What is collective memory? Who determines what is remembered? What tools, artifacts, and processes are used to maintain a memory? What happens when a group wants to change or eliminate a memory? This blog will explore these questions and discuss current uses of memory in identity creation.

The photo at the heading of this page is of the memorial, “Shoes on the Danube”, located on the Danube Promenade, near the Hungarian Parliament. Created by Can Togay and Gyula Pauer in 2005, this memorial commemorates approximately 20,000 Jews who were brutally shot by the Arrow Cross militia along the Danube River in 1944 and 1945. As victims were lined up along the river, the militia made them step out of their shoes before they were shot and their bodies swept away by the river. The memorial includes 60 pairs of iron shoes, including heels, loafers, boots, and children’s shoes.

Contact information: Dr. Dee Britton dee.britton@esc.edu