Is Sala and Adam's affair immoral? Do you believe they did actually love each other? Do you think others knew what was going on and chose to look the other way?

Is Sala and Adam's affair immoral, or do you think morality can take different shapes in certain circumstances? Do you believe they did actually love each other? Do you think others knew what was going on and chose to look the other way?

Most people would say that cheating on one's spouse is immoral. How one decides if this affair was immoral is based on whether or not you are "most people". I think their affair was real love forged out of fear and longing and the need for something to bring joy and a brief respite from worrying about the future. Perhaps some knew what was going on, but the author did a great job of not really allowing us to know if Sala's husband knew or not.

I really can't judge them. Given what they were living through, finding love was a gift.

Who can even speculate on morality in such a situation. Sala and Adam offered each other companionship. If their relationship went beyond that,
who cares? This was not the REAL world they were living in.

Given the world they were living in—one in which “morality” has been perverted so dramatically, with the threat of death constantly over their heads, it feels as if whatever passes for morality no longer applies. Adam and Sala both wanted life and a measure of comfort and pleasure and found it in each other after Sala’s husband had given up, was in many ways already dead. We can pity him, but not apply ordinary moral stances to the couple who wanted to be alive while they still lived.

It is not my place to judge the actions of people in such an environment. I think they believed that they loved each other - whether that would have proven true if removed from that environment is difficult to ascertain. They did, however, provide comfort and a brief moments of “escape” from their tragic circumstances. It is difficult to imagine that others were not aware, as shown by Pani Lescovec’s comments about Adam “mooning” over Sala.

I don't think we have any right to judge them. When people are in the throes of war and don't know if they will live to see another day, the lines of moral vs. immoral become blurred. I don't know if they really loved each other or just thought they did but their affair helped them to get through the horror of the war.

I agree with those who wrote before me. The question of morality was challenged each day, maybe each minute, all around them. I think perhas her husband did know but didn't care, as he really didn't care about much of anything. I also thijnk the others in the flat knew, How coudl they not?? But I think they looked the other way so that sla and Adam could comfort each other in this terrible place.

All the above comments are so insightful and thought provoking. Under such terrible circumstances it so understandable that people would seek any comfort possible and suspend normal moral judgements.

I don't want to judge whether or not their affair was immoral. Adam and Sala were desperate people in a desperate situation. If they were able to form a connection that helped them has some bit of happiness, then I don't have a problem with that.

I saw the affair as a way to give and receive comfort. In their situation I don't think morality had much meaning anymore.

Desperation makes strange bedfellows, but I'm not sure they loved each other, as much as they found comfort in each other during very trying circumstances. It is interesting to wonder whether Sala's husband was aware. He seemed not to be, but when Adam tried to convince Sala to leave with him and her sons, her husband was quick to become rather territorial proclaiming that she was his wife, so maybe he knew or suspected something.

I think morality is suspended here. They provided comfort and companionship in terrible times. I think Adam was free to love Sala, I think for her it was much more complicated. I thought their relationship was built on friendship and fueled by physical need and desire.

I feel as though saying it was or wasn't immoral would be judgmental considering what they were living through. I don't know whether or not they loved each other. I do think other people in the house knew what was going on and chose to ignore it.

The story was written beautifully and illustrated that love sometimes grows out of circumstances. They comforted each other. Sala's husband was checked out emotionally, and Adam was alone, having lost Kasia. They didn't know from one day to the next if they would still be alive. It is no one's place to stand in judgment of them or their actions. Given the way they were living and what they had lost, who can begrudge the some small pleasure and support from another caring person. Not me! And the true test of theri characters was the story's ending when Sala remained with her husband, to whom she was always committed and, in my estimation, loyal. And Adam gave Sala the only gift he could -- her children's lives. He agreed to take them ouf of the ghetto, care for them, and give them the future Sala could not. Is there an act more loving or selfless? I don't think so.

I think they both wanted something that could make them "feel" during a time when they all felt kind of numb to what was going on in their lives. I am quite sure that the others knew it was going on, but didn't say anything for various reasons. I do think they loved each other during that time, but I have a feeling that the relationship couldn't have lasted after the way when life went back to normal. Sala told Adam she loved her husband and wouldn't do anything to hurt her children, so I believe she wouldnt have left her husband for Adam after the war. The old saying "everything is fair in love and war" pertains here... times were not normal, and there were many immoral things happening around them, but I don't believe their relationship was immoral.

What is moral or immoral? I would not judge Sala and Adam. They were living in a world turned up side down. They found in each other something they both needed at that time. Yes I believe they loved each other. Love takes many forms and that does not take away from the love Adam had, and still had, for Kasia or the love Sala has for her husband. If others knew, and they probably did, they had an understanding of the needs of the time and could easily look the other way.

In a black and white world, yes, it was immoral. But the world wasn't and never is black and white. To be loved and valued is a vital component to human existence. Especially during times of extreme duress. I believe that Adam whole-heartedly loved Sala in that situation. Would he have selected her as a wife under normal circumstances? I don't think so. Sala loved Adam as well, but refrained from saying it to not completely admit to the sin of adultery. Of course, others knew, but gave grace that no one was their authentic self with death constantly hovering them.

It seems to me that the definition of morality becomes very blurry in a situation that is one immorality compounded by another and an another—starvation, theft, murder of children, etc. Actions that would have horrified them under normal circumstances just become another means of survival. They found comfort in each other but I would not characterize it as love. Love requires freedom. I believe others knew but the circumstances of their lives caused them to be too numb to respond.