Not Forgotten

I was inspired to create this piece after visiting the Holocaust Shoe Memorial on the Danube River in Budapest, Hungary. With shock, I observed 60 pairs of vintage shoes. I was overcome with sadness when I saw a pair belonging to a small child. I felt compelled to be aware of this history and to act further to memorialize these innocent victims. I learned there was no safe place for Jewish children in Nazi-occupied Hungary. They were forced from safe houses and hiding places, taken to the riverbank, and made to remove their shoes then face their executioners. Their bodies fell into the icy waters. Their shoes were left lying on the bank, more valuable than their lives. Humanity must not forget such atrocities.