This done, Mazeppa spread his cloak,
And laid his lance beneath his oak,
Felt if his arms in order good
The long day’s march had well withstood –
If still the powder filled the pan,
And flints unloosened kept their lock –
His sabre’s hilt and scabbard felt,
And whether they had chafed his belt
(Lord Byron, Mazeppa)
In his BBC interview in 2007, historian and chief editor of the ‘Museums of Ukraine’ Victor Trygub said that until 1945 the sabre with the sculptured head of the Cossak had been part of Krakow Museum in Poland. But when the Red Army came, the special services of the USSR started clearing Polish museums from valuable artifacts. Mazeppa’s sword was among the wagons of treasures heading from Poland to Moscow.
Until 2007, only two of Mazeppa’s sabres were known to scholars. One was kept in Chernigiv, but that sabre belonged to the pre-Hetmanate period. The second one, known as ‘Death to Enemy’ was kept in Hermitage. And this third one was brought to Hermitage as well in 1945-46. The sabre was unpacked only years later, ascribed its inventory number and hidden in the archives.
Moscow does not exhibit Ukrainian artifacts that belong to the periods of Ukraine’s struggle for its independence and does not provide access to them as well. The state of many valuable artifacts including Mazeppa’s sabre with Cossaks scultured head remain unknown.
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