About two-thirds of them were liberal, acculturated, often somewhat secular or entirely non-observant Jews, either members of or in sympathy with the Centralverein deutscher Staatsbürger jüdischen Glaubens, the Central Association of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith, a name that signified their desire to be integrated into the German nation and to have the same rights as all other German citizens. For this group, the Nazi attack was difficult to comprehend and especially painful to experience because it seemed such an unwarranted rejection of their loyalty to Germany.
