Excerpt from the 2013 "People's Court" article: "The Unexplainable French Dreyfus Case" Zhang Jianwei, Professor of Tsinghua University Law School
The Dreyfus case is a famous injustice case in French history. It is a household name in France. Its popularity is comparable to that of Yang Naiwu and Xiaobaicai's case in my country. Both cases occurred in the 19th century: Yang Naiwu's case occurred in 1873 (Tongzhi 11th year) and ended in 1875 (the first year of Guangxu); Dreyfus case occurred in 1894, which was more than 20 years later than Yang Naiwu's case. . Both are wrong cases, and the redress process of the two is extraordinary and dramatic. The Dreyfus case is more complicated and difficult, and the breadth and depth of social conflicts that arouse is not comparable to the case of Yang Naiwu. In fact, the Dreyfus case is also one of the most famous unjust cases in the world. For a period of time in the early 20th century, Dreyfus almost became the most famous person after Napoleon's death.
The Dreyfus case and its causes
Dreyfus (1859-1935) was born in a wealthy Jewish family in Alsace, France. After graduating from a military school in 1892, he became a trainee captain officer and served in the French Army Staff.
Since the Franco-Prussian War, the French intelligence service has strengthened its intelligence work in Germany. The French General Staff has established a counterintelligence agency, the Strategic Intelligence Department. In September 1894, at the German Embassy in Paris, German military attache Schwartz Kauben threw an anonymous letter into the wastebasket. His bad habit facilitated the collection of intelligence by the French intelligence services. Mrs. Bastian, the maid who cleaned his room-a Bavarian woman-was a French spy planted in the German embassy. She passed the letter to the counterintelligence office of the French Army General Staff. The content of the letter was secret military intelligence about the French artillery and other situations, which was apparently leaked from the French Staff. On October 15, 1894, Dreyfus was arrested on suspicion of betraying national military secrets. The military court only opened a secret trial in December. In addition to the judge, there were only four people including the defendant Dreyfus and his defense attorney, the chief of police, and Major Picard, an observer of the army. In the court, Dreyfus provided sufficient reasons to defend himself, proving that he had no knowledge of the intelligence in the letter and had no conditions to commit the crime. The defense lawyer also cited a large number of grounds to prove Dreyfus's innocence. Seeing that there was no result, the judge announced an adjournment and retrial in the coming day. In December, Dreyfus was sentenced to life imprisonment for treason by a military court and was exiled to serve his sentence on the "Devil's Island" off the coast of French Guiana.
The reasons for this unjust case are as follows:
One is anti-Semitism. More than one hundred years have passed, and this case has been repeatedly raised. Now it is believed that the anti-Semitism pervaded in this case played a role in casting an injustice. Royalists, clericalists and national chauvinists have participated. The anti-Semitic movement provided the background for the injustice case of Dreyfus. Regarding the shameful anti-Semitism in European history, Gorky once said: "Of course I know that people of all races are constantly using ugly methods to each other, using their talents to show every kind of unimaginable despicableness, but here Of all the hostility of this kind, anti-Semitism is the most disgusting.” He further pointed out: “I have read many books on anti-Semitism from beginning to end. It is difficult to read this kind of book, even Disgusting, the writing of this kind of book has a plan that is truly ugly and immoral: to slander a country, an entire country. This is indeed a difficult job! Reading those books carefully, I can find only: A moral disregard, an angry scream, a roar of a wild beast, a grinning tooth with hatred and jealousy. If these are equipped together, it is inevitable that people will think that the Slavs, the Finns and other countries The people of China are equally degenerate."
