EUROPE : A Century-Old Scandal Haunts France’s Army

It’s been a century since the French army framed Alfred Dreyfus, a young Jewish captain, on a charge of passing secrets to the Germans, convicted him in a closed-door court-martial and shipped him off to Devil’s Island with a life prison sentence.

Everyone involved in that shameful episode died long ago. Dreyfus himself was eventually exonerated and returned to active duty, fighting alongside his son in World War I and receiving the French Legion of Honor medal.

But the Dreyfus Affair, which polarized the country at the time, refuses to go away, much to the dismay of the French army and the conservative government. Just a few days ago, it claimed yet another military officer’s career. Col. Paul Gaujac, a reservist who headed the army’s historical service, was summarily fired by Defense Minister Francois Leotard and given one hour to clear out his desk and his government-paid apartment.

His offense? He published an article in the army’s weekly magazine that did not completely accept the verdict of history; it called Dreyfus’ innocence merely “a thesis now generally accepted by historians.”

The article also characterized the furor over Dreyfus’ being railroaded as an assault by leftists and radicals on the army that led to the dismantling of French military intelligence.

The article was seen by many in France as evidence of persistent anti-Semitism in the army and a growing trend toward historical revisionism on the political right.

“The army institutions suffer a deep ill,” said Madeleine Reberioux, president of the League of Human Rights, which was originally created to defend Dreyfus. “And it is a long-lasting one.”

Gaujac’s abrupt dismissal, along with suggestions that other heads may roll, has been a reminder of just how sensitive any mention of the late 19th-Century affair remains for many in France.

“It’s very embarrassing for the military,” said Denis Lacorne, a political analyst with the National Political Science Foundation. “In fact, all the historical evidence shows he was framed. But there are long family traditions in the military, and the majority are from the anti-Dreyfus camp.”

The specter of the mild-mannered, bespectacled Dreyfus has long haunted the country. Until the mid-1970s, radio and television stations were forbidden to discuss the affair. And, during the 1980s, the army refused to allow a bronze statue of Dreyfus to be displayed at the Ecole Militaire, where the captain had been ceremoniously stripped of his symbols of rank after his conviction.

The Dreyfus affair occurred during a period of intense nationalism and anti-Semitism in France. It began when a cleaning woman, working as a spy for the French army, discovered some classified military secrets on a desk in the German Embassy. Dreyfus was implicated, mainly because of prejudice against him, because he was both Jewish and a native of German-speaking Alsace.

When the army command realized that its case against Dreyfus was weak, it manufactured evidence, reasoning that the honor of the army was more important than one man’s life and career.

As Dreyfus began serving his sentence for treason on Devil’s Island, the dreaded prison off the coast of French Guiana, France quickly divided into Dreyfusards and anti-Dreyfusards. The most famous Dreyfusard was the writer Emile Zola, who fled to England after a court convicted him of slandering the army in his open letter, titled “J’Accuse”--”I accuse”--which was published in a newspaper.

A swell of public support led to Dreyfus’ release after more than four years. When a new army intelligence chief discovered the real culprit, Maj. Ferdinand Walsin-Esterhazy, Dreyfus received a presidential pardon and a court declaration of his innocence. But the army never reversed its verdict.

For the anti-Dreyfusards still in France, the high-level reaction to Gaujac’s article may have confounded any hopes of rewriting history. Leotard, the defense minister, recently gave permission to a French film director to use army locations for a documentary about Dreyfus’ ordeal. It is not one that will please many in the military.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

A century after Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish captain in the French army, was framed, the scandal has resurfaced with accusations of lingering anti-Semitism in the military.

THE DREYFUS CASE

1894--A cleaning woman in the German embassy, employed by the French secret service, finds document proving the treason of a French officer.

Oct. 10, 1894--The Minister of War accuses Capt. Dreyfus of being the author of the document.

Oct. 15, 1894--Dreyfus is arrested. The army decides his writing is similar to that on the document.

Dec. 12, 1894--Dreyfus sentenced to life in prison.

Jan. 5, 1895--Dreyfus is stripped of his rank in the courtyard of the Ecole Militaire.

March, 1895-June, 1899--Dreyfus imprisoned on Devil’s Island.

Jan. 13, 1898--Emile Zola publishes “J’Accuse” in the newspaper l’Aurore.

June 3, 1899--The military court sentence is annulled.

Sept. 9, 1899--The War Council again convicts Dreyfus, sentencing him to 10 years in prison.

July 12, 1906--The Supreme Court of Appeal annuls the sentence.

July 13, 1906--Dreyfus is reintegrated into the army with the rank of commander.