Tome parish destroyed during World War I

Tomes parish is the worst-hit parish in Latvia, second only to Daugmale parish with its famous Island of Death. When the Germans occupied the left bank of the Daugava, the Russians destroyed almost all the buildings in the parish with their artillery fire. The inhabitants were either mobilized, fled to Russia, or evacuated by the Germans to Vecmuiži and other areas of Kurzeme. Many died during the war; about a hundred parish residents did not live to see the creation of the Latvian state. The front line held out here for more than two years, and the Germans had fortified it particularly strongly. The first line of fortifications ran along the very bank of the Daugava and was partly cut into the dolomite rocks. In one place, an unfinished trench still remains, cut to a depth of about 4–5 m, and there are many of them. The owners, whose houses are located on the very bank, did not know at first which end to start the clearing work from. Some even wanted to abandon everything and move to another place. However, with the support of the government, the greatest difficulties have been overcome, and now almost nothing is visible from the first detention line. The subsequent detention lines, which are mainly located in the forest, are much better preserved. Even now, you can see a lot of places left over from the war – trenches, dugouts, railway embankments, plank roads, artillery embankments, telephone and perhaps also electric lighting poles, because even the first detention lines were supplied with electricity. Then you can see observation posts placed in the highest trees, mass graves, for which a monument was erected last autumn in the form of large concrete blocks with the names of the fallen carved into them. Even a larger monument has survived, created by a soldier artist. Until very recently, unexploded Russian artillery shells could still be found in the territory of Tome parish. (...)

It should be noted that in the widest area there were almost no buildings. In the nearest areas that remained undamaged, a wide strip of forest separated them from the front. Therefore, the troops had settled in dugouts, and there were a lot of them, it seems, many hundreds. In one place, a church was placed inside. All these dugouts have now been destroyed without exception, everything valuable has been taken away, and what was abandoned has been used for their own needs. (...)

The vast majority of buildings were built after the war. A total of 4 wooden residential buildings were preserved in the parish from the pre-war period. Three buildings were located in the Pakuļi Silīši district, about 6 km from the Daugava. In the past, they did not actually belong to Tome, but to Vecmuiža parish. The only real residential building that has miraculously survived in Tome parish is said to be at least 70 years old. Then, one end of an old residential building was preserved on another farm. In addition, the ruins of 5 brick buildings have been used for a new building. (...)

Tome parish suffered not only materially during the war. A very large gap was also made in the composition of the population. As mentioned, about 100 residents of the parish died during the war. They died both on the battlefields and while fleeing. Of course, this circumstance had a strong impact on the composition of the population. Under such circumstances, certain groups of residents suffered especially (men of conscription age, children, and some elderly sick people). However, given the large number of new residents, especially young farmers, entering Tome, the gaps made during the war have more or less managed to be smoothed out.