Several thousand people attend March of the Living in Budapest

Several thousand people attended the 15th "March of the Living" on the Memorial Day for Hungarian Victims of the Holocaust here on Sunday.

The crowd started its solemn march at the "Shoes on the Danube Bank" memorial on the bank of the Danube. The empty bronze shoes of sculptor Gyula Pauer honour the people (mainly Budapest Jews) who were shot into the Danube in the WWII. They were ordered to take off their shoes, and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. It represents their shoes left behind on the bank.

The participants placed flowers and candles on the shoes before going south until the chain bridge and crossing over the Danube.

Organizers said that the aim of the march was to enable people to honour the memory of the Hungarian Holocaust victims, regardless of their religion or political belief, and to take a stand for "social solidarity and democratic political culture."

Gabor Gordon, head of the March of the Living Foundation told participants, "This day is also a warning for us all, that shows the dangers of exclusion, which can lead to an irremediable tragedy through small, everyday, unnoticeable steps." Endit