Michael Burns is the author of "France and the Dreyfus Incident". After Zheng Yueyi's translation, the Chinese translation was published by Jiangsu Education Press in 2006. This book discusses the Dreyfus case. The anti-Semitism background of the office. At that time, even the 26-year-old son of the famous writer Alphonse Dudd was an anti-Semitist. When he first talked about the Dreyfus case, he said: “In his race, people don’t know what shame is. of……"
Colonel Sandor, Director of the Counterintelligence Division of the French Army’s General Staff, had long been prejudiced against Jew Dreyfus. As early as when Dreyfus first entered the General Staff, he had formally protested, believing that a Jew should be allowed to enter the General Staff. The staff is undoubtedly endangering the security of the country. Now, as expected, he arbitrarily thinks that Dreyfus is the leaker. Soon, Sandel reported the matter to the Secretary of the Army. The minister was annoyed by his defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and immediately ordered the arrest of Dreyfus for espionage and treason. At that time, Dreyfus was the only Jew in the General Staff. "People in the General Staff read "Free Speech." In "Free Speech", there are words like this every day:'Among Jews', people know Who are the loan sharks who make money by exploiting the military officers who borrowed debts, who are the merchants who make big money from the soldiers, who are the shameless spies who betray national defense secrets." People who have been immersed in this kind of anti-Semitism propaganda all day have to bury the seeds of anti-Semitism deep in their bones. This is the era and social atmosphere of the Dreyfus case.
The second is the intricate conflicts between political forces of various factions. Armand Ranou believes that this case "is a comprehensive crisis. The espionage case is only the fuse, and the intricate conflicts between various political forces over the years are the root cause; some of these contradictions have a history of more than a hundred years. This does not include issues that have been debated for a long time in society such as order and freedom. People who advocate order require the government to catch a hundred innocent people by mistake rather than let go of a criminal; people who advocate freedom hope that the government would rather the government. Let go of a hundred criminals, and don’t hurt an innocent person. Order and freedom are contradictory. In a society, it is difficult to find a balance that satisfies both forces. Dreyfus’ tragedy is nothing more than It’s just one of these mountain waves."
The third is to frame and frame. The letter betraying military intelligence was passed on to Sandel. Sandel was anxious about the leak of a series of confidential French documents in the recent period. When he saw this letter, he immediately ordered the deputy to notify the two deputy directors to come to his office. The framing and setting up happened afterwards: Major Henry and Major Bian Pawei came one after another. When Henry took the letter and took a look, he recognized the handwriting of his old friend Major Estrazzi. Estrazzi is a German translator for the Intelligence Agency and has a close personal relationship with Henry. The military secrets he leaked to Schwartz Coben are also related to Henry himself. Henry was worried that he would be implicated in the accident, and he dared not tell the truth. In order to divert his attention, Henry deliberately put forward: "This matter may have been done by Captain Dreyfus, a Jewish officer." After that, he enumerated many Dreyfus's conditions to provide this information. To make matters worse, in order to convict Dreyfus, Henry forged letters and stuffed them into "secret files", and even forged Dreyfus’s letters to the Kaiser and the Kaiser’s reply to Dreyfus to confirm Dreyfus is a German spy.
The French Intelligence Service arrested Dreyfus and accused him of betraying military intelligence. Dreyfus denies the crime. In the military court, Dreyfus provided sufficient reasons to defend himself, proving that he had no knowledge of the intelligence in the letter and had no conditions to commit the crime. The defense lawyer also cited a large amount of evidence to prove Dreyfus' innocence. The observer sent by the Secretary of the Army, Colonel Picard, was an upright military officer. He truthfully reported to the Minister and also pointed out that the case is difficult to establish. After Henry learned the news, he went to court in person to take an oath in the honor of an officer and provided false testimony. In order to protect his dignity, the Secretary of the Army deliberately fabricated a "secret file," adding all the unsolved incidents of theft on Dreyfus's head, and also stuffed a tampered and fabricated "criminal evidence" material. The French military court still sentenced Dreyfus to life imprisonment on December 22. On January 5, 1895, Dreyfus was removed from the military position, and then he was exiled to serve his sentence on the "Devil's Island" off the coast of French Guiana, where natural conditions are treacherous.
