 Zawacka was born in Toruń (Thorn), part of the Prussian Partition of Poland, and graduated from University of Poznań with a major in mathematics.In the late 1930s she worked as a teacher at several high schools, simultaneously working as an instructor for the Przysposobienie Wojskowe Kobiet (Female Military Training).During the Polish September Campaign, she was the commandant of the Silesian District of Przysposobienie Wojskowe Kobiet, participating in the defence of Lwów.