Nadieżda (Nadia) Ab was born on 21 January 1896 in Łódź (other dates in documents state 20 January 1896; 1903; 1908; 22 December 1906). She was the daughter of Josef and Bajla Gitla (Berta) née Dunowicz, and sister of Michał (died in 1916). In 1912, she graduated from a government secondary school in Łódź. In the years 1913–1914, she lived in Warsaw, where she attended natural science courses at the University of Warsaw.

During the First World War, she was in Russia. After returning to Poland, she lived with her parents in Łódź, at 85 Piotrkowska. In the 1920s, she studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Stefan Batory University, in Vilnius. In late 1928 and early 1929, her works were exhibited at the Municipal Art Gallery in Łódź. These works included  Portrait of My Father, Dolce far niente and Nocturne. In 1931, at the First Exhibition of Paintings by Vilnius Artists in Druskininkai, in what is today Lithuania, she presented an oil painting entitled Portrait of a Young Man. Beginning in September 1919, she was employed at the Girls' Gymnasium, at 10 Zielona, founded by her father (the school was named after him, in 1931), where she worked as a teacher and librarian. In the 1930s, she lived with her father at 118 Piotrkowska.

During the Second World War, she was in the Łódź Ghetto. In 1944, she was employed in the office of the Statistical Department. She lived with her father (until his death) at 14 Dworska, then at 22 Żydowska.

In August 1944, during the liquidation of the ghetto, she was deported to Auschwitz, and, on 27 September, she was imprisoned in the Stutthof camp (camp number 87822). Her fate is unknown.