The fourth is the handwriting identification error. There is no doubt that the easiest and fastest way to find "Mole" is to check the handwriting. In October, the handwriting appraisal experts invited by the French Intelligence Service all believed that the handwriting on the letter belonged to Dreyfus, except for one who came to a negative conclusion. However, another argument is that before the trial, the military specially invited several famous handwriting experts to appraise the handwriting, but the experts finally concluded that the basis was insufficient, not like Dreyfus’ handwriting. But at this time, the military was overwhelmed. Since the arrest decision was made by the Secretary of the Army himself, in order to maintain the military's prestige, he had to make mistakes. Even when it was determined that Estrazzi's handwriting was exactly the same as the handwriting of the informant, the appraisal expert Berdiron said: "Then, the Jewish people imitated this type of font and reached the level of falsehood!"
The fifth is perjury. That is, the observer, Picard, truthfully reported to the minister, pointing out that the case was difficult to establish. Henry personally went to court to testify against Dreyfus and testified on oath in the honor of an officer. In order to protect his dignity, the Secretary of the Army also deliberately fabricated a "secret file", adding all the unsolved incidents of theft on Dreyfus' head, and stuffing it into a tampered and fabricated "criminal evidence" material. .
Twists and turns: the redress of the Dreyfus case
The dramatic process of the Dreyfus case can be described as twists and turns, full of dramatic tension. In fact, after Dreyfus was exiled to "Devil's Island", in order to cover up the grievances in this case, the concocting of perjury is still happening, and the obstruction and conspiracy have been accompanied by the process of redress. For Dreyfus and his supporters, hope is intertwined with nightmare. For a while, this prevails, and the other prevails, with ups and downs like a roller coaster ride.
Actions to obstruct the redress of unjust cases include the following:
Transfer from Picard who asked to correct the wrong case. Picard repeatedly asked for the correction of the wrong case. For this reason, he was transferred to the southern part of Tunis, a French colony, to fight in November 1896. However, before Picard left office, he told a friend who was a lawyer. The news could not be covered up, and finally spread. For this reason, Picard was accused of leaking the materials in the secret archives to non-military personnel, and was arrested and detained in Varérion Mountain Prison. It was not until the Dreyfus case was rehabilitated that Lieutenant Colonel Picard had the opportunity to be promoted to brigadier general until later as Secretary of the Army.
In order to further verify the facts, Picard decided to verify with Guels, a French spy with dual identity in Germany, and he sent Henry to Barre, Switzerland to meet with Guels. After Henry arrived in Bale, he tried his best to prevent Guels from revealing the fact that Dreyfus was unknown to the German spy agency.
In order to cover up the lie, sometimes another lie is needed. Henry also created a new file, including photos of fake Dreyfus letters to King Giyom II of Italy, a fake letter from the King of Germany, and fake materials endorsed by Henry, the devil. Photo. This kind of perjury to frame the innocent is very disgusting.
On October 23, 1897, the Marquis of Krone acted as an intermediary between the General Staff and Estrazzi. After putting on makeup, he secretly met Estrazzi in Monsuri Park and told Estrazzi that the General Staff would protect him. , The condition is that he must obey the dispatch and suggest that he go to the Secretary of Defense to complain. Estelazi nodded and agreed and complied.
On December 17, 1897, the Secretary of the Army declared that Dreyfus’ judgment was “fair and unmistakable.” The Prime Minister also announced that “there is no problem in the Dreyfus case.” Estrazzi, January 10, 1898 Appeared in a military court to stand trial; fearing that this matter would be revealed, the military sent Henry and others to prepare for him the defense at the trial, claiming that the traitor had imitated Estrazi's font. As a result, the next day, the military court ruled that Estrazzi was not guilty.
