![]() ![]() ![]() The country’s angry agitation stems basically from its defeat by Germany in 1870 and its humiliating loss of Alsace-Lorraine. High-ranking army officers conspired to forge masses of evidence to cover up for the real culprit, one of their own, and to inflame the public, which responded, against Jews and anyone who questioned “our noble army.”īy now, in this long, meticulously researched volume, Harris’ argument has emerged. Get the best of Accidental Talmudist in your inbox: sign up for our monthly newsletter.Taking the Dreyfus case as her point of departure, Ruth Harris has written a devastating book that goes far beyond that issue.Īlfred Dreyfus was, of course, the French Jewish officer who, in 1894, was framed by his army, convicted of treason and condemned to a brutal imprisonment on Devil’s Island. Newspaper owner Georges Clemenceau, who published “J’Accuse.!” said that “Dreyfus was the victim, but Picquart was the hero.”įor pursuing justice at great cost to himself, we honor Georges Picquart at this week’s Thursday Hero. Meanwhile, due to rising public pressure, the military brought Dreyfus back to France for a re-trial – but he was convicted again.įinally, in 1906, Dreyfus’ conviction was overturned and both he and Picquart were restored to their military positions. Zola was so disturbed by what happened to Dreyfus, enabled by the military and political class, that he published his now-famous expose, with the dramatic headline, “J’Accuse.!”įor his troubles, Picquart was punished by being kicked out of the army, framed as a forger, and sent to prison, where he languished in solitary confinement for over a year. Most of Picquart’s letters were ignored, but not the one he sent to Emile Zola, the most famous and respected French writer of the time. Even in exile, Picquart advocated for Dreyfus, writing letters to political and cultural leaders urging them to speak out against this miscarriage of justice. In 1897 he was relieved of his duties and transferred to a dangerous posting in the southern Sahara. Charles-Arthur Gonse, head of military intelligence, said to him, “What does it matter to you if one Jew stays on Devil’s Island?” Picquart responded, “Because he’s innocent!” He made it his mission to get Dreyfus exonerated, and paid a high price for it. Picquart immediately told French military leaders about the evidence he’d found that Dreyfus was innocent, and he was shocked at their reaction. The note “in Dreyfus’ handwriting” had been fabricated, and without that note, the entire case fell apart. In his new position, Picquart had access to classified documents that showed that Dreyfus was framed. At age 40, he was made the youngest colonel in the French Army, and assigned to an intelligence unit. Meanwhile, Picquart’s star was on the rise. He’s thinking of the weight of the gold braid and how much it’s worth.”ĭreyfus was immediately transferred to Devil’s Island, where he was kept in isolation for the next five years with no human interaction. Dreyfus, protesting his innocence, was courtmartialed and, in a secret trial, found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment ĭreyfus was publicly humiliated on Januby having his military sword broken and the insignia of his rank torn from his uniform, in front of a raging mob of 20,000 shouting “Kill the Jew!” Picquart’s take on the ghastly event? “He’s a Jew, don’t forget that. When military investigators asked Picquart for a sample of Dreyfus’ handwriting from his student days, Picquart eagerly complied. Earlier in his career he had been a military professor, and young Alfred Dreyfus was one of his pupils. Picquart, like many Europeans of the time, had no fondness for Jews. The evidence was a crumpled letter found in the trash with handwriting that supposedly matched that of Capt. Georges Picquart was a French military officer who overcame his own bigotry to exonerate Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish army captain unfairly convicted of treason in 1894.ĭreyfus was the only Jewish officer in the French army, and when the military discovered there was a German spy in the ranks, suspicion fell on Dreyfus. ![]()
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