MISSION

 

 

 

 

 

Papers Please Inc. is a non-profit arts/education company (formed 2018 by Nora Jean and Michael H. Levin (1942-2024) after the premiere of our narrated live classsical music performance Two Pianos: Playing for Life) which re-creates an extended Jewish family's first-person journeys through tumultuous cultural, political and economic events -- the Great War, the Russian Revolutions, the rise of fascism, World War II, the Holocaust, the creation of the State of Israel -- to highlight the relevance of this past to today's headlines, and to educate, reconcile with and memorialize vanished lives and times that shaped the West's 20th Century.  

 

Our initial goal: bring Two Pianos to broader audiences in the U.S. and abroad.  Our overall mission: design, produce and present history-themed performances, programs, exhibits and publications that highlights the past's relevance to today's news. We work with Jewish networks, local officials, educational institutions, museums, libraries and non-profit organizations to introduce our projects and programs to a wider international audience.  

 

This mission predated Papers Please and Two Pianos.  It began with 2012 PowerPoint presentations in Leipzig Germany and a 2015 exhibit at the Leipzig State Library co-sponsored by the Leo Baeck Institute.  When COVID-19 suspended Two Pianos live performances, Papers Please created Penn Convoy Press to publish A Border Town in Poland (2021), Firebird (2023) and related works. 

 

Our Board and Advisory Committee include representatives of the Levin-Hoffman families (descendants of the main characters), a former Director of Planned Giving for the Metropolitan Opera (NYC), and a former board member of the Raoul Wallenberg Committee (U.S.). 

 

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To learn more about our project supporters and contributors, click here.