Born in Lemberg, Austria-Hungary (now Lviv, Ukraine) to a[1] Catholic mother, Katarzyna Sawicka, an opera singer and a Jewish father, Ferdynand Feldman, an actor.

After three years of study, in 1937, she graduated from the State Institute of Theater Arts in Warsaw.

In 1980, the Security Service initiated an operational reconnaissance case against the actress, codenamed "Aranżerka" (the feminine version of the word arranger, Polish: aranżer).

Krystyna Feldman was harassed after she signed a letter defending the autonomy of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.

Despite the control of correspondence, frequent searches in the apartment and many difficulties in the development of her career, the actress couldn't be broken.