Magda Wierzycka grew up in Poland with her parents, sister, and Holocaust survivor grandmother until they moved to Austria in 1982 where her parents were forced to dig ditches for a living.
Wierzycka grew up in Jastrzebie-Zdroj, Poland where she shared a 2 bedroom flat with her sister, brother, grandmother and parents who were medical doctors. Wierzycka's Jewish grandmother was a Holocaust survivor. With the gradual economic collapse of Poland due to political sanctions and the subsequent imposition of martial law, Wierzycka moved with her family in 1982 to Austria where they lived for a year in the Polish refugee camp at Traiskirchen. Her parents were forced to dig ditches to earn a living. 
