Beginning one night, Vollmer is periodically visited by a shadowy figure who teaches him how to enthrall a crowd. The figure teaches Vollmer how to speak, and pays Vollmer's rent at the hall where he holds rallies. He also instructs Vollmer to arrange the death of one of his followers, Nick, thereby creating a martyr to rally everyone around (a reference to the 1930 murder of Horst Wessel, a low-ranking officer in the "Sturmabteilung"). Following the figure's instructions and assistance, Vollmer becomes considerably more successful and his group's following grows. Ernst becomes fearful that Vollmer may actually succeed in igniting another Holocaust. He disrupts a rally, accusing Vollmer of being "nothing but a cheap copy" of the German Führer while Vollmer cowers before his surrogate father.