On this day in Jewish history, Lieutenant-colonel Alfred Dreyfus passed away in 1935. Born in 1859 in France, Alfred Dreyfus is known for the infamous Dreyfus affair, named for him. All these years later, the Dreyfus affair remains a significant moment in the history of antisemitism, showing how late 19th and early 20th century Europe, even as it seemed to move towards equality and assimilation, remained a hostile and antisemitic environment for Jews.
After building a career in the French army, Dreyfus was wrongly accused of a plot to sell French artillery secrets to the newly unified German Empire. Despite the only piece of evidence in the case being a letter that did not even match Dreyfus’ handwriting, he was courtmartialed, found guilty, and imprisoned on Devil’s Island off the coast of French Guinea. This erroneous accusation and imprisonment was certainly due to antisemitic attitudes. The French Revolution promised quality and brotherhood for all; but in reality, the animosity towards religion that it brought about, led many French people to be suspicious of Jews and their loyalties to the new Republic.
Nevertheless, the blatant antisemitism of the Dreyfus affair led many people to question the outcome of the trial, and Dreyfus was eventually brought back to Paris where he was pardoned. Despite what he went through, Dreyfus remained unflinchingly loyal to the country that once betrayed him, going on to defend France in World War One and retiring as a war hero.
You can learn about the Dreyfus affair and the history of antisemitism going back thousands of years in “The Holocaust: What Hate Can Do,” on view at the Museum now.
