On 13 Jan. 1898, #emilezola the most popular writer in France, published his open letter addressed to the President of France Félix Faure, accusing the government of falsely convicting #Alfreddreyfus of espionage. Dreyfus, a French Army officer, had been arrested in Sept. 1894 for espionage after a cleaning woman (and French spy) found a document in the German embassy providing troop positions. Dreyfus, the only Jew on the Army General Staff was found guilty of treason in a secret court-martial and was stripped of his rank in a humiliating public ceremony. The crowd chanted “Death to Dreyfus! Death to the Jews!” and began a wave of antisemitism that was aided and fueled by the French media. Dreyfus was sentenced to a life sentence on Devil’s Island. In 1898, the real culprit, Major Ferdinand Esterhazy, was discovered. In an attempt to avoid embarrassment, the military covered up Esterhazy’s guilt and cleared him in a court-martial on 11 Jan. 1898. Esterhazy immediately left for England, where he died in 1923. Zola published his letter 2 days after the sham Esterhazy court-martial, directly accusing the military of antisemitism, miscarriage of justice, cover-up, and other wrongdoings. Zola then challenges his accusers: “In making these accusations I am aware that I am making myself liable to articles 30 and 31 of the law of 29/7/1881 regarding the press, which make libel a punishable offence. I expose myself to that risk voluntarily.” Zola was found guilty of libel 3 weeks later. He fled to England to avoid jail time. Dreyfus was pardoned in Sept. 1899 but was not finally cleared until 1906. He was granted retirement from the Army in 1907 at the age of 48, but re-entered the Army during World War I, serving in the artillery. Zola returned to France in 1901 and died from carbon monoxide poisoning (caused by a blocked chimney) in 1902. Alfred Dreyfus attended his funeral. (bij Arnhem, Netherlands)
