Dvorkin (Dworkin) Ilya (Ilja) Markovich (born 20 December 1909, Riga) — labourer.
Ilya Dvorkin was born into a working-class family. His father, Mendel Izrailovich Dvorkin (1869, Mogilev, Belarus – 1934, Riga), and his mother, Asne-Base Dvorkina (née Blikman) (1877, Mitau — today Jelgava — 1940, Riga), were both workers. He graduated from the Riga German Gymnasium in 1925 and worked at various private enterprises from 1925 to 1933. Between 1934 and 1939, he was employed at the Berman sawmill in Ventspils. Upon returning to Riga, he worked as an expediter for the newspaper Proletarskaya Pravda (1939–1941).
In 1941, Ilya Dvorkin was imprisoned in the Riga Ghetto during the Nazi occupation and later deported to the Stutthof concentration camp in Germany. He was liberated by the Soviet Army in 1945. Severely weakened and unable to walk unaided, he did not work until 1949. After partial recovery, he found employment as a labourer at the Rīgas Mēbelnieks artel, which later merged with a musical instrument factory (1949–1969). From 1969 to 1971 he was retired, but returned to work as a labourer at the production association Vilnis (1971–1979).
He was married to Maria Fyodorovna Dvorkina (née Malevich) (b. 1910, Riga), with whom he had a daughter, Gita Ilyinichna Berman (née Dvorkina) (b. 1930, Riga), and a son, Vladimir Ilyich Dvorkin (b. 1932, Riga).
Note: When Ilya Dvorkin was sent to the ghetto, his wife — a Russian by nationality — was compelled by the authorities to divorce him. After the war and his return from the concentration camp, he rejoined his family. The marriage was formally re-registered in 1961.
In 1979, Ilya Dvorkin received permission to emigrate to Israel with his wife, where his daughter Gita Berman had been living since 1972, and his sister Goda Markovna Levitan (née Dvorkina) since 1974.
Family:
Mendel Izrailovich Dvorkin (1869–1934, Mogilev – Riga) — father
Asne-Base Dvorkina (née Blikman) (1877–1940, Mitau – Riga) — mother
Lazar Mendelovich Dvorkin (1901, Riga – 1977, Moscow) — brother
Goda Markovna Levitan (née Dvorkina) (b. 1906, Riga) — sister
Chaya Markovna Israelson (née Dvorkina) (1908, killed in the Riga Ghetto in 1942) — sister
Maria Fyodorovna Dvorkina (née Malevich) (b. 1910, Riga) — wife
Gita Ilyinichna Berman (née Dvorkina) (b. 1930, Riga) — daughter
Vladimir Ilyich Dvorkin (b. 1932, Riga) — son