The Danube

The Danube, one of the world’s grandest rivers, begins in the Black Forest region in Germany and flows nearly 2,000 miles through ten countries to the Black Sea. As part of an ongoing project, in August I sailed from Nuremberg to Budapest. Along the way, I photographed many of the castles, churches and small villages in Germany, Slovakia, Austria and Hungary. In Budapest, I discovered one of the most interesting memorials that I have ever seen: 60 pairs men’s, women’s and children’s shoes, cast in steel, on the walkway along the Danube near the parliament building. This memorial is for the 3,500 people (800 Jews) who were forced to remove their shoes and then shot at this spot by the Neo-Nazi group known as Arrow Cross during World War Two. The bodies of the victims fell into the Danube and were never recovered. These photographs tell the story of my trip.