The writer Zola intervened in the Dreyfus case with great influence. Henry wanted to buy Zola to silence him, and promised to ensure that Zola would be successful in the literary world, with both sides, fame and fortune. Zola sternly refused. Henry failed to make a plan and made a living again. He spread Dreyfus's supporters to join a secret group funded by Jewish bankers, spreading rumors that Zola was bought by Jewish money for a specific amount of 2 million. This kind of smearing is really common in the political field (especially in elections), but it seems rare in the judicial field. Not only that, the Secretary of the Army also encouraged the reactionaries to attack Zola, and at the same time prosecuted Zola for defamation, and on February 21, 1898, instructed the court to sentence Zola to one year’s imprisonment and a fine of 3,000 francs.
However, Dreyfus's relatives and friends have not stopped complaining about the case. They had written to Kaiser Wilhelm II, asking him to prove that Germany did not receive any information and correspondence from Dreyfus. And Germany is secretly happy about the chaos caused by this case in France, and of course will not testify for him, but things have turned around. In early March 1896, when Dreyfus was serving his sentence on Devil’s Island, the French intelligence services collected from the German Embassy and found a draft of a letter from the German ambassador to the French officer Major Estrazzi. Lieutenant Colonel Picard, who succeeded the Director of the Counterintelligence Service, embarked on the investigation of Estrazi. During the investigation, he found that Estrazi's handwriting was exactly the same as the handwriting of the whistleblower that was believed to be written by Dreyfus. Estrazzi abandoned his wife and abandoned his son and was living with a prostitute. He himself was a gambler and was working in the Intelligence Bureau. Picard reported this major discovery to the deputy chief of staff and requested a retrial of the case, but the deputy chief of staff refused to arrest Estrazi in the name of defending the honor of the army.
Even if the French intelligence services did not obtain a draft of the letter from the German ambassador to the French officer Major Estrazzi, Estrazzi would have surfaced. This is because the letter that sold the intelligence to the Germans appeared in the newspapers, and Dreyfus's relatives also copied a large number of photos of the informant and posted them on the streets, hoping that someone would recognize the real perpetrator. The banker Gastro recognized that it was the handwriting of one of his clients, Estrazzi. Gastro disclosed his discovery.
After Estrazzi's handwriting was recognized, the Dreyfus family found this strong evidence and seized the straw to sue Estrazzi to the court.
Under the control of senior military generals, Estrazzi was ruled not guilty by a military court, and the justices were indignant. Just two days after Estrazzi was acquitted, the world-famous writer Emile Zola spoke out of justice and published an open letter to the President of the Republic, Felix Forr, in the "Aurora". This open letter with the title "I sue!" accuses the top army leaders and the main leaders of the General Staff of bad intentions, deliberately falsely accusing the innocent, and excusing the real criminals.
Judge Berthiro obtained evidence that one of the forged materials presented by Henry was the hands of the prostitute Bayi. Berthruy informed the Attorney General of the Republic, Fjurey, that he was about to issue an arrest warrant for Estrazzi and Bayi. Fjurey objected, but the Minister of Justice approved the search of Estrazzi. The search yielded an important piece of evidence. Under the influence of public opinion, the War Department had to order the case to be further heard and verified.
Bertruy read the materials of Henry’s meeting with the spy Guels and found that Henry deliberately asked to go to Bale in order to prevent Guels from telling the fact that the German spy agency had no morality at all. Familiar with Estrazzi, but has been deceiving his superiors and has been using him. The officer who was ordered to re-verify the case, Captain Keene, never intervened in the matter. He soon discovered traces of Henry's forgery: the grid lines of the two letter papers forged by Henry were printed with two different inks, and Henry put the two This nuance was not noticed when the letter was pieced together into forged material.
On August 30, 1898, Henry was summoned to the Ministry of National Defense. In front of several generals, Henry could not deny and was forced to admit the fact that the evidence was forged. He committed suicide with a razor blade. After hearing the news, Estelazi absconded in fear of crime and fled through Brussels to take refuge in London. On September 25, 1898, The Observer issued a statement by Estrazzi, confessing that he was the author of the list provided to the Germans.
