First time I met Jacek Edward Taylor he was a much younger men with head full of ideals and visions of democratic Poland.
Thirty three years later we’ve met again, this time in a democratic Poland, under much different circumstances.
Jacek Edward Taylor is a Polish lawyer and a politician, Member of the Parliament of the 1st and 2nd term. The Sejm, officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of the Republic of Poland. The Sejm is the highest authority of the Third Republic of Poland since the change of government in 1989. Together with the upper chamber of parliament- the Senate; it forms the national legislative authority in Poland
In 1970s Jacek Taylor became involved with the democratic opposition. He acted as a defender in many political trials, defending, among others, Władysław Frasyniuk, Andrzej Gwiazda, Adam Michnik, Zofia and Zbigniew Romaszewski, Anna Walentynowicz, Lech Wałęsa and me, the accused of criminal offence, an act of artykul 234 paragraph 1kk of the Penal Code.
Jacek Taylor took part in the Round Table discussions. In the years 1991–1997 he was an MP from the list of the Democratic Union. The Round Table Talks were held in Warsaw from February 6 to April 5, 1989. The government initiated talks with the banned trade union Solidarność ( Solidarity) and other opposition groups to alleviate the growing social unrest. The Round Table talks were of great importance for future political events in Poland. They paved the way for a free and democratic Poland, as well as for the final abolition of communism in Poland.
In January 1987, after being released from prison, I went to Gdańsk, to the Church of St. Brygida (in 1992 the pope John Paul II gave the church the status of a minor basilica) to the chaplain of Solidarity, prelate Henryk Jankowski. The Church of St. Brygida at that time was a stronghold of Solidarnosc. Father Henryk Jankowski was instrumental in providing me the help I needed at the time a good defence attorney who could perform miracles and save me from spending the rest of my days in prison. He sent me to Gdańsk to meet lawyer Jacek Taylor. Attorney Jacek Taylor immediately took up my defense and saved my life.
Because of the potential treat to my freedom, well being even life, I decided to leave my homeland. I left Poland in 1987 for Munich, Germany, where I was granted political asylum.
After 33 years, I met with Mr. Jack Taylor to thank him once again for saving me. Seeing him brought back all the memories and emotions from all those years ago, as if it happened yesterday.
Miroslaw Magola alias Magnetic Man 