Danielle Wortman

A shortened autobiography

My name is Worman Camille Danielle, I was born in Tunisia in 1942, from a French mother and a Tunisian father with very divergent views about everything but both Jewish.
I studied in the best French schools in my home town and after the” baccalauréat”, I carried on to study in the prestigious “Lycée Carnot “ In Tunis.
I was successful in getting the “Certificate of General Literary Studies”, but due to the end of the French protectorate in Tunisia, I couldn’t further my studies there and as a member of the clandestine youth Jewish movement of the “Shomer Hatsair”I decided to emigrate to Israel, to go and live in a kibbutz with the members of the movement.
I went on a hunger strike for a week before my mum finally gave up and let me go. I met my husband of 57 years on the boat from Marseille to Haifa, and after lots of moving around we got to kibbutz Zikim, in 1967 where we still live as members.
In Zikim I have worked in the kitchen, the fields and mainly in children houses with handicapped children .
Education
Eventually I was allowed to further my studies, but after so many years of being estranged from my mother tongue, instead of studying philosophy and literature I opted for studying visua...