Latest news with #AlfredDreyfus
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Alfred Dreyfus, unjustly convicted of treason, gets redemption after 130 years
Antisemitism is (unfortunately) nothing new, but making good on it after more than a century certainly is. People these days may not be familiar with the name Alfred Dreyfus, but the little-known artillery officer's conviction for treason in 1899 still divides French politics. In a surprise move, however, France is making amends for a notorious act of political extremism. In June 2025, French lawmakers unanimously backed a promotion for Alfred Dreyfus. His new rank is brigadier general. France24 called the legislation 'a symbolic step in the fight against antisemitism in modern France.' Late 19th-century relations between Germany and France were surprisingly warm, despite the absolute ass kicking the Germans delivered during the Franco-Prussian War. But that doesn't mean the two sides weren't spying on each other. The French were desperate to get any intelligence they could from the German embassy in Paris. After inserting one of their agents into the embassy housekeeping staff, they acquired a document addressed to the German military attaché, Maximilian von Schwartzkoppen. The paper contained only one piece of sensitive military information: a note about the hydraulic compressed air brakes on a French artillery piece. It prompted France's general staff to look for the source of the leak. War Minister Gen. Auguste Mercier, already criticized in the press for his incompetence, was seeking an easy target on which to pin the blame. Considering the content of the message, he began to scrutinize the artillery officers in the general staff. That's how he stumbled upon Capt. Alfred Dreyfus. There was nothing really extraordinary about Alfred Dreyfus. He was from a well-to-do family in Alsace, which emigrated to Switzerland and then Paris after the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. His experience in the war led him to the elite École Polytechnique military academy. By 1882, he was a respected artillery officer. But he was just the easy target Mercier was looking for. As an Alsatian, he could be portrayed as a German sympathizer. Most importantly, he was Jewish in an antisemitic society looking for a scapegoat. The army claimed the handwriting on the artillery note belonged to Dreyfus (it did not). When he was called in to confess to Mercier, he refused and was arrested for conspiring with the enemy. After a secret, two-day trial, Dreyfus was convicted and his rank was cancelled. He was to be publicly degraded, which meant his medals, epaulettes, sword, and other symbols of his position would be ceremoniously ripped away from him. He was then shipped off to the Devil's Island penal colony in French Guiana. The only problem was that Lt. Col. Georges Picquart, head of French intelligence services, learned who the real spy was: a counterintelligence officer named Maj. Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy. The French press, which was torn between wild antisemitism and anti-government conspiracies, had a field day with the revelation that Esterhazy was sending letters to the German embassy and that his handwriting matched the original note. Still, despite all the evidence, the army acquitted the real spy, who not only wrote ten years' worth of letters about how much he hated France, but also promptly moved to England and later confessed. Picquart was driven out of the French army for his troubles. Dreyfus was eventually retried and somehow convicted again. After the second conviction, he was offered a pardon if he accepted guilt, an offer he accepted just to end his ordeal. The backlash sparked a culture war from which the French far right never recovered, forever separated church and state in France, and led many Jewish Europeans to believe that only a Jewish state could protect them – the seeds of the Zionist movement were planted. Both trials caught the world's attention, but the story doesn't end there. In 1906, Alfred Dreyfus was reinstated, promoted to major, and served in World War I. He served in artillery supply and fought at the Battle of Verdun. He died in 1935, having retired from the military with the Legion d'Honneur and a Croix de guerre. Despite his later history, the Dreyfus Affair, as it became known, remains a divisive issue in French politics. The act of posthumously promoting him to general is seen as a kind of reparation in a country that houses the largest Jewish population outside of Israel itself.
