![]() ![]() He later explained in his evidence to the court martial that the obvious differences between handwriting in the Bordereau and Dreyfus’s own handwriting, could be explained by the fact that Dreyfus had cunningly developed the skill to imitate the handwriting of others. Bertillon had devised a method of handwriting analysis based on statistics and, knowing in advance that the army wanted Dreyfus’s writing to correspond with that in the Bordereau, he found it to be so. The sample of Dreyfus’s handwriting, obtained in this peculiar way, was shown to a self-styled handwriting expert, one Bertillon. As he noted no such response to his pointed questions, he inferred that Dreyfus was not only a spy but also dangerously able to disguise his own emotional reactions. His theory, as he explained later to the court martial, was that any increase in Dreyfus’s heartbeat would be reflected by corresponding movement of the leg draped over the opposite knee. At one point during this minor farce, du Paty waited until Dreyfus crossed one leg over the opposite knee and then asked some pointed questions. On this feeble pretext, he dictated a note which included a number of the key words from the Bordereau. Commandant du Paty de Clam called Dreyfus in and asked him to take some dictation, on the pretext that he, du Paty, had injured his hand. He reported to the Minister of War, General Mercier, that the spy in the army ranks was Captain Dreyfus.Ī handwriting expert from the Bank of Paris was asked to examine the Bordereau to see whether it had been written by Captain Dreyfus. He noted that Dreyfus was a Jew and did not pursue any further possible suspects. He lighted on the name of Alfred Dreyfus, an artillery officer and a member of the general staff. An analysis of the contents of the Bordereau suggested that the author must have been an artillery officer and must also have spent time in four other sections of the army.Ĭolonel Sandherr was asked to investigate the matter and examined a list of artillery officers to see whether any of them fitted the profile of the probable author. This document – later known universally as the Bordereau – demonstrated that someone on the general staff of the French Army had leaked important military secrets to the Germans. ![]() On 26 September 1894, the French Intelligence Service intercepted a message which had been sent to Lieutenant-Colonel von Schwartzkoppen. Shostakovich, like Zola and Dreyfus, understood the sting of State oppression and the cost of resistance. It is perhaps a significant symbol of the passions aroused by the affair that Cezanne and Zola took different positions on the matter and their friendship was irretrievably damaged as a result.ġ906 was also the year in which Dmitri Shostakovich was born. Cezanne’s portrait is probably the best known image of Emile Zola, whose campaigning significantly altered the direction of the Dreyfus Affair. The affair which bears his name had lasted 12 years until Dreyfus was finally vindicated. In July 1906, Alfred Dreyfus was finally pardoned. The only way to save the Jews, Herzl concluded, was the Zionist effort to establish a Jewish homeland outside Europe.2006 marks a few interesting centenary anniversaries. His show trial also deeply impacted Theodore Herzl, to whom the experience indicated that anti-Semitism was an insurmountable force in European life. The sensational trial and its aftermath became a proxy fight between the voices of tolerance and intolerance in France, and forced the issue of anti-Semitism out into open debate. He was fully exonerated and returned to active duty as a major in 1906, wounded in an assassination attempt in 1908, served during World War I, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was found guilty again in a second trial in 1899 but pardoned by the French president. Rising to the rank of captain in the French Army, he was falsely accused of treason and put on trial, where his humiliating conviction was accompanied by cries of “Death to the Jews!” Dreyfus was given a life sentence on Devil’s Island in French Guinea. Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935) was the central figure in the infamous Dreyfus Affair trial that tore apart French politics and inspired the nascent Zionist movement. ![]()
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