Rochko (Rotschko) Rafail Borisovich (12 January 1911, Daugavpils) — shoe cutter.

In 1924 Rafail Rochko completed six classes of the Daugavpils elementary school and until 1926 trained as a shoe upper cutter in Daugavpils. From 1926 to 1932 he worked in shoemaking workshops in Riga.

In 1933–1934 he served in the Latvian Army. After demobilisation he returned to Daugavpils and continued to work in his profession. At the beginning of the war he was evacuated to Bukhara, and in 1942 he was drafted to the front. In 1945 he was wounded and returned to Riga. After recovering from his injuries he resumed his profession and worked as a shoe cutter at the leather factory “Kommunar” (1947–1949), at the factory “Rekord” (1949–1950), and at the factory “Blazma” (1950–1951).

In 1951 he was convicted by the Supreme Court of the Latvian SSR under Article 58-10, part 1 of the Criminal Code and sentenced to ten years of imprisonment. He served his sentence in the labour camps of Yuzhkuzbasslag. He was released early in 1956, and his criminal record was fully annulled in 1959.

After his release he returned to Riga and worked as a shoe cutter at the factory “Pioneer” (1956–1958), at the Riga Industrial Combine (1958–1959), and at the Household Services Combine (1960–1964). From 1964 he was retired.

His brother Arzi-Tzvi Rochko (1915), a shoemaker, left Latvia in 1935 to work abroad and in the 1960s lived and worked in Israel. Rochko’s father, Boris Rochko (1878–1940), was killed during the war in Latvia.

Family:

Boris Rochko (1878–1940) — father
Dushe Rochko (1890–1939) — mother
Herman Rochko (1909) — brother
Iosif Rochko (1913) — brother
Arzi-Tzvi Rochko (1915) — brother