Local France
2 days ago
- General
- Local France
OPINION: 130 years on, the Dreyfus affair still matters to France and the world
In 1894 an obscure Jewish French army captain was falsely convicted of espionage and treason. Alfred Dreyfus spent five years alone in a cage on Devil's Island in the French Caribbean before he was pardoned and finally rehabilitated in 1906. For many decades 'the Dreyfus case' divided France. To the Catholic fundamentalist, antisemitic and ultra-patriotic Right, his guilt – no matter the lack of evidence - became an article of patriotic faith. To the Left, and not just the Left, the struggle to prove his innocence symbolised the importance and the fragility of the democratic and personal freedoms won by the French Revolution. On Monday, the National Assembly voted unanimously to promote Dreyfus to the rank of brigadier general 90 years after his death. Until relatively recently, any unanimous parliamentary decision on the Dreyfus case in France would have been unthinkable. Advertisement This week's vote managed to be both unanimous and controversial. Of the 577 deputies, only 197 voted. Thirty-eight were from the far-right Rassemblement National, direct descendants of the Vichy regime of 1940-44 which rehabilitated the senior officers who lied and cheated to frame Dreyfus. Forty-one of the pro-Dreyfus votes came from the hard-Left La France Insoumise, which has been accused in recent months of anti-semitism in its unconditional support for the Palestinian cause. The centrist Modem party, the party of the prime minister François Bayrou, refused to take part. They said that the vote, sponsored by their coalition partners, Renaissance, the party of President Emmanuel Macron, gave the far-right and the hard-left a cheap opportunity to white-wash their anti-semitism. There may be some truth in that but it misses a larger point. The Dreyfus case IS partly about anti-semitism. The persecution of Captain Alfred Dreyfus persuaded Theodor Herzl, the father of Zionism, that the future for the Jewish people was the creation of a Jewish state. But 'the case' is also about something broader - something which threatens democratic values in the 2020s as much as it did in the 1890s. The trampling of the rule of law in the name of patriotism? Politics in which facts do not shape political opinions but quasi-religious beliefs establish bogus facts? We are confronted in 2025 with the same issues which the novelist Emile Zola addressed in 1898 in his celebrated front-page article on the Dreyfus case under the banner headline: 'J'accuse'. Twenty-seven years ago, in a speech to mark the centenary of Zola's article, President Jacques Chirac said: 'The Dreyfus Affair…tore French society apart, divided families, split the country into two enemy camps, which attacked each other with exceptional violence ... It was a reminder, that the forces of darkness, intolerance and injustice can penetrate to the highest levels of the state.' The last sentence is prophetic and chilling. Chirac might have been speaking about Donald Trump. Advertisement In that centenary year of the Zola article, I interviewed Nelly Wilson, a British academic who was an expert on both Zola and Dreyfus. Ms Wilson, who died in 2017, came to Britain in 1945 at the age of 15 as one of 150 young concentration camp survivors invited to settle by the UK government. 'It is perhaps not so surprising that the (Dreyfus) affair remains so vivid in the French mind,' she told me in 1998. 'It describes a conflict at the heart of French political psychology which has not changed so very much to this day. On the one hand, a fierce nationalism and a temptation to justify almost anything for raisons d'etat ; on the other hand, a fierce attachment to justice for the individual, for the rights of the individual.' Nelly Wilson believed that the Dreyfus case changed the course of French history. It discredited the forces of extreme nationalism, anti-semitism, clericalism and nostalgic royalism which might otherwise have pushed France into a kind of proto-fascism or Francoism 30 years before Hitler, Mussolini or Franco. That conflict is still with us but is no longer at the centre of French politics alone. It can be seen in the lies and law-trampling of President Trump, in the brutal creed of Vladimir Putin and in the kleptocratic rule of Viktor Orban in Hungary. Advertisement And, yes, the 'temptation to justify almost anything for raisons d'etat ' also describes the murderous and cynical forever war for his own survival waged by Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. The Dreyfus affair has never had quite the same resonance outside France (Jewish communities apart). In the early 20th century, British newspapers wrote puzzled or mocking articles, demanding to know what all the fuss was about. The parallels are not exact but you can see similar comments today minimising the Trump administration's wrongful arrest and imprisonment in El Salvador of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. We should no longer ask why France is obsessed with Alfred Dreyfus. History has told us, and continues to tell us, that 'the case' was about more than anti-semitism and far more than the persecution of one innocent man.
