Europe
Hungary
Budapest
Memorial
Cipők a Duna-parton
Name:Shoes on the Danube Bank
Unveiled:2005
Concept:Can Togay
Sculptor:Gyula Pauer
Length of the installation:approx. 40 metres
Number of pairs of shoes:60
Material of the shoes:cast iron
Number of victims:approx. 2,600–3,600
Close-up of Shoes on the Danube Bank with the blurred Parliament Building in the background

Shoes on the Danube Bank: Budapest’s Moving Holocaust Memorial

Location: Shoes on the Danube Bank is located on the Pest side of Budapest, directly beside the Danube’s stone embankment. The memorial lies around 300 metres south of the Hungarian Parliament Building and is easily accessible from the riverside promenade. From here, visitors can enjoy sweeping views across the river towards the Buda side of the city.

Significance: Shoes on the Danube Bank is one of Hungary’s best-known Holocaust memorials. Rather than using life-sized figures or detailed depictions, the installation commemorates people who were suddenly torn from their everyday lives and murdered. The shoes appear to have been left behind, making the victims’ absence visible in an especially direct and powerful way.

Historical context: Hungary had been allied with Nazi Germany since November 1940 and fought alongside it during the Second World War. As Germany’s military defeat became increasingly apparent, the Hungarian leadership attempted to withdraw from the alliance and negotiate an armistice. In response, German troops occupied the country on 19 March 1944. The persecution, ghettoisation and deportation of Hungary’s Jewish population subsequently intensified considerably. On 15 October 1944, the Arrow Cross Party, led by Ferenc Szálasi, seized power with German support. Its members and supporters belonged to a fascist, radically antisemitic Hungarian movement with close ties to the Nazi regime. During their rule, Jewish people in Budapest were abducted, abused, forced on death marches and murdered at various locations throughout the city.

Murders on the Danube bank: During the final months of the Second World War, armed members of the Arrow Cross brought mainly Jewish men, women and children to the banks of the Danube in Budapest. Many victims were forced to remove their shoes because footwear was valuable and could be reused or sold by the perpetrators. They were then shot at the water’s edge. Their bodies were either pushed into the Danube or fell directly into the river. Historian Krisztián Ungváry estimates that approximately 2,600 to 3,600 people were murdered along the banks of the Danube. Due to incomplete historical records, the exact number can no longer be determined with certainty.

Creation of the memorial: The idea for the memorial was developed by Hungarian film director Can Togay, while sculptor Gyula Pauer was responsible for its artistic design. Together, they created a deliberately understated installation. The focus is not on the violence itself, but on the traces left behind by those who disappeared. The memorial was inaugurated on 16 April 2005. This date holds particular significance in Hungary, as 16 April has been the national day of remembrance for the Hungarian victims of the Holocaust since 2001. It commemorates the beginning of the systematic ghettoisation of Hungary’s Jewish population in April 1944.

Design: The installation consists of 60 pairs of cast-iron shoes permanently attached to the stone embankment. They are spread along a stone ledge approximately 40 metres long. Modelled on footwear from the 1940s, the shoes were deliberately created with visible signs of wear. They include sturdy men’s boots, elegant women’s shoes and small children’s shoes. Although carefully arranged, they appear as though they were abandoned only moments earlier. Some stand neatly beside one another, while others lie at an angle or rest directly at the water’s edge. Their different shapes and sizes serve as a reminder that the victims were people of all ages. Each had their own family, profession and life story. Three plaques at the memorial bear inscriptions in Hungarian, English and Hebrew.

Film connection: An important source of inspiration for the memorial was the 1955 Hungarian feature film Budapesti tavasz. In one of its best-known scenes, the main character, Zoltán, reaches the Danube bank too late and finds only the shoes of those who have been murdered. Directed by Félix Máriássy, the film was among the first Hungarian feature films to address the Holocaust. Its haunting image of abandoned shoes later influenced the design of the memorial.

A place of remembrance: Visitors regularly place flowers, candles, small stones and other tokens of remembrance among the shoes. As a result, the memorial is more than a historical installation and remains an active place of commemoration today. Its immediate proximity to the water and the everyday life of the city heightens the contrast between the peaceful surroundings and the crimes remembered here.

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Shoes on the Danube Bank is not a UNESCO World Heritage Site in its own right. However, it lies within the protected area known as “Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue”. The World Heritage Site encompasses significant parts of Budapest’s cityscape, including the Hungarian Parliament Building, the Buda Castle Quarter and several historic bridges across the Danube.

  • Close-up of Shoes on the Danube Bank with the blurred Parliament Building in the background
  • Shoes on the Danube Bank with a bouquet of yellow and red roses at the river’s edge
  • Shoes on the Danube Bank with numerous memorial candles along the stone riverbank
  • Shoes on the Danube Bank with a view across the river towards the Chain Bridge and Buda Castle
  • Small shoes at Shoes on the Danube Bank with red roses laid beside them by the river
  • Shoes on the Danube Bank along the river’s edge with the Hungarian Parliament Building in the background