They, and their love, survived the Holocaust

It’s a scenario that sounds like the romantic tragicomedy Woody Allen never wrote (but might have): Unhappily married, impoverished Dutch Jewish accountant Jack Polak meets young, wealthy beauty Ina Soep at a birthday party and is instantly smitten. Unfortunately, it’s 1943 and Holland is occupied by the Nazis. Within months, Jack, Ina and Jack’s wife, Manja, are all picked up and find themselves in the same concentration camp.

But this is no piece of fiction. Director Michele Ohayon’s striking documentary “Steal a Pencil for Me” tells this most unusual love story with grace and compassion. Through the Westerbork and Bergen-Belsen camps, Jack and Ina’s relationship -- kept alive primarily through letters -- survives against all odds.

There’s no suspense as to the outcome because Ohayon immediately introduces us to the present-day Jack and Ina as they celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary at home in New York City.

However, the journey is obviously fraught with peril and how they are ultimately reunited will keep viewers riveted.

The fact that the lovers are imperfect only humanizes their story and makes what is happening around them all the more tragic.

It’s easy to rush to judgment of the Polaks’ actions and later happiness in the shadow of horror, but Ohayon does a masterful job presenting the material, neither rationalizing nor excusing the behavior.

Jack and Manja were not a happy match with or without the war and the presence of Ina. But Manja (who passed away in 2005) was a strong-willed woman and forbade the two from seeing each other, hence the letter writing. It also can’t be forgotten that even under the severe circumstances of the camps, the keeping up of appearances was crucial to the social order.

The film is driven by the vibrant, emotional recollections of Jack and Ina, along with testimony of their friends and relatives. Excerpts from the couple’s letters (one of which provides the film its title) are read persuasively by actors Jeroen Krabbe and Ellen Ten Damme and emphasize the daily uncertainty of their existence.

Ohayon and editor Kate Amend astutely weave together the interviews, archival footage and newly shot scenes by cinematographer Theo van de Sande to create stunning visuals to accompany the dramatic twists and turns of the story. Irrepressibly moving without being sentimental, “Steal a Pencil for Me” is a testimony to true love.

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kevin.crust@latimes.com

“Steal a Pencil for Me.” Unrated. In English and Dutch with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 34 minutes. At Laemmle’s Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 274-6869; and Laemmle’s Town Center, 17200 Ventura Blvd., Encino (818) 981-9811.