Shoes on the Danube Bank

There have been many horrors throughout the epoch of human history, but few compare with some of the terrors faced and endured during the Second World War. In Hungary, the militia were very closely aligned with Nazi Germany; with the country being annexed by Germany in 1944. With the end of the war approaching and the Red Army close to liberating Hungary, the ruling Red Cross Army took 3,500 people, 800 of them being Jews, lined them up along the banks of the Danube River and shot them so that their bodies fell into the river. However, before their execution, in a completely dehumanising act, they were asked to remove their shoes as shoes were valuable and could be resold by the milita. This poignant memorial remembers the victims and ensures that their memory lives on. We hope that atrocities like this are firmly consigned to the past. #budapest #hungary #danube #travel #citybreak #europe #vacation #holiday