The Pants Brothers

The main street of Drenovski's new settlement is the street Brothers Hlača. It stretches from the junction with the Drenov Road near the Drenova Community Centre ("Granica" as it was called by the old Drenovčani) to the junction with the Ivana Žorža street at the Drenovska ambulance. In the continuation, it extends into the newly built so-called A road and thus became the traffic vessel of Drenova, because it took on the former role of the Drenova Road in connecting Drenova with the city center and the city with the central city cemetery.

I would like to meet the inhabitants of Drenova, especially the younger and newcomers (the older people of Drenova know this for the most part), who and what were the brothers of Hlača after whom the street was named.

I will use this article Vila Štefana “Memories of the revolutionary workers and youth movement of Drenova” from the book “Drenova – education and historical development” (Rijeka, 1987).

Already before Hitler's attack on Yugoslavia on 6 April 1941, the Italian authorities began to prepare for war and in order to protect their citizens, residents of Lower Drenova, evacuated them by train and buses to northern Italy. Upper Drenova was soon, just a few days after the beginning of the war, occupied by the Italian army, so that after 17 years of such freedom, Drenova fell again under Italian occupation.

The Yugoslav army did not resist, the king fled abroad, Pavelic gave Italy half of Croatia by agreement with Mussolini, Hitler concluded a non-aggression pact with the USSR. In such conditions among the people of Drenova, and especially among the young, raised in the national and anti-fascist spirit, despondency and discontent arose. But not for long. Already at the beginning of July, the first Kosovo unit of young people from Drenovci was founded, from which the first fighters in partisan units are recruited.

One of them was the first of the brothers. Stanko Pants, who died on 15 September 1942 in Modruš in battle with the Ustashas. In retaliation for the increasing departure to the partisans, the occupier also punished innocent people, so on June 6, 1942, at Banovo Križ near Kastav, twelve young men were shot, including Josip Hlača, The other of the brothers. On January 1, 1945, Chetniks invaded Drenovo, arrested and handed over all suspicious people to the Germans. And so is the third and youngest of the brothers. Wenceslaus Pants, arrived in the camp Risiera (Rižarna) near Trieste where he ended up in the crematorium.

Vilim Štefan writes like this:

It was a terrible tragedy for this family, and for all the people of Drenovci. Poor Martin (father) had three baptized and mature sons. One (Pepeta) was shot by the Italians at Ban's Cross, the eldest son Stanko was killed in the battle with the Ustashas, and the youngest Vence, a councilor of Drenova, as a victim of the Chetniks.

Drenova and Drenovčani, preserving the memory of three young patriots, named one of the main streets in their place after them.