Austrian and Hungarian Jews were among the most fiercely loyal subjects of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor, because he shielded them from the violent nationalism of the majority populations. Polish and Russian Jews, at least at the beginning of the communist era, were often loyal subjects of the communist state, because it promised (falsely, as it turned out) to protect them against the violence of anti-Semitic nationalists.
对于这一神秘信赖的解释可能在其他地方。许多新保守主义者从左倾的过去演变出来。左倾主义相信自上而下的革命是司空见惯的。昨天是“人民的民主”，今天是“自由民主”。在犹太人和其他少数族裔中，另一个历史记忆可能也发挥了作用， 那就是帝国的保护。奥地利和匈牙利犹太人是奥匈国王最为忠诚的支持者，因为他让犹太人免受占人口多数人的暴力性收归国有。波兰和俄罗斯犹太人至少在共产主义初期经常使共产国家的忠诚臣民，因为共产国家担保（结果是虚假的）不让他们受到反犹太主义民族主义者的暴力攻击。