chemins journal crossing survival

books:

1 review
Jan Yoors

Simon and Schuster, 1971

A DIFFERENT VIEW OF THE HORRORS OF WWII
This book picks up where Jan Yoors' THE GYPSIES left off. I would strongly recommend reading that book first to get proper insight into the traditional life of the European Rom. While CROSSING was equally good in its own right, the two could not be more different. THE GYPSIES is a book that is mostly upbeat, and although it tells of various troubles that the Rom encounter in everyday life, those ...

Gypsies P

1 review
Jan yoors

Touchstone, 1969

An insider's view
A fascinating look from an insider's viewpoint of the gypsy culture prior to WWII. Jan Yoors, a twelve year old Flemish boy, ran away from home to join the gypsies. The story he tells reveals a culture that is both very different and yet very traditional at the same time. Being accepted as one of the Rom, he is in a unique position, one that can't be duplicated by an outsider, and in fact, he ...

Gypsies

18 reviews
Jan yoors

Simon & Schuster, 1972

A good introduction to Romani culture
Jan Yoors book on his experience living with the Romani is a vivid and beautiful portrayal of a people group that has been overlooked or stereotyped for the last several hundred years. This book helped fuel a desire in me to learn the truth of "Gypsie" culture beyond the stereotypes. It is well worth reading more than once for anyone interested in countercultural groups still in existence.

The Heroic Present: LIFE AMONG THE GYPSIES
Jan Yoors

Monacelli, 2004

As a boy of twelve, Jan Yoors fulfilled many an adventurous youth's fantasy when he left his comfortable Belgian home to live and travel with a tribe, or kumpania, of Gypsies. Adopted into the extended family of Pulika, Yoors passed his days with the patriarch's sons and nephews, learning the traditions and participating in the rituals of the Gypsies, or Romani. As the years passed, he divided his life between the world of his birth, where he ...

La croisée des chemins
Jan Yoors

Phébus, 1992

Crossing: A Journal of Survival and Resistance in World War II

2 reviews
Jan Yoors

Waveland Press, 1988

Do NOT miss this one.
Jan Yoors was the son of a Flemish stained glass artist. At a young age he ran away with a troupe of Gypsies (more properly, the Rom) who were camping in his Belgian home town. Yoor's parents amazingly accepted his new double life, as Yoors lived on and off with the Rom for many years. His life with his Rom family is covered in his first book "The Gypsies." (which is another must-read.) "The ...