Eighty years, and what have we learned?

This haunting memorial is found in Budapest, Hungary. It is called 'Shoes on the Danube Bank'. Conceived of by film director Can Togay and created in conjunction with sculptor Gyula Pauer, it commemorates and honour the memories of the Jews and others who were massacred by fascist Hungarian militia during the Second World War. Men, women, and children were told to take off their shoes, which were valuable and could be resold by the militia afterwards, whereupon the people were shot at the edge of the water so their bodies fell into the water and were carried away.  These represent the shoes that were all that were left of the lives lost. 60 pairs of period shoes made of iron are attached to the ground. Sometimes you will see pebbles or stones stacked atop the shoes. This is not part of the sculpture. It is an act of grief often found in Jewish cemeteries.

Most of the shootings took place in a period of only a month, between December 1944 and January 1945.  During that time the Arrow Cross Party police also took as many as a further 20,000 Jews from the Budapest ghetto and executed them along the river bank.

These acts were not carried out by hard-core German Nazis. They were radicalised Hungarians in a society already inured to the ideas of anti-Semitism. Pogroms were popular in Eastern Europe. And Hungary had been part of an empire cut up like a steak after WWI by the victors. There was the same resentment and feeling of powerlessness there for the taking as in Germany, and Jews were a historically convenient scapegoat because they were different

In remembrance

Nor should we forget

an event that meant the death of some 140,000 people--mostly civilians, and had far-reaching consequences for both the survivors and for our world in general: Japan marks anniversary of atomic attack on Hiroshima

Eight years ago today, a senseless death in the line of duty

I'm taking a moment to remember a woman here in Lexington who gave her life trying to save another. Our firefighters and police do not get nearly the recognition they deserve. May she rest in peace, and may her family be comforted by the memorials in her honour.

Firefighters honor Brenda Cowan; hang mystery blanket in former station

Cowan was Lexington's first black female firefighter. She was a trained paramedic, a University of Kentucky graduate and the sister of Fred Cowan, a member of UK's 1978 national championship team. She had been promoted to lieutenant and assigned to Station 18 about a week prior to her death.

Cowan was among the first to arrive to the scene of a shooting at 8645 Adams Lane, about a mile from the station. While tending to another female gunshot victim, Cowan was shot by Patrick Hutchinson, a paranoid schizophrenic who had shot and killed his wife before paramedics arrived. Another firefighter was wounded by Hutchison, who was firing a rifle through an open window of the home.

Remembering the Irish Potato Famine that drove so many out into the rest of the world

It's in Lower Manhattan and has been built with plants native to and building materials from Ireland. It's quite tranquil and lovely, especially considering it is built inside a major city. Thanks to Bill Hart for the link.