On 16 September 1944 Strik-Strikfeldt and Vlasov met the "Reichsführer-SS" at the latter's field HQ in Rastenburg, East Prussia. Himmler had been placed in command of the "Ersatzheer" ("Replacement Army") following the 20 July plot, and was therefore in a position to supply Dabendorf with military equipment and training, and even offered vague political concessions. An official communiqué was issued to mark the occasion. Returning to Berlin in a train, Strik-Strikfeldt shared a sleeper with Dr. Felix Kersten (Himmler's personal masseur and an Estonian-born Baltic German) who claimed to have been supporting their "good cause". There was an enthusiastic reception for Strik-Strikfeldt and Vlasov at Dabendorf and work began immediately to prepare the ill-fated Manifesto of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia.