Milan, July 12. (LaPresse) – French President Emmanuel Macron today presided over the first National Day of Commemoration to mark the 120th anniversary of the rehabilitation of Army Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Dreyfus, of Jewish descent, was wrongfully convicted of high treason in 1894 after being accused of transmitting military secrets to Germany and was sentenced to life in prison. Although evidence of his innocence emerged as early as two years later, he was not fully rehabilitated until July 12, 1906, when the Court of Cassation overturned the conviction. The ceremony took place in front of the new statue dedicated to the soldier, inaugurated outside the Palace of Justice in Paris, where the Court of Cassation proclaimed his innocence. The case highlighted the widespread anti-Semitism of the institutions. Writers and intellectuals, including Émile Zola, sided with Dreyfus, arguing that he had been wrongly accused and made a scapegoat. Zola wrote a celebratory open letter to French President Félix Faure, entitled ‘J’accuse’, denouncing the unfair treatment of the captain. Macron said that Dreyfus’ rehabilitation demonstrates the Republic’s ability to correct its injustices. “Dreyfusism is not a memory. It’s a state of mind,” said the head of the Elysée Palace, warning that anti-Semitism remains “the enemy of the Republic.”
France: Macron at the first National Day of Commemoration of Dreyfus
Milan, July 12. (LaPresse) – French President Emmanuel Macron today presided over the first National Day of Commemoration to mark the 120th anniversary of the rehabilitation of Army Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Dreyfus, of Jewish descent, was wrongfully convicted of high treason in 1894 after being accused of transmitting military secrets to Germany and was sentenced to life in prison. Although evidence of his innocence emerged as early as two years later, he was not fully rehabilitated until July 12, 1906, when the Court of Cassation overturned the conviction. The ceremony took place in front of the new statue dedicated to the soldier, inaugurated outside the Palace of Justice in Paris, where the Court of Cassation proclaimed his innocence. The case highlighted the widespread anti-Semitism of the institutions. Writers and intellectuals, including Émile Zola, sided with Dreyfus, arguing that he had been wrongly accused and made a scapegoat. Zola wrote a celebratory open letter to French President Félix Faure, entitled ‘J’accuse’, denouncing the unfair treatment of the captain. Macron said that Dreyfus’ rehabilitation demonstrates the Republic’s ability to correct its injustices. “Dreyfusism is not a memory. It’s a state of mind,” said the head of the Elysée Palace, warning that anti-Semitism remains “the enemy of the Republic.”
