russian translation

A web search indicates that tschotschke+ comes from the obsolete Polish word, +czaczko.

I knew the Polish word "cacko" (pronounced tsatsko) and thought of it rather as tchotchke but an online translator gives me "gem" as the translation.

One site translates Czech tretka as trinket, knick-knack, bibelot, gewgaw, which does sound awfully close to tschotschke semantically.

I don't know enough about Slavic (meaning I know nothing about Slavic) to know if a tr and tsch/č could be cognate, but that Czech ř suggests the possibility.

Could the "k" be a badly written / mistyped soft sign? For example, "third letter" would be третье письмо.

It's fun to speculate, but if the OP would return and give us some context we might get a better focus.

Meanwhile, I'll spare you the lecture on Slavic first and second palatalizations, and give you the oversimplified route of T>>>TS>>>TCH for cognate tracing.

@11: one Yiddish variant is "tsatskele," used by a man referring to his little cutie-pie or even mistress.

I've heard tshotshke used that way.

Well, not in my personal experience. But there was a great exhibit on tschotschkes (really) at the Jewish Museum here about 10 years ago and they mentioned that use.

Yes, context would be very good.

but that Czech ř suggests the possibility

The Czech is precisely tretka with no ř or t', though apparently cetka is also possible, which could correspond to the Polish cacko. I haven't previously come across a case of č in one Slavonic language relating to tr or tř in Czech, although t and č can interchange in some circumstances, and before a k is such a circumstance, so I wouldn't dismiss the possibility that tretka is the same as czaczko out of hand. Though I share the general discomfort at it looking like rather a big difference from the Polish/Yiddish.

And, for what it's worth, my Czech wife is unaware of any off-dictionary vocabulary similar to čačka and would not understand what a Slovak meant if such said it, despite having grown up with Slovak neighbours.