In 1896, Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart of the French Army General Staff made a startling discovery while reviewing the files of a case that had been closed two years earlier. He realized that Captain Alfred Dreyfus—convicted of passing military secrets to Germany and condemned to life imprisonment on a remote island—had been falsely accused. Dreyfus was Jewish, and antisemitism was widespread in France and across much of Europe at the time. After completing his investigation, Picquart identified the real culprit and reported it to his superiors, but his findings were ignored.
Determined to seek justice, the Dreyfus family courageously accused the real spy. However, the military tampered with evidence and bribed witnesses, resulting in the actual perpetrator being acquitted. Outraged by this injustice, the French novelist Émile Zola, published his famous open letter, J’Accuse (“I Accuse”), in the press. His words sparked a nationwide controversy, dividing French society over the question of retrial. Under mounting public pressure, the case was eventually reopened, and in 1906, after twelve long and grueling years of legal and political struggle, Alfred Dreyfus was finally exonerated.
Those who stood against the forces determined to conceal the truth faced imprisonment and even death threats. Yet their courage secured justice for an innocent man. The impact went far beyond France: the Dreyfus Affair became a catalyst for change, accelerating the Zionist movement and strengthening calls for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
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