What do you make of Adam switching out the photos in the kennkartes?

What do you make of Adam switching out the photos in the kennkartes? Were you disturbed by his choice to do so, or do you think you might have done the same?

I was at first somewhat horrified that he chose his lover's boys over Szifra's brothers. She was the one who sacrificed herself to make sure they could escape the Ghetto, and it felt wrong for Adam to leave them behind. But rationally - using my head and not my heart - it was a logical thing to do, since it was likely Szifra's brothers would have been apprehended.

I agree that likely Szifra's brothers would have been apprehended given the way she was killed and her relationships with many of the guards. However, I can't help but wonder if Adam chose Sala's sons to save because of his love for her.

I think if you can save the ones you love, you do it. Is it "right?" I don't know.

I think he took this action because it would be the last thing he could do for Sala. She was not going to leave her husband to go with Adam but she stayed behind willingly because she knew her boys would be safe. I believe Adam likely felt guilty for the rest of his life because his actions insured Szifra's brothers would be killed.

Although a hard decision, it was probably the best one he could make under the circumstances. He had to go because he had identification papers for himself. His love for Sala compelled him to choose her children over Szifra's brothers-and maybe he rationalized that he had more of a relationship with Sala's kids which would make their survival outside the ghetto more possible.

It didn't really surprise me. Szifra's brothers seemed to disappear about the time she was killed, so it hard to know what really happened to them. He had lived with Sala's sons for some time in the little apartment they all shared, so I think he felt a closeness to them both because of that and his relationship with their mother. I'm also not sure even if he had found Szifra's brothers that he would have been able to escape with them. I'm not sure how well they would have held up if stopped by a guard, especially Jakob.

Of course it was so sad but not surprising based on his love for Sala.

I think that in times like that, everyone does what they have to do.

What other motivation could Adam have to switch the photos, except for his love for Sala? It was the onnly thing he could really do for her, save her children.

Oh, what a heartbreaking point in the story. In actuality, it was Sala who switched the photos, not Adam. He sat there and watched as she did it. Her doing it was completely understandable. A mother chooses her own children, of course. For Adam, it was also an understandable choice. As someone pointed out, Szifra's brothers may have been recognized at a checkpoint. There was no guarantee they could be located or would agree to go with Adam. He had a relationsip with Sala's boys, and knew they could pass for the Roman Catholic boys described in the kennkartes. It was the only thing he could do for Sala and Emil, but especially Sala because he loved her. Would their relationship have survived outside the ghetto if she had left Emil for him? Who knows? Relationships are often born out of shared circumstances and collapse when that commonality is removed. But Adam could help Sala and Emil live through their children, and he knew that as they remained and most likely perished in the ghetto, they could be at peace knowing that their children escaped and were safe, being raised by a good man. Someone mentioned that Adam probably felt guilt for the rest of his life. Undeoubtedly. Survivor's guilt -- not understood then, of coure -- is an actual phenomenon. But hopefully, Adam's joy at seeing the boys thrive and grown into men outweighed any guilt he carried with him for not being able to save all of his students.

It felt like he was having an out of body experience. I kept thinking he would back out and go searching for the boys. Their world was wobbling on an evil axis with everyone losing their footing. Was Sala to be rewarded as being the winning adulteress over the sister? Szifra had suffered more having to give herself unwilling to many she despised while Sala had a caring partner in Adam. Adam knew intimately of both of their circumstances. In the end, the precarious wheel of fortune turned in favor of Sala's sons. The time and place were there. He seized the moment. I don't think he felt compromised...He had promised. His keeping a promise trumped anything else. Do the terms right or wrong apply, I cannot say.

I had such a mixed reaction and feelings about this. On one hand it felt horribly wrong after the sister's sacrifice. I wanted to believe he could have taken the boys out and kept them safe. On the other hand I knew that was probably not possible and using her sacrifice to save sala's sons did not only move Adam to action but saved lives. What a terrible decision to make.

I felt horrible about that decision and didn't understand how he could make that choice between the 2 sets of brothers. Their sister had sacrificed her life for their freedom, and Adam also had a relationship to them as their teacher. The only reason he could have for trading out the photos, was the love he felt for their mother, Sala. I was disappointed in this choice that he made. Although, it would have been difficult to make the choice at all, since only 2 boys could be saved. I don't question many of the things that were done during this time, as people were acting desperately and might not have made the same decision had they not been in the situation of starvation and fear.

It was Sala that switched the photos, which was what any mother would have done to save the lives of her two sons.
Adam watched, probably wishing he could have saved all his students. In reality, he did what had to be done. Szifra was so well known in the ghetto and by the guards, more than likely her brothers were being carefully watched by the guards. Someone had gotten the papers for her and knew of her plans. The boys and whoever was with them probably would be killed.

When he initially found the kennkartes on Szidfra's dead body, my heart ached for the decision that now presented itself. To earn those papers Szidfra's paid with the violent abuse of her body. And she was willing to place herself in prostitution to make sure her brothers escaped. By choosing to free Sala's boys from the inevitable death in the Ghetto Adam affirmed the great love that he had for her. Her boys' legacy would continue.

It felt like such a betrayal of his students, Szifra and her little brothers. He literally traded two young lives for two others, based on his relationship with their mother. He nullified Szifra’s sacrifice. I believe most people would make the same choice and be haunted by that choice for the rest of their lives.