"IT OCCURRED TO ME"

About the Book

Gideon Strauss’s memoir spans most of the 20th Century, in Europe, Palestine/Israel, and New York. The book first discusses his family, and his years at a progressive boarding school in Germany, which had a lasting impact on him. With his emigration to Palestine in 1935, he offers a look at the good (and the difficult) elements of life there.

Mr. Strauss describes his professional life, first with the Anglo-Palestine Bank in Palestine, and then later with the renamed Bank Leumi Le-Israel in New York. He also recounts his experiences in the Israel diplomatic service at the time of the creation of the State of Israel, and finally, his thirty-plus years as a senior officer of a private finance company, where he conceived of and established a business devoted to fine art financing.

Music, art, travel and friends and family round out a rich life.

About the Author

Gideon Strauss was born in Berlin in 1915 and educated in Germany, Austria, England and France. In 1935, he emigrated to Palestine, where for the next fifteen years he worked for the Anglo-Palestine Bank, the oldest and leading financial institution. In early 1948, on what was to be a short holiday, Mr. Strauss came to New York and was immediately seconded to work for the State of Israel, which he served as Consul for two years. He then returned to banking, as manager of the New York branch of Bank Leumi Le-Israel (successor to the Anglo-Palestine Bank). In 1966, he joined a private finance company, Rosenthal & Rosenthal, as senior manager of international business and Rosenthal Art Equities, devoted to fine art financing. He retired at the end of 1999 at age 84. Art, music, travel and friends have enriched his life and that of his family.