ON THE eastern bank of the Danube promenade, some 300 metres south of the parliament building in Budapest, there’s a 40-metre-long stretch at the very edge of the river occupied by 60 pairs of shoes.

Cast in iron and covered with a rust patina, some have flowers left in them.

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Women’s, men’s and children’s shoes of all sizes and styles provoke a sense of dread and horror. A plaque in Hungarian, English and Hebrew commemorates the victims shot by Arrow Cross militiamen in 1944–45 on the spot.
 
Devoid of the excessive pathos of many memorials, it employs minimalism to deliver a blow of immeasurable sadness followed by revulsion at the deeds of the murderous perpetrators.