20 November 2007

Wordless Wednesday - Shoes on the Danube Promenade, Budapest


This week's entry for the Tuesday and Wednesday edition of Wordless Wednesday is not my own image but it is too powerful to pass. What may look like a piece of whimsy is anything but. It is a memorial to jews murdered by Hungarian fascists (the Arrow Cross) during WWII. the victims were forced to take their shoes off before being executed and their bodies dumped in the Danube.

55 comments:

SandyCarlson said...

My goodness. This is powerful, indeed. Thanks, Jams. To think the shoes were more valued than life itself. How brutal.

Happy WW.

Anonymous said...

Yes, it´very impressing.

Anonymous said...

Wow, amazing to think think such a thing could have happened. Thank you for sharing this!!!

Happy WW & Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Tiany

Digital Flower Pictures said...

It always surprises me what people will do to each other.

Anonymous said...

That photo is heartbreaking....Thanks for sharing!

Mine is up here;
Wordless
Happy WS-Tuesday!

Anonymous said...

Oh my that is powerful. It is amazing what we humans are capable of both for evil and for good.

Katya said...

A photo that is so powerful and heart-wrenching. Man's inhumanity to man is always so pathetic and hard to swallow....

Happy WW!

Anonymous said...

jams, this is so very impressive! I'm going to send your link to some of my friends...they will really appreciate it.

Come visit my blog: Answers to the Questions

Susan Demeter said...

Very moving......I am now wordless...

Liz said...

I agree with sandy, that's brutal. Thanks for sharing. Happy WW!

Anonymous said...

wow, very powerful. My grandmother was a victim of the Holocaust. Thank you for sharing that today.

Sophia said...

Oh wow....when I first looked at the picture, I was wondering what all the shoes were for, but then I read what you wrote. Very great post! So many inhumane things were done then.

tammi said...

It's interesting how the picture changes once the meaning is understood. I was thinking up all sorts of smart remarks while the rest of your page loaded, but as soon as I could scroll down to read what you'd written, the picture just changed. How horrible we humans can be to each other.

MaR said...

Very impressing...

Anonymous said...

What an incredibly powerful statement!

Jenn in Holland said...

Oh, that is incredibly powerful. What a moving sight.

Le Butterfly said...

Thanks for sharing.
Happy WW
Mine is up.

eastcoastlife said...

Gosh! This is a heart-wrenching picture. There is this scary inhumane side of people amongst us.

RW said...

Never heard of that thanks for sharing! Good WW to you!

Jessie said...

Oh, that makes me want to cry. I can't fathom what those poor people went through. What a picture.

letha said...

Amazing, it looks so peaceful there too.

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

Wow, that saddens me deeply. What a shot.

Andree said...

Oh no. That is one awful story of the Holocaust that I have not heard before. I am glad you posted this tribute.

denz said...

wow! amazing pictures!!!

here is mine:
Wordless Wednesday...

Happy WW

Lori said...

Wow..very moving. Great shot. Happy WW.

Unknown said...

Great WW Photo! Thank you for providing a historical perspective that I would not have otherwise known...

My WW post featured actor killed off this week on The Unit television show. Don't tell anyone, but, I cried at the end (sigh).

peace, Villager

maiylah said...

sad part of world history ...
love the way the artist did the tribute!
wonderful shot!

happy WW
My WW post

Jan Parrish said...

Very moving.

Sreisaat said...

This is a very poignant picture. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, that is certainly powerful!

Anonymous said...

Oh.. that's sad. Thanks for sharing the history of the shot. Happy WW!

Anonymous said...

Very interesting shot!

happy ww!

jams o donnell said...

Thanks everyone. I will try and get round to see your entries soon.

Anonymous said...

Great image and I learned something I didn't know from your WW post. Thanks!

Memories of Eric and Flynn said...

I wondered why the shoes were there until I read your post, then I felt so incredibly sad for man's inhumanity to his fellow man.

Julia Phillips Smith said...

Before I saw your explanation I wondered if it was a reminder of those who may have taken their own lives in the river. The photo is very eloquent because it immediately shows the absence of people. I'm so glad you shared this, Jams.

Andrea said...

That is a powerful picture...and makes me grateful for the freedom we have today!

Patois42 said...

Jams, that is a fascinating and harrowing photo.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Jams. That is a powerful tribute.

Kara said...

Wow. Thanks for sharing that picture

Rambler said...

I did some more reading on the net on this one, really fascinating. thanks for sharing

Natalie said...

Wow! That's very powerful!

My WW is up too!

Siani said...

Such an emotive image. The brutality of the Nazis never fails to horrify me.

Anonymous said...

Haunting and powerful.

Rebecca said...

Thanks for the reminder - freedom is NOT free.

Happy WW :P

jams o donnell said...

Thanks everyone!

Deb said...

Oh wow, that is very powerful. And a reminder of something that should never be forgotten.

Happy WW

Queen of My Domain said...

Wow, what an image. Such a shame we need reminders like this.

Sandee said...

How utterly awful and evil. There is just too much killing. Over religion, over differences, over just about anything. Have a great WW. :)

Heart of Rachel said...

Thank you for sharing this meaningful entry.

Liz Hinds said...

Great photo. I have a poem about shoes I'll put on my blog. It was written by one of my writing tutors.

elasticwaistbandlady said...

As I sit here in between going from one job to another on a Thanksgiving holiday, I suddenly feel a lot more blessed to have the freedom to work and worship as I please without threat of execution.

jams o donnell said...

THanks everyone,

EWBL that is the thing. THere is a lot to criticise about the USA, the same goes for the UK. However, we are both bloody lucky to have been born where we were.

Unknown said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoes_on_the_Danube_Promenade

T Szabo said...

Will live forever in our memory.

Jewish-Hungarian family stood on the evening of 8 January 1945 for the Danube in Budapest, with the faces to water. Each moment can shots slam. The man with the leather coat had appeared with a special brigade of the hungarian police prevented he assassinating 154 jews. Who wore a leather coat like many state security detectives, who during the war helped to save hundreds of Jewish lives? A wonder: five surviving witnesses found 60 years later. Who was the man in the leather coat? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004UB36KG