Biography
Natalya Kocheva was born in December 1961 in the village of Boguchan, Amur Region. Her mother raised her and her younger sister on her own.
Natalya spent her childhood in Birobidzhan, where her mother worked in a sewing factory. She was an active and creative child: she sang in the school choir, loved knitting, sewing, and cross-country skiing and started every day with exercises.
When Natalya was about 15, the family moved to Blagoveshchensk. After school, she got a job at the Central Telegraph. "I gave all the money I earned to my mother, and together we bought food and clothes for the family," she recalls.
In 1981, Natalya got married and settled in the village of Khingansk (Jewish Autonomous Region). She had a son and a daughter. She worked as a telegraph operator, then as a delivery person for a local newspaper, and later as security at a factory. Before the start of criminal prosecution, Natalya worked as security at a polytechnical college, where she was considered a friendly and reliable employee.
After the death of her husband, Natalya was looking for answers to questions important to her and visited different churches. A friend invited her to meetings for worship of Jehovah's Witnesses. "There I received Bible-based answers and became more and more convinced that this was exactly what I was looking for — genuine faith," Natalya said. "Gradually, I freed myself from foul language and a hot temper; I became wiser and calmer." In 2009, she was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Natalya says: "Thanks to the truth, I have found a real Father, hope for eternal life and many friends. And what else does a person need to be happy?
Kocheva moved to Birobidzhan in 2013 with her second husband. The couple love to spend time outdoors, especially fishing. Natalya is a grandmother of five. "They know me as the one gathering them outdoors at the campfire," Natalya said. "I like to take pictures with them and have fun and pick mushrooms." The grandchildren appreciate their grandmother for her help and support in any situation.
She developed heart problems because of the criminal prosecution. "Unfortunately, my mother and sister are no longer alive," Natalya said. "My husband, children and grandchildren, who do not share my beliefs, do not understand how I can be charged with extremism."