The situation took a turn for the worse, the Secretary of the Army resigned in embarrassment, and the military court had to reopen the case in August 1899. It is generally believed that the truth has been revealed this time, and the court will definitely acquit Dreyfus. Unexpectedly, the court still found Dreyfus guilty, but changed his sentence to 10 years of hard labor.
This has aroused strong repercussions and indignation all over the world, and there have been many anti-French demonstrations. The "Human Rights Alliance" was established, headed by the outstanding social activist and leader of the French Socialist Party Jean Jores and many famous scholars, writers and social activists. Active struggle.
In front of the mighty minzhu forces, the new prime minister proposed a compromise solution. Under the principle of maintaining the verdict, Dreyfus was declared amnesty in the name of the president.
Although he was released, the amnesty does not mean that he is not guilty. Dreyfus's injustice has not been fully revealed. He is still fighting hard for his reputation.
In the following 7 years, he continued to work hard with the support of people from all walks of life. It was not until June 1906 that the radical leader Clemenceau, who had always insisted on retrial, became prime minister, and the Dreyfus case was finally resolved. In July of this year, the Supreme Court declared Dreyfus not guilty, and Dreyfus, who had been wronged for 12 years, finally recovered his reputation.
Later, Dreyfus was restored to military status and was awarded the Medal of Honor on the playground of the military academy. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the First World War. Lieutenant Colonel Picard, who was once imprisoned, was also promoted to brigadier general and later became secretary of the army.
In 1930, the military attache Schwartz Kauben's record book was published, which on the other hand confirmed Dreyfus' innocence. In June of the same year, Schwartz Kauben's wife sent this note book to Dreyfus, with the words "Dreyfus is not guilty" written in French before the death of her husband.
Five years later, Dreyfus died in Paris.
The Power Factor in Dreyfus' Injustice Case
The state, the zf, the high-level military forces, and the powers associated with them can all be factors in the formation of wrong cases. It is no surprise that these factors play a key role in casting wrong cases. When the state power or zf power deliberately concocts wrong cases or deliberately conceals the wrong cases that have already been cast, it also eliminates or reduces the sacred color that it has formed in society.
The creation of the Dreyfus case was originally based on wrong judgments. Except for some people who gave false testimony and fell into trouble, the whole case became an unjust case, including those senior military officers who were responsible. It was not deliberately done by anyone. Honest confession makes a big mistake, and the sin can be forgiven. When new evidence and facts gradually revealed that the case may be an unjust and wrong case, those in power deliberately conceal the terrible fact that this is an unjust and wrong case, which is no longer forgivable.
In fact, we can put aside our innocence and realize the problem: the people who constitute the upper strata of zf and power are, to put it bluntly, the same people who have seven passions and can do good or evil. In this case, we should restrain them like ordinary people. Those powerful and powerful can easily be deified. To put it bluntly, they are humans, not gods, just like us. From Dreyfus and other cases, we should obtain a basic understanding: the abstract and sacred terms such as country and zf hide the fact that the people who make up the country and zf are ordinary people, not angels, just like everyone else.
Perhaps, even if we recognize this from Dreyfus and other cases, we may be unwilling or unconscious to think about this issue, and then erase these abstract and sacred concepts from their illusory aura. In fact, if you reduce some abstract and seemingly sacred concepts to humans, you will find that their sacredness really cannot withstand anatomy and scrutiny. As Tolstoy said: "People feel that these requirements are not people, but a special kind of life. They call it the boss, zf, and the country. But once they ask themselves, this boss, zf Whoever the country is, will understand that these people are just ordinary people like everyone else. It is not others who force others to carry out all their orders, but people who are equal to those who have experienced violence."
When the people who constitute zf are a group of zf rascals and rogues, when zf power is abused arbitrarily, its sacredness is even more shrouded in black smoke.
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