Manitoba Heritage Council Commemorative Plaques

Bender Hamlet

The first Jewish farm colony in Manitoba was founded here in 1903. Named for its founder, Jacob Bender, who immigrated from Nikolaiev in the Ukraine, Bender Hamlet occupied the north-west corner of Section 36, Township 19, Range 1 West.

Here in village fashion 19 families built their homes, a synagogue and a school to maintain their religious and cultural life. Social isolation, poor soil and falling cattle prices led to the decline of the community. Gradually families left and by 1927 the colony was abandoned.