Teresa Ferenc was born in Ruszów-Kolonia in the administrative district of Gmina Łabunie, within Zamość County in Lublin Voivodeship in Poland. She lived with her parents and family in the village of Sochy, Lublin Voivodeship in the Zamość region. During World War II, as a 9-year-old child, she survived the massacre of the village of Sochy by Nazi Germany on June 1, 1943 during German occupation of Poland (1939–1945). Her parents were murdered then. The village was also bombed by German Luftwaffe planes. As an orphan, she was raised in relatives and in orphanages. After graduating from "Teacher's College", she taught at the Lyceum in Rybnik. In 1956 she married the poet Zbigniew Jankowski. She raised two daughters, also a poet: Anna Janko and Milena Wieczorek.