The story behind one small cemetery

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/07/2016 (3347 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There is a new four-lane roadway being built directly north of Kildonan Place which will become a regular route for many in order to avoid using Regent Avenue.

Just north of this roadway there is a small fenced-in green space where 113 people have been laid to rest. This space is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Western Canada and is called The Children of Israel Cemetery.  

I was curious to learn where the people came from who were resting there and why that particular location was chosen. What I found out was quite interesting.  

In the spring of 1882, approximately 400 Jewish refugees left the Austrian Galician city of Borody bound for Winnipeg. When they arrived they received help from the small existing community of Jewish people with food, interpreters and immigration sheds for shelter. About 150 of the men became involved in the construction of the CPR, laying track as far west as Moose Jaw, Sask. When the recession came, jobs were hard to find and they were forced to live in the primitive immigration sheds.  

As a result, when the winter of 1882 arrived, five young children died. Realizing that a permanent resting place would be needed, the 360 refugees raised $300 to purchase the land located at 484 Almey Ave., now known as the Children of Israel Cemetery. The location was chosen as it was outside of Winnipeg, which would allow for the living to be separated from the dead.  They had to borrow sleighs and horses to travel to the cemetery. In June of 1883, the bodies of the children were moved from the temporary cemetery to the new resting place. The last burial took place in 1933.  The age of the deceased vary from 10 days to 83 years. There are 15 graves without surnames. Over 70 per cent of the burials took place prior to 1918. In Jewish cemeteries, the rows always run north-south so that the front face of gravestones may face east, toward Jerusalem.  

Over the years, the cemetery was neglected and vandalized and was turned over in 1957 to the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue who continues to care for it. There is supposed to be a walking path on Almey Avenue to access the cemetery but I could not locate it.   

A peaceful resting place that was once a remote field in the middle of nowhere, has now become the centre of ongoing traffic, high-rise housing and multi-shopping options. It is definitely a unique place with interesting history right in the middle of our community.

Louise Hedman is a community correspondent for Transcona.