17 July , 2006
The centenary of 'the Dreyfus affair' was marked by President Chirac of France as he paid homage to the innocent Jewish officer whose spying conviction tore France apart, and called for vigilance against modern French racism and intolerance. In a solemn address in the courtyard of the Ecole Militaire, where Captain Alfred Dreyfus was publicly disgraced in 1895, Chirac paid tribute to the officer whose name came to symbolise the anti-Semitism of the French Establishment. The appeal court exonerated Dreyfus on July 12, 1906, after he had spent four years at the notorious Devil's Island jail off French Guyana. He was twice convicted by military courts and spent six years campaigning to prove his innocence. The ceremony was attended by descendants of Dreyfus as well as relatives of Emile Zola, the writer whose incendiary newspaper article 'J'accuse' awakened the country to the injustice of Dreyfus's conviction for spying for Germany. Chirac said that, with his dignity and patriotism, Dreyfus was an exemplary officer who had strengthened the Republic, but added that "The combat against the dark forces of intolerance and hate is never won. We must remain vigilant".