The Dreyfus Affair
Jackie Kunz
Captain Alfred Dreyfus had his second court conviction annulled July 12, 1906, after over a decade of claiming his innocence. His court case had been reopened in 1899 but the result was a ten year reconviction. Dreyfus was originated from a prosperous Jewish family that originated in Alsace, Germany. His family moved to France after the defeat of the French army in 1871. He graduated from École Polytechnique and became a high ranked officer in the French army.
In 1894 a handwritten note was found in a waste paper basket in the German
Military attaché in the office of Major Max von Schwartzkoppen by a cleaning women under the employment of a French counter-intelligence. This note has now come to be known as Bordereau. The contents included government secrets and information concerning new fields of artillery pieces.
The note was delivered to French War Minister, General Auguste Mercier. The note’s contents implied that it was written by an artillery officer. Seeing as Dreyfus had artillery training and a German background, he fell under suspicion. The handwriting was incorrectly interpreted as Dreyfus’s handwriting. In October 1894, Dreyfus was arrested and charged with espionage and convicted of treason by a military tribunal in December. General Mercier insisted that he have an early trial and conviction. He was given a life sentence of solitary confinement on Devil’s Island, off the coast of French Guyana in South America. He was stripped of his rank marks and buttons and his sabre was broken.
Dreyfus’s case was reopened in 1899 because he had been denied the due process. The conviction was quashed by the Court of Cassation and he was reconvicted for ten more years.
Drefus was pardoned on July 12, 1906 by President Émile Loubert. He has been readmitted into the army and made a knight in the Légion d’Honneur. He has since served in WWI as a Lietenant Colonel.
This case resulted in the division of France. Due to his Jewish faith, Drefus was more apt to be convicted with the amount of anti-Semitism present. Even though Jews in France are treated better than most of those in Europe. They are allowed to participate in government and in the military. Jews are considered to be without a homeland and with no loyalty and this idea played into effect during Drefus’s trials. Theodor Herzl, a Jewish journalist from Vienna, said that assimilation is no protection against anti-Semitism.
Recently it has been discovered that the true culprit was Major Esterhazy. Drefus’s name has been completely cleared.
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