shoes on the Danube Bank."  I decided this afternoon that it was time for me to see it, though I'd been dreading it since I heard it existed.  According to my Hungarian teacher, a large number of Jews (men, women, and children) were rounded up and taken to the bank of the Danube River.  They were told to take off their shoes.  Why?Because the world was at war, and those leather shoes were hard to find and worth more to the soldiers than the Jews in front of them.  Then the Jews were shot, their bodies falling in the river and floating away.  Their shoes were the only things left behind.  According to Wikipedia,

 "The composition titled 'Shoes on the Danube Bank' gives remembrance to the 3,500 people, 800 of them Jews, who were shot into the Danube during the time of the Arrow Cross terror."  

So I walked to Parliament, down to the bank of the Danube, until I saw these: 

Yes, these are baby shoes.

Every single pair of shoes is filled with stones, pebbles, and keepsakes.  I wondered about the stones.  I remembered from watching "Schindler's List" that they were significant to graves; so I did a little research. 

"For most of us, stones conjure a harsh image. They does not seem the appropriate memorial for one who has died. But stones have a special character in Judaism. In the Bible, an altar is no more than a pile of stones, but it is on an altar that one offers to God. The stone upon which Abraham takes his son to be sacrificed is called even hashityah, the foundation stone of the world. The most sacred shrine in Judaism, after all, is a pile of stones — the Western Wall."

I was so moved by this.  What a truly beautiful a sentiment.  

     While I absolutely wear my heart on my sleeve, there aren't very many things in this life that make me stop short with a gasp of horror and cry openly in public.  Seeing the "Shoes on the Danube Bank" did that.  I will admit that the baby shoes were the ones that got me the most.  After I finished looking at all of the shoes, I looked across the river and saw this:

The beautiful view from my terrace looks down on the Fisherman's Bastion and the castle.  Those in turn look down on these shoes.  I can't really describe in words how that made me feel, but I felt that I should mention it.  It's like I can see them from my home now, though of course I really can't. I've decided that while I'm here, I'm going to try and learn as much as I can about this history.  We must never forget.