New York Times
3 days ago
- General
- New York Times
France Moves to Atone by Elevating Alfred Dreyfus as Antisemitism Spreads
For Alfred Dreyfus, the Jewish army captain arrested in 1894 on false espionage charges that were a reflection of virulent antisemitism in the French military, reparations have been a long time coming. The French National Assembly, or lower house of Parliament, took a big step in that direction on Monday when it voted unanimously to promote Dreyfus, who was publicly stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment, to the rank of brigadier general. It was an apparent acknowledgment that, after more than 130 years and at a time of repeated desecrations of Jewish sites in France, the Republic's atonement had been incomplete. The Senate must still vote for the bill to become law, but it is expected to pass with a large majority. 'We are very happy and moved,' Michel Dreyfus, the great-grandson of the officer, told RTL radio. 'He was rehabilitated judicially but never militarily, a wound that led him to leave the army.' Gabriel Attal, the centrist former prime minister who authored the bill, wrote last month, 'Accused, humiliated and condemned because he was Jewish, Alfred Dreyfus was dismissed from the army, imprisoned and exiled to Devil's Island,' a reference to a penal colony in French Guiana. Mr. Attal said the promotion would be 'a recognition of his merits, and a tribute to his commitment to the Republic.' The Dreyfus case split France down the middle, exposing divisions that had been festering since the Revolution a century earlier. A traditional Roman Catholic France strongly represented in the armed forces clashed with the ardent, secular believers in a Republic that had emancipated the Jews and that was constituted not by God but by the will of its equal citizens. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Alfred Dreyfus to be promoted 130 years after treason conviction
Alfred Dreyfus is to be posthumously promoted 130 years after he was wrongly convicted of treason. France's parliament on Monday unanimously backed a bill giving him the rank of brigadier general in a final 'act of reparation' for one of the most notorious acts of anti-Semitism in the country's history. Dreyfus, a Jewish army captain from the Alsace region of eastern France, was accused in October 1894 of passing secret information on new artillery equipment to the German military attaché. Despite a lack of evidence, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in the infamous Devil's Island penal colony in French Guiana – later to feature in the book and film Papillon, starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman – and publicly stripped of his rank. He was the subject of a virulent anti-Semitic press campaign that split France. Parliament's backing of the highly symbolic bill, which will be ratified by the senate at a later date, comes amid a surge of anti-Semitism in France following the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel in 2023. The Representative Council of the Jewish Institutions of France registered 1,570 anti-Semitic acts last year, after 1,676 in 2023. In 2022 the figure was 436. In recent days, several Jewish and Israeli establishments in Paris, including a Holocaust memorial, were defaced with green paint. Gabriel Attal, the former prime minister who tabled the bill, said that the new law could not have come at a more important time. 'The anti-Semitism that targeted Alfred Dreyfus is not in the distant past,' he said, adding: 'Today's acts of hatred remind us that the fight is still ongoing'. 'Promoting Alfred Dreyfus to the rank of brigadier general would constitute an act of reparation, a recognition of his merits, and a tribute to his commitment to the Republic,' Mr Attal said. Just before the vote and in the presence of the Dreyfus family, Patricia Mirallès, the remembrance and veterans minister, said: 'Anti-Semitism is still striking in our democracy... this hatred must be fought resolutely.' The accusation against Dreyfus was based on a comparison of handwriting on a document found in the German attaché's waste paper basket. But Lt Col Georges Picquart, the then head of the intelligence services, secretly re-investigated the case and discovered the writing on the incriminating message was that of another officer, Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy. When Picquart presented the evidence to the general staff of the French army, he was kicked out of the military and jailed for a year, while Esterhazy was acquitted. That gave rise to writer Emile Zola's famous 'J'accuse' pamphlet to Felix Faure, the then French president, in which he slammed a 'terrifying judicial error' amid 'the hunt for 'dirty Jews' that is soiling our time'. A campaign to free him split the country between Dreyfusards, led by Zola, and anti-Dreyfusards such as Maurice Barrès, the far-Right political leader. In June 1899, Dreyfus was brought back to France, found guilty a second time, and sentenced to 10 years in prison, before being officially pardoned, though not cleared of the charges. Only in 1906, did the High Court of Appeal overturn the original verdict, exonerating him. He was reinstated with the rank of chef d'escadron (major), a downgrade for an officer who had seemed destined for the highest posts until his wrongful conviction. Dreyfus left the army in 1907, but later signed up again when war with Germany broke out in 1914, and fought at Verdun. He died in 1935, aged 76. In April 2025, Pierre Moscovici, the first president of France's Court of Audits; Frédéric Salat-Baroux, a prominent lawyer; and Louis Gautier, the chairman of the Dreyfus Museum, signed an open letter calling for Dreyfus to be made a brigadier general. The posthumous