The First Steps

 It was the summer of 1872 and Otto Von Heinrich struggled through the crowd to get a little closer to the orator near the center of the circle that had enveloped him. Otto could barely hear the speaker over the noise of other men shouting support for the spokesperson, or curses against Czar Alexander II. Finally, after receiving a few curses himself for an accidental shove, Otto finally caught his first glimpse of the speaker: Johann Ludwig Bette.

He was just an ordinary looking man of 50 years, a little shorter than what Otto had expected after he heard of this man who openly criticized the czar in public. Johann, or Ludwig as most called him, had a plain brown vest over a white shirt and plain brown pants. His clothing looked as though he had slept in them, and he probably had since he had no home in Odessa and most people would not take in someone who took such risks as he.

 Ludwig started speaking again, “First they take away the rights that they had promised you, and now they treat you all like a second class. What will be next, I ask you? All of your families had to endure the long difficult road from Germany to come here. Some of you may even be old enough to remember those hardships. And why were those endured? So you could have a better life, away from wars and persecution.”

 In the front of the crowd one old man with a withered face and toothless mouth raised his cane in agreement. 

Ludwig said, “You did your part; you worked hard, started businesses and schools, created jobs and produced wealth for Russia. Yet now they threaten your rights and break their promises. My friends, it is time to do what I have done, it is time for all of you to move to America.”

After his last remark, the crowd seemed shocked. Otto heard his boss, the banker Mr. Theodore Heinz say, “I have a strong business with over 30 workers; I can’t just pick up and leave.” “Move to America!” Otto’s uncle Karl exclaimed, “But I have my farm here!” The old man with the cane exclaimed “America is half way around the world; I didn’t come here from Germany just to turn around and go to America!”

 Otto caught a glimpse of his friends Fritz and Peter walking away from the assembly shaking their heads. They had been the ones who convinced Otto to come see Ludwig. 

Again Ludwig pleaded, “But you must. I know how difficult it is. I did it 25 years ago, but I have come back to convince as many as I can of the prosperity there is in America. In America there are no restrictions on freedom, no war, and no religious persecution.”  

The crowd was beginning to thin, a steady stream of men leaving. First a trickle, but with each passing moment more and more started to leave. Otto still remained, but after seeing so many depart he was having thoughts of going home himself.

 “If you stay, things will get worse here, your children will be forced to fight in Russian wars, your land taken, and your freedom trampled.” Then Ludwig looked directly at Otto, “How about you, are you brave enough to make the journey, to leave Russia for a better life for your family and descendants?”

Otto hesitated, “I have so much here in Odessa, I live here, and work here. I have friends and family and a good job. This is where I was born, and have lived my whole life, how can I just pick up and leave?”

 “You must leave for your children and for your children’s children” Ludwig said. “In America they have a future. In Russia they will suffer.”

 Otto knew he was right, he had seen the hatred in the look of some of the Russian revolutionaries. The mistreatment and hypocrisy of the government was becoming more and more blatant.

He looked around, and of the surging crowd he had seen at first, only a few were left. Turning, he saw the end of the street, the same road he had traveled every day for the last 20 years. The bakery his father owned, the restaurant where he met his family on Saturday, the tailor shop where his friends worked, and the bank where Otto was employed were all on this street.