Karol Chmiel (1911–1951) was born on April 17, 1911 in the village of Zagorzyce (now in Ropczyce-Sędziszów County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship) to a peasant family of Antoni and Katarzyna née Charchut. He graduated from high school in Dębica, then joined the prestigious Jagiellonian University in Kraków, where he studied law. After graduation, in 1935, Chmiel settled in Wojslaw, a village near Mielec, his wife Irena Suchodolska was a school principal, and he worked for the Town Hall in Mielec.