Damian Le Bas (2018) The Stopping Places. A Journey Through Gypsy Britain.

Damian Le Bas was born and bred a gypsy. We’ve all got ideas what that means. My middle name is Damain. I had to check if it’s spelled with an ‘a’ or ‘e’. I don’t use it much, but it’s there, lurking. Le Bas dedicates his book to his dad who died in 2017. His gypsy dad is my age, or would have been, if he hadn’t died. I’m pretty sure I’ve read this book before. Most books become mush in my head and I can usually pick out highlights that resonate. So I guess this is my second reading.

Le Bas gives a straightforward account of travelling around England mainly, parts of Scotland and a bit of Northern France (which isn’t in his featured map). Knocking off at places with gypsy heritage and telling the reader how it feels now and what it may have been like then. He’s travelling in a Ford van, which replaced horses and a cultural knowledge that revolved around caring for them as often the most important member of the family.

Few of us need reminding of the Nazi genocide of gypsies. Le Bas’s grandparents were ‘English’ gypsies, but with their own particular language and heritage which Bas suggests dates from India millennia ago. Often like Jews their race has been targeted for state sanctioned murder and/or expulsion. His parents and their parent before them faced less extreme violence but continual harassment and legal jeopardy as a given.

Gypsies refusal to call any one man master and the ability to upsticks and move suggests a romantic picture. Grinding poverty awaited them wherever they travelled. Group loyalty and a willingness to help others is part of the ‘we were worse off but better off’ mantra that is so often aired and not only by gypsies. Lowvul, money matters. And for all the differences, it seems to matter more now.

Le Bas’s meetings with gypsies (like him) and not just travellers were met with questions of who he was and what he was doing. Part of this he explained was most men were working all day and didn’t want another man, an outsider, in their encampment. Even when he was recognised at being genuine through his dress sense or ability to speak Romini, he was still regarded as diddakoi, ‘half-Gypsy,’ gadjo, non-Gypsy man, or a div, fool, in any case. He was neither family nor friend. An outsider.

Part of his year-long journey was spent with his girlfriend, also a gypsy. Like many or most travel books the end will suggest the real journey is inside. Maybe he should have just stayed home and read a book, like me, or does that not count? Read on.  

Notes.

About 250,000–500,000 Roma and Sinti were murdered under Nazi rule, according to most historical estimates. Some research and advocacy groups place the figure higher, up to one million, reflecting gaps in documentation and the fact that Roma deaths were often poorly recorded. Wikipedia Friends, Families and Travellers

The Nazi regime treated Roma and Sinti as a racial group targeted for persecution and eventual extermination. Their classification included:

• “Zigeuner” (Gypsies) — a broad, pejorative racial category used by Nazi authorities.
• Roma and Sinti were singled out as “asocial” and “racially inferior”, similar to the pseudo‑scientific racial categories applied to Jews.
• Policies included forced registration, racial examinations, compulsory sterilisation, and ultimately deportation to concentration and extermination camps. Wikipedia

This racialisation was formalised by the Reich Security Main Office, which treated Roma and Sinti as a biological threat to “Aryan purity.”

The Holocaust targeted multiple groups, but the scale and intent varied. The following figures reflect widely accepted historical estimates:

The Roma and Sinti death toll is smaller in absolute numbers than the Jewish death toll, but proportionally it was also devastating: in some regions, up to 80% of Roma communities were destroyed.

Why the numbers vary

Roma deaths were under‑documented because:

• Many killings occurred in mass shootings by mobile units, not camps.
• Roma were often not registered by name.
• Post‑war recognition of the genocide was delayed, and records were scattered or destroyed.
• Nazi racial categories for Roma were inconsistent across regions.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CVBVVGD6