Steal a Pencil for Me by composer Gerald Cohen and librettist Deborah Brevoort, is an opera in two acts about one of the Holocaust’s most poignant love stories. It depicts the relationship between Jaap Polak, a Dutch accountant, and Ina Soep, the daughter of a wealthy diamond manufacturer, who fell in love while imprisoned in the Westerbork and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. Inspired by their published love letters, Steal a Pencil for Me explores themes of the indomitable human spirit and the power to endure adversity.

Gerald Cohen, who knew Jaap and Ina for over 25 years, was deeply moved by their story and letters. He and Deborah Brevoort met with the couple many times during the libretto’s creation. Jaap and Ina attended the first workshop of the opera, which celebrated Jaap’s 100th and Ina’s 90th birthdays. Steal a Pencil for Me was given its premiere production in 2018 by Opera Colorado.

The album, recorded in Denver in 2022, features most of the central performers of the Opera Colorado production, with Ari Pelto as conductor, and (in the principal vocal roles) Gideon Dabi as Jaap, Inna Dukach as Ina, and Adriana Zabala as Manja.