When Göring (Spengler) arrives, he first seems cheerful and friendly, but it is soon clear that he is sadistic, bombastic and mentally unstable. After hearing news that he is needed in Berlin because of the failure of the German Army at Stalingrad on the Russian Front, he dismisses the whole company at the lodge - including Abel. Before leaving, however, the now-former Chief Forester arranges for Abel to be given a new job at the nearby Kaltenborn Castle, a military academy for boys. At the castle, he instantly proves popular with the boys, and is treated by the staff as a privileged servant. One day, he is out riding, and comes across a group of boys on holiday. He tells them of life in the castle and they follow him back. An SS officer, Obersturmbannführer Raufeisen, is impressed and gives him the job of recruiting local boys into the academy. Although he is successful and means well in his efforts, Abel soon learns from the castle housekeeper, Mrs. Netta, that the locals are afraid of him for taking the boys, and that they have published pamphlets telling parents to watch out for "The Ogre", his newly-acquired nickname. Abel begins to develop doubts about his work. Several days later, one of the boys he recruited is left horribly burned during training from standing behind another boy as he fires a Panzerfaust, making Abel yet more uncertain of the Nazis. Soon after, the owner of the academy, Count Kaltenborn (Mueller-Stahl), is revealed to have been part of a plot to kill Hitler. He is arrested and taken away in a car, and is never seen again. Meanwhile, news has broken out that the Red Army has crossed the border, and the officers in charge of the castle, as well as the oldest boys training there, are sent out to the front line. One night while out riding, Abel finds a column of prisoners being taken through the forest, and sees one being shot by a German soldier. When they have gone he approaches the road and finds that it is littered with dead bodies. Under the pile of corpses, he finds a boy named Ephraim who is barely alive and takes him to the castle where he hides him in the attic. With all the officers dead or at the front, Abel and Frau Netta are now in charge of the castle. Frau Netta stays on, trying to look after the boys, but Abel realizes that Hitler and the Nazis have lied- there will be no victory, and a last stand at the castle would be pointless.