Devil's Island, French Guiana - 3 of 3

DREYFUS
There is much written about Captain Dreyfus and the political scandal that divided the French Government from 1894 until 1906 over a wrongful conviction of treason in the French military. He was accused of giving military secrets to the Germans. It was also a time where antisemitism was rampant in France and Dreyfus was Jewish. Sentenced to life imprisoned on Devils Island, he spent 5 years in these awful conditions there until new evidence revealed the real spy. Unfortunately, the corrupt government let the spy go and Dreyfus was accused of new crimes based on forged documents. An open letter to the newspapers about what happened made this a very public case that was reopened in 1899 with the French very split on his innocence and what was happening in government and misjustice and Dreyfus was the poster boy for this corruption. Antisemites wrote articles against him and supporters did the same and it create unrest until he finally got another conviction and a 10-year sentence of which he eventually was pardoned, released and reinstated as a Major in the army in 1906. He served all of WWI and died in 1935 as a Lieutenant Colonel. It remains a strong example of miscarriage of justice and antisemitism and the power of the press to influence both. Interestingly, Theodor Herzl was a French journalist at the time and this incident was a turning point for him to decide that it was too difficult for Jews to assimilate and exist in Western Europe (which many loyal Jewish Frenchman were finding it increasingly difficult) and began his movement toward the creation of Zionism and Israel.

In October 2021, French President Emmanuel Marcon opened a museum in Medan, dedicated to the Dreyfus affair. He said that nothing could repair the humiliations and injustices Dreyfus had suffered, and "let us not aggravate it by forgetting, deepening or repeating them". Note: There are still (as of at least 2021), articles and books written by the far right that Dreyfus was guilty. The controversy over the Dreyfus Affair continues to be used in discussions on immigration, religious freedom, minority rights and discrimination based on religion and ethnicity, and the French Republic itself.Weiterlesen