1000 Korun

This note was printed in Prague in 1945 under the supervision of the reconstituted Národní Banka Československá — a deliberate act of institutional continuity following the end of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The choice to produce it domestically, rather than abroad as the London exile government had done with earlier wartime issues, carried obvious political weight in a country reasserting control over its own financial apparatus.

Fojtášek and Jirka were both Czech nationals who had worked through the occupation period; their continued involvement in the first postwar high-denomination issue reflects how quickly the state moved to re-establish a recognizably Czech artistic tradition in its currency. The 1000 Koruna denomination made Jirka's engraving especially visible — large notes attracted scrutiny.