In chapter 1 what foreshadows the eventual persecution of the Jews?

A poor man named Moché the Beadle, who lives in the narrator's hometown of Sighet returns to warn the residence of their impending doom. Moché returns, having escaped from a concentration camp in Poland. He tries to warn the townspeople of the atrocities that he has seen, but no one believes him. Everyone thinks he is trying to win sympathy or has simply gone insane.