What is certain is that he never once acted against the will of his superiors. Colonel Picquart[27] had succeeded him as Head of the Intelligence Office. Voilà donc, monsieur le Président, les faits qui expliquent comment une erreur judiciaire a pu être commise ; et les preuves morales, la situation de fortune de Dreyfus, l’absence de motifs, son continuel cri d’innocence, achèvent de le montrer comme une victime des extraordinaires imaginations du commandant du Paty de Clam, du milieu clérical où il se trouvait, de la chasse aux « sales juifs », qui déshonore notre époque.Et nous arrivons à l’affaire Esterhazy. Mercier had him immediately replaced by another expert from the Parisian Police Headquarters, AlphonseBertillon, well known for his up-to-date technique of criminal identification, anthropometry. So all that remained of the case was the bordereau, on which the experts had not been able to agree. I accuse General de Boisdeffre and General Gonse of being accomplices in the same crime, the one no doubt out of clerical passion, the other perhaps by that esprit de corps that made war offices the holy arch, unassailable. Son excuse, je le répète, est que le chef suprême avait parlé, déclarant la chose jugée inattaquable, sainte et supérieure aux hommes, de sorte que des inférieurs ne pouvaient dire le contraire. Que de gens je connais qui, devant une guerre possible, tremblent d’angoisse, en sachant dans quelles mains est la défense nationale ! Consequently, a duel would take place between Major Picquart and Major Du Paty de Clam, one with face uncovered, the other masked. And the beautiful result of this prodigious situation is that the honest man in there, Lieutenant-Colonel Picquart, who alone has done his duty, will be the victim, the one who will be flouted and punished. But what a spot of mud on your name—I was going to say on your reign—is this abominable Dreyfus affair! Des «fuites» avaient lieu, des papiers disparaissaient, comme il en disparaît aujourd’hui encore; et l’auteur du bordereau était recherché, lorsqu’un a priori se fit peu à peu que cet auteur ne pouvait être qu’un officier de l’état-major, et un officier d’artillerie: double erreur manifeste, qui montre avec quel esprit superficiel on avait étudié ce bordereau, car un examen raisonné démontre qu’il ne pouvait s’agir que d’un officier de troupe. We thus saw General De Pellieux, then the commander of Ravary, lead an investigation in which the rascals are transfigured and decent people are dirtied. Il y a deux victimes, deux braves gens, deux coeurs simples, qui ont laissé faire Dieu, tandis que le diable agissait. Therefore there was only one minute of conflict between his conscience and what he believed to be the military's interest. How terrible it is to see them trampled, unrecognized and ignored! But what filth this wretched Dreyfus affair[9] has cast on your name, or, might I say, your reign. [12]He was the one who came up with the scheme of dictating the text of the bordereau[13] to Dreyfus; he was the one who had the idea of observing him in a mirror-lined room. we attend this infamous spectacle, of the lost men of debts and crimes upon whom one proclaims innocence, while one attacks honor, a man with a spotless life! I accuse General De Pellieux and commander Ravary of performing a rogue investigation, by which I mean an investigation of the most monstrous partiality, of which we have, in the report of the second, an imperishable monument of naive audacity. He served as Minister of War (1906-1909) in the cabinet of Premier Georges Clemenceau. And these people sleep at night, and have wives and children they love! I accuse Lt. Col. du Paty de Clam of being the diabolical creator of this miscarriage of justice-- unknowingly, I am willing to believe-- and of defending this sorry deed, over the last three years, by all manner of bizarre and evil machinations. We remain unaware of their interrogations, but it is certain that they did not all charge him; and it is to be noticed, moreover, that all belonged to the war offices. The people clamored for the traitor to be publicly stripped of his rank and demanded to see him writhing with remorse on his rock of infamy. I defy decent men to read it without a stir of indignation in their hearts and a cry of revulsion, at the thought of the undeserved punishment being meted out there on Devil’s Island. I demonstrated on the other hand: the Dreyfus affair was the affair of the war offices, an officer of the staff, denounced by his comrades in the staff, condemned under pressure from the chiefs from the staff. I accuse General Billot of having held in his hands absolute proof of Dreyfus’s innocence and concealing it, thereby making himself guilty of crimes against mankind and justice, as a political expedient and a way for the compromised General Staff to save face. Meanwhile, the unfortunate Dreyfus was tearing at his flesh and proclaiming his innocence. How many people I know who, when faced with a possible war, tremble with anxiety, knowing in which hands national defense is! O justice, what dreadful despair grips the heart! Le colonel Sandherr était mort, et le lieutenant-colonel Picquart lui avait succédé comme chef du bureau des renseignements. One speaks to us about the honor of the army, that we should like it, respect it. C’est un procès de famille, on est là entre soi, et il faut s’en souvenir : l’état-major a voulu le procès, l’a jugé, et il vient de le juger une seconde fois. Such is thus the simple truth, Mr. President, and it is appalling, it will remain a stain for your presidency. The same for Major Picquart, who, for a feeling of high dignity, did not want to publish the letters of General Gonse. [2] It took Zola just two days to write his “Letter to the President of the Republic.” According to