5000 Kuna 1943, Croatia
| in Krause book | Number: 14a |
| Years of issue: | 15.07.1943 |
| Edition: | |
| Signatures: | Podpredsjednik: Dr. Junus Mehmedagić, Predsjednik: Dr. Dragutin Toth |
| Serie: | Hrvatska Državna Banka |
| Specimen of: | 1943 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 180 х 94 |
| Printer: | Hrvatska Državna Tiskara, Zagreb |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
Diamond pattern.
Avers:
On banknote is the girl in traditional croatian dress of Kupres, south-western Bosnia.
Many thanks to Vedran Krušelj for the information about girl on banknote.
Here is what he wrote to me:
"Her name was Zorka Livančić. She was born in 1923 in the village Zlosela, near city Kupres (in 1943 Kupres was part of Independent State of Croatia, today in Bosnia and Hercegovina). The photo was taken before the war, in this area, on 11 August 1940, during one cultural event (competition of folklore groups) in the village Slimena, near city Travnik (today in Bosnia and Hercegovina). Zorka died in 1997, in Vinkovci, Croatia. So this is folk costume from Kupres.
1. This banknote is popularly called KUPREŠANKA, which means "a girl from Kupres".
2. Everyone called Zorka KOVAČUŠA. This is very hard to translate to english. KOVAČ means "blacksmith". KOVAČUŠA means a female, who comes from blacksmith´s house. Sometimes it is his wife, sometimes it´s his daughter. In this case, Zorka was nicknamed after her blacksmith father for the rest of her life.
4. She was 16 years old when the photo was taken. She married two months after that."
Why Kupres?
Etnographic motifs were present on the banknotes of the Independent State of Croatia. Government decided to put Kupres etnographic motif on the largest denomination of kuna banknotes in memory, and thanks to the people of Kupres, for the great victory won in a battle against the Tito´s partisans in the summer of 1942. In historical annals the event is called BITKA ZA KUPRES (Battle of Kupres) 28.07-20.08.1942. The partisans tried to occupied Kupres were defended by croatian forces, and experienced complete failure, with many casualties in their own ranks.
2. Why Zorka?
Since it was decided, that the banknote would have a Kupres motif on it, the girl who was chosen as the most beautiful in folk costume at the event in Slimena was a logical choice. Probably, contributed by the fact, that Zorka´s husband Franjo Šarić was one of the defenders of Kupres in the mentioned battle, a lower officer in Kupres battalion.
On background is the coat of arms of the Independent State of Croatia (1941-1945).
Coat of Arms of Independent State of Croatia is a shield of 25 square white (silver) and red (blood colors) shields, arranged alternately in five rows so that the starting field is white (silver). On the coat of arms it is a star-shaped figure in a troplet of a vase of the same red color, that frames a white field with the big letter U in dark blue color.
Letter U comes from The Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionary Movement (Croatian: Ustaša – Hrvatski revolucionarni pokret), commonly known as Ustaše (Croatian: Ustaše), was a Croatian fascist, racist, ultranationalist and terrorist organization, active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945. Its members murdered hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, and Roma as well as political dissidents in Yugoslavia during World War II.
They are variously known in English as the Ustaše, Ustashe, Ustashi, Ustahis, or Ustashas; with the associated adjective sometimes being Ustashe or Ustasha, apart from Ustaše. This variance stems from the fact that Ustaše is the plural form of Ustaša in the Serbo-Croatian language.
The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Roman Catholicism and Croatian nationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span the Drina River and extend to the border of Belgrade. The movement emphasized the need for a racially "pure" Croatia and promoted genocide against Serbs, Jews and Romani people, and persecution of anti-fascist or dissident Croats and Bosniaks. The Ustaše viewed the Bosniaks as "Muslim Croats," and as a result, Bosniaks were not persecuted on the basis of race.
Revers:
The patterns from Bosnian (Kupres) women's folk costume.
Comments:
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