Sometimes you see a piece of art that stops your heart. Something so poignantly beautiful that you want to cry. Such was the effect that these cast iron shoes had on me as I walked along the Danube in Budapest.
The shoes memorialize the Jews killed by the Arrow Cross militia in 1944/45. They 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. Their shoes were left behind.
Holocaust memorials always make me cry. The heaviness of what happened to those innocent people. It’s unfathomable, yet so easy to imagine. When I see art like this that honors the victims, I am stopped in my tracks. How can I move forward when they cannot?
I stood there for nearly an hour in stillness.
Browsing The Atlas 
Powerful! I am with you in stopping, pausing for a while and showing honor and respect. Thanks for sharing
I can’t imagine anyone NOT stopping to reflect. It was very poignant.
Well said and important. The photos are quite moving. Never forget. Thank you. –Curt
Thanks, Curt. I snapped a lot of pictures. I couldn’t stop looking and felt like I needed to capture it all.
So moving. So simple yet it speaks volumes
I know. It didn’t need words. I recognized what it was immediately. Only a piece so powerful could be about something so horrible.
Thanks for this Juliann. I’d never heard of either the incident or the memorial. It’s difficult to find words but this speaks for all of us.
I’d never heard about it, either. But it was one of the most poignant memorials I’ve ever seen.
Wow. That is truly a powerful memorial. I’ve seen several, but nothing like that. Thanks for sharing, love.
Me, too. Every Holocaust memorial touches me, but this one went beyond that. I couldn’t help but imagine them standing there in their last moments of life.
I’d never heard of that monument before and I didn’t realize the significance of it until I read your explanation. It’s so tragically poignant.
I know. I don’t know when I’ve ever seen a piece of art more powerful.
Absolutely!
Very Poignant and sad……
Yes. Haunting. 😦
This photo is one of the most powerful that I’ve ever seen/felt and it makes me want to cry as well.
I’m with you… 😦
I’m touched – this is really powerful!
It really is.