Rep. Maurice Hinchey has received a grand total of 54 letters on Bosnia since taking office 16 months ago. In Harris opinion polls, fewer than 0.5 percent of Americans mentioned Bosnia among the two most important issues for the government to address. The apathy persists despite a resurgence of Holocaust retrospection. The success of the movie, amidst the failure of Bosnia policy, indicates that precious little has changed. Opinion polls have not budged, and Hinchey's mailbox has not bulged.
Most moviegoers emerge emotionally shaken, yet remain politically inert.
To be sure, the film has energized activists, according to Stephen Walker, a diplomat who resigned from the State Department last August to protest Bosnia policy. Walker now heads the American Committee to Save Bosnia, a Washington-based grassroots umbrella organization. The group organized rallies last Friday, Holocaust Remembrance Day, in New York, Washington, and at six colleges. The rally in front of the Holocaust Museum attracted 50 people. Ironically, instead of trying to stop the new Holocaust, Americans have redoubled their efforts to remember the old Holocaust.