Central Union of the German Citizens of the Jewish Faith

The Central-Verein deutscher Staatsbürger jüdischen Glaubens (CV, also Zentralverein; Central Union of the German Citizens of the Jewish Faith) was founded in Berlin in 1893 to combat antisemitism and to promote civic and social equality of Jews. The CV emphasized the patriotic loyalty of German Jews to the German state and was critical of the emerging Zionist movement; it was one of the most important organizations for Jews in Germany, representing them as German citizens who were secondarily Jewish, a religion, not a nationality. Through educational work the CV tried to spread knowledge about Judaism, to strengthen Jewish self-confidence, and to advocate for a synthesis of German and Jewish identity. Beginning in 1922, the CV published a weekly newspaper, called C.V.-Zeitung. In 1926, the CV had approximately sixty thousand members and represented the majority of integrated bourgeois-liberal Jews in Germany. The Nazis dissolved it fully in 1938.