 Another historically notable replica of Szczerbiec was produced probably in Dresden , Saxony , at the time when the original was in Prussian hands . It is modest and inexact ; the handle is carved in bovine bone and the niello is imitated with black paint . Designs on the handle are patterned on those of the genuine Szczerbiec , except that the crosses and letters on the pommel were replaced with the coat of arms of the Polish – Lithuanian Commonwealth . The blade was initially shorter than that of the original , actually typical for a stiletto . It was purchased in Dresden by art historian Edward <unk> , who in 1869 donated it to the archeological collection of the Jagiellonian University of Kraków . The university lost it during the German occupation in World War II . After the war , the replica found itself in the hands of Tadeusz Janowski who smuggled it to the United States in 1947 . At around that time , the short stiletto blade was replaced with a long blade of a 16th @-@ century German sword . To imitate Szczerbiec , a slit was cut in the blade and small heraldic shields were attached to it on both sides . During the communist rule in Poland , the Polish American community of Chicago treated the replica as a symbol of Poland 's independence . In 1968 , it was demonstrated to U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy while he was meeting with Polish Americans during his presidential campaign . Janowski returned the sword to the Jagiellonian University in 2003 . 