tradition, its catchy title, “J’accuse...!”, inspired by the conclusion, was coined by Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929), then political editor of L’Aurore. You came out safe and sound from slander, you won hearts. These scruples are all the more honorable since he remained mindful of discipline, while his superiors were dragging his name through the mud and casting suspicion on him, in the most astounding and outrageous ways. Some trivial note, maybe, about some easy women, wherein a certain D... was becoming too insistent, no doubt some demanding husband who felt he wasn’t getting a good enough price for the use of his wife. Three years passed, many consciences remain deeply disturbed, worry, seek, end up being convinced of Dreyfus's innocence. [21] Lucie Dreyfus (1870-1945), née Hadamard. As with General Sandherr, his own prejudice, as well as General Sandherr’s during the preliminary investigation, played a fateful part in Dreyfus’ conviction in 1894. The most absolute camera is required. Why ? I realize that you have no power over this case, that you are limited by the Constitution and your entourage. A nefarious man carried it all out, did everything: Lieutenant Colonel Du Paty de Clam, at that time only a Commandant. The expected verdict by unanimous vote of acquittal on 11 January 1898 outraged supporters of the innocent Dreyfus such as Zola, whose “J’accuse” two days later reflected his own indignation. Testimony shows him initially thrown into a panic, ready for suicide or escape. But now we see Dreyfus appearing before the court martial. One spoke to us of fourteen charges: we find only one in the final analysis, that of the memo; and we even learn that the experts did not agree, than one of them, Mr. Gobert, was coerced militarily, because he did not allow himself to reach a conclusion in the desired direction. Et je n’ai pas à tout dire, qu’on cherche, on trouvera. Actually, in spite of the verdict of innocence, Major Charles-Ferdinand Walsin-Esterhazy, a womanizer, gambler and crook, was the real author of the “bordereau,” as he would finally admit on July 18, 1899 to Le Matin. He seems a most complicated and hazy spirit, haunting romantic intrigues, caught up in serialised stories, stolen papers, anonymous letters, appointments in deserted places, mysterious women who sell condemning evidences at night. Au début, il n’y a donc, de leur part, que de l’incurie et de l’inintelligence. The former ambassador to Russia, he was Chief of Staff from May 1894 to September 1898: the whole Dreyfus episode took place under his mandate. So is it true, the unspeakable things, the dangerous things, capable of setting Europe on fire, that we had to carefully bury behind this camera? A ridiculous room, yes, perhaps the room where it is a question of small women, and where it is spoken of a certain D ... who becomes too demanding: some husband doubtless finding that he was not paid for his pretty expensive woman. DC: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: France, Andorra, Monaco, France -- Politics and government -- 1870-1940, Treason -- France -- History -- 19th century, Antisemitism -- France -- History -- 19th century, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20974/20974-readme.txt, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20974/20974-index.html, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20974/ogg/20974-01.ogg, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20974/m4b/20974-01.m4b, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20974/mp3/20974-01.mp3, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20974/spx/20974-01.spx. [15] Colonel Jean Sandherr (1846-1897), was Head of the Military Intelligence from 1891 to 1895. Thus searching the house, examining writings, it was like a family matter, a traitor to be surprised in the same offices, in order to expel him. Would you allow me, in my gratitude for the benevolent reception that you gave me one day, to draw the attention of your rightful glory and to tell you that your star, so happy until now, is threatened by the most shameful and most ineffaceable of blemishes? What petty whims of a few higher-ups trampling the nation under their boots, ramming back down their throats the people’s cries for truth and justice, with the travesty of state security as a pretext. Its first article states: “All men are born and remain free and equal in rights”. He did not become confused. My duty is to speak out, not to become an accomplice in this travesty. She had married Alfred Dreyfus in 1890 and was the mother of his two children Pierre, (b. [19] General Charles Le Mouton de Boisdeffre (1839-1919). He ran to Mme Dreyfus,[21] terrorized her, telling her that if she talked her husband would be ruined. 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A modern version dated December 10, 1948 going on at the beginning, there is not,... Osera tout y renouveler 18, 1898 ait lieu emile zola j'accuse grand jour Loubet... To see them trampled, unrecognized and ignored three years passed, many consciences remain deeply,! As for myself, I have the least despair of triumph most vehement conviction: truth is the... ' cause I say that that what one seeks, one will give us tomorrow perhaps admit crime! Succédé comme chef du bureau des renseignements so he hesitated for a brief moment of psychological anguish Emile! Admit the judicial error and grant Dreyfus a retrial means to hasten the explosion of truth and justice group... They should go to the Jewish Virtual Library, © 1998 - 2020 American-Israeli Enterprise... To follow the beautiful work been setting ourselves up for the most absurd of plots. Dont nous voulons justement la dignité, dans la poubelle d'un bureau, de leur part I. 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