Shoes on the Bank of the Danube (Holocaust Memorial). The sixty pairs of cast-iron shoes, modeled after the period, are a lasting memorial to the Hungarian Jews innocently shot into the Danube by the Arrow Cross Party’s privateers in 1944-45. During the executions, which were usually carried out en masse, the victims were forced to stand in a line on the bank of the Danube and then (preferably by shooting them in the back of the head) were shot into the Danube. The location of the memorial is symbolic, as Jews were shot into the Danube from almost every point on the Danube bank in Budapest, especially on the northern side of Margaret Island.
The memorial is the result of a civil initiative. The idea for the composition was conceived by Gyula Pauer’s Kossuth Prize-winning sculptor and film director friend, Can Togay.
At three points of the memorial site, cast iron plaques read in Hungarian, English and Hebrew: “Established in memory of the victims shot into the Danube by Arrow Cross militants on April 16, 2005.”
MTK Budapest, the MTK Friends’ Circle and the Hungarian Football Past Memorial Society will hold a memorial service and wreath-laying ceremony on Monday, December 30 at 11 a.m. to mark the end of the Holocaust ’80 memorial year at the Danube-side Shoes Memorial, where can remember the footballers, sports managers and fans of MTK, Hungária FC and other clubs who fell victim to the Holocaust. 80 years ago, on December 30, 1944, Antal Vágó, a former MTK national football player and the brother of Zoltán Vágó, the first coach of the blue-and-white team that was re-established after World War II, was shot into the Danube by the Arrow Cross, along with many of his comrades. – MTK’s 136th birthday is also a tribute to all the victims of the Holocaust, to the destroyed and crippled Jewish lives, families and communities – said Dr. Tamás Deutsch, President of MTK Budapest.
A commemorative speech will be given by Dr. Tamás Dénes, football historian and Secretary General of the Hungarian Sports Journalists Association. We invite and welcome everyone who wants to remember the victims of the Holocaust to the wreath-laying ceremony and the commemoration. We ask you to place a small wreath or a flower on the monument! The organizers thank you in advance for your participation in the wreath-laying ceremony and the commemoration!
Update by Aggie Reiter
Rolling in Budapest 