promotion was all the more important because 'part of the Left … is operating a terrible return to the past', they argued. Centrist Democratic MPs later warned the bill 'should not be used to buy a badge of honour' by parties with condemnable past or present stances on anti-Semitism, pointing the finger at Jean-Luc Mélenchon's Leftist France Unbowed (LFI) and Marine Le Pen's radical-Right National Rally (RN). Gabriel Amard, the LFI deputy leader, said: 'It is in my family that we are descended from Dreyfusards, not in yours.' He also condemned the 'double discourse of the RN' where, according to him, 'anti-Semitic remarks and behaviour are still rampant'. Hailing the law as 'fundamental for the Republic', Charles Sitzenstuhl, an MP from Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance Party in Alsace and rapporteur of the bill, joined calls for Dreyfus to be interred in the Pantheon, France's temple to its great and good. Critics, including François Bayrou, the prime minister, argue that the Pantheon is for the country's 'heroes, not its victims', but others say the decade he spent in solitary confinement and his commitment to the French army proved otherwise. 'Dreyfus is a model of resistance and heroism for the nation. He is an example for younger generations, a great man,' said Mr Sitzenstuhl. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
France finally acts to deliver justice in infamous Dreyfus case
More than a century ago he was wrongly convicted of treason in a case that convulsed France and laid bare a rising tide of antisemitism. On Monday, French politicians took the first step towards remedying the injustice; unanimously backing a symbolic effort to promote Alfred Dreyfus, the Jewish French army captain, to brigadier general. It was the beginning of bringing Dreyfus a step closer to the title he was denied, said Gabriel Attal, the former prime minister who put forward the bill. 'Accused, humiliated and condemned because he was Jewish, Alfred Dreyfus was dismissed from the army, imprisoned and exiled to Devil's Island,' Attal wrote on social media last month, referring to the infamous penal colony in French Guiana. 'Promoting Alfred Dreyfus to the rank of brigadier general would constitute an act of reparation, a recognition of his merits, and a tribute to his commitment to the republic.' The roots of the case trace back to 1894, after a French counterintelligence officer found a torn-up document at the Germany embassy in Paris. As military officials scrambled to figure out who was passing military secrets to the Germans, they set their sights on Dreyfus, then a 36-year-old army captain from the Alsace region of eastern France. But Dreyfus was not the author of the note, as Charles Sitzenstuhl, a member of President Emmanuel Macron's centrist Renaissance party, told a parliamentary committee last month. He said: 'It was the antisemitism of a section of the military leadership at the time, perhaps combined with the jealousy over Dreyfus's exceptional qualities, all playing out against a backdrop of pressure from the press and nationalist and antisemitic movements, that led to him being accused without any proof and to the absurd persistence of this accusation.' Dreyfus was put on trial and convicted of treason. Publicly stripped of his rank, he was sentenced to life on Devil's Island. The case, however, was taken up by a new head of intelligence services, who noticed that the handwriting on the torn-up document matched that of another officer, Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy. But when the evidence was presented to top brass the intelligence chief was driven out of the military and jailed for a year and Esterhazy was cleared. As Dreyfus languished in prison, his case began to gain traction. Author Émile Zola became one of his most ardent defenders, catapulting the case into the spotlight with the open letter, titled J'accuse, which accused the government of antisemitism and unlawful imprisonment. The case split French society into two bitterly opposed camps; the anti-Dreyfusards who were convinced of his guilt, and the Dreyfusards, who saw him as innocent. In June 1899, Dreyfus was brought back to France for a second trial. He was initially found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison, before being officially pardoned, though not cleared of the charges. It would take until 1906 for the high court of appeal to overturn the original verdict and exonerate Dreyfus. Eventually he was reinstated with the rank of major, going on to serve during the first world war. He died in 1935 at the age of 76. For years, lawmakers had batted around the idea of posthumously promoting Dreyfus, culminating in the legislation presented on Monday. 'The bill before you is the result of a unique legislative approach aimed at resolving a unique situation,' Sitzenstuhl told the National Assembly's defence committee earlier this year. 'It is a symbolic recognition of an extraordinary case, without parallel in the history of the republic.' Sitzenstuhl also suggested that Dreyfus could be entombed in the Pantheon, the Paris mausoleum reserved for France's greatest heroes. The bill now heads to the senate for debate. The legislation makes it clear that the push to properly recognise Dreyfus was also a means of highlighting that France's Jewish community – one of the largest in the world outside Israel and the US – continues to wrestle with discrimination. 'The antisemitism that struck Alfred Dreyfus is not a thing of the past,' the legislation noted, describing it as a fight that is 'still relevant today'. France has seen a rise in hate crimes: last year police recorded an 11% increase in racist, xenophobic or antireligious crimes, according to official data published in March.
