Gideon Schocken

Gideon Schocken was born in 1919 in Zwickau

Gideon Schocken was born in Zwickau, Germany, in 1919. His parents were Lilli and Salman Schocken, a co-founder of the Schocken publishing house. The family moved to the Land of Israel in 1934, and he finished Gymnasia Rehavia the next year.

He joined the Haganah in 1936 and studied at the Hebrew University and Oxford University. In World War II he volunteered for the British Army and served in the Jewish Brigade in North Africa and Italy. He left the British Army in 1946 as a major, then helped his father set up the publishing business in New York.

Back in Israel he joined the IDF as deputy head of the Manpower Directorate. After a staff post in the Operations Directorate and civil emergency work in the Prime Minister's Office, he became head of the Manpower Directorate in 1956. He was promoted to aluf in 1959 and retired in 1961.

Later he oversaw the security forces in the State Comptroller's office and sat on the board of Bank Leumi. He collected modern art, worked in photography and designed the first English book covers of Franz Kafka. He died in 1981.