I have been
interested in the Dreyfus Affair ever since I read Zola's J'Accuse! about two years ago. Then lately Michael Rosen's The Disappearance of Émile Zola let my
interest sparked again. Yet, these two books only cover the affair from Zola's
point of view; or rather, Zola's fight and struggle during Dreyfus Affair; they
do not touch its core. It is in this field has Robert Harris done a terrific
job to spotlight one of the biggest political scandals in 19th century which
has torn and humiliated France as a nation, by weaving every aspect of it into
this riveting historical novel.
In September
1894 a suspicious note has been found by a French espionage agent who worked at
the German Embassy in Paris (a cleaning woman who was recruited by the French).
The note (or borderau) was addressed
to German military attaché: Max von Schwartzkoppen, containing some secret
information on French artillery. It's not the first leakage of military secret,
and the press and public have been putting big pressure to the Ministry of War
to solve it. To save his face, the Minister (General Mercier) put a thorough
investigation inside the General Staff. A young major named Alfred Dreyfus
seems to be a perfect culprit, since he is a Jewish officer with Alsatian
origin (Alsace has been annexed by Germany after France's defeat at
Franco-Prussian war). Dreyfus was soon imprisoned and tortured to confess, yet
he kept insisting of his innocence. To fill in the 'gap' at preliminary enquiry
in court, the Statistical Section staffs then manipulated the borderau to frame Dreyfus up.
 |
| Alfred Dreyfus |
Now, Dreyfus
is a 'loner' Jewish; he is wealthy, proud, cold, and arrogant towards others.
He is not a favorite among his friends, and often annoys his chiefs. Bingo!
They have found the perfect victim. He's 'only
a regular Jew' anyway... ; and this was when the anti-semitic sentiment
played its role. The verdict was inevitable: Dreyfus was guilty and must be
exiled to Devil's Island. To this point everyone (excepted Dreyfus' relatives
and the Jewish) believed that Dreyfus was guilty. But then, a young officer,
Georges Picquart, was appointed the new Chief of Statistical Section, and
became the youngest Colonel ever in French Military history. It was Picquart
who first suspected that a Major Esterhazy was actually the real writer of the
infamous borderau. Through Picquart's
conscience and heroic action (against military law), the conspiracy was began
to be revealed, and finally made public by Zola's J'Accuse!
 |
| Georges Picquart |
I was really
furious by this Dreyfus business. Two aspects in particular have really
disgusted me: first, that the real (original) borderau actually consisted of ridiculously trivial information.
The fact that Schwartzkoppen (the German attaché) has even torn it to six
pieces and thrown it to his garbage bin, should have made one questioning its
value. It's true that an internal spy has divulged the information, but
punishing the culprit to that extent (Dreyfus was humiliated in front of the
army, and was solitary confined and tortured in Devil's Island) is ridiculous! Was
there nobody ever wondered why the government put so much effort (not
mentioning costs) to guard a prisoner from such minor crime? But again, it's
the anti-semitic sentiment: he's only a
regular Jew...
The second
is how almost all rank of the army—excepted Picquart—kept defending the ugly
lies and injustice piles by the chiefs. It's more than anti-semitism here, it's
the military 'code of honor', which instantly reminded me of the movie A Few Good Men. They have the wrong
illusion that defending the honor of the army and nation is higher than
humanity—the 'for the greater good' stuff. I am still amazed at how these
military men could have such a blind notion! France was lucky to have Georges
Picquart and Émile Zola who have risked their career and personal life, and
unselfishly followed their conscience to pursue truth and justice.
 |
| Degradation of Alfred Dreyfus |
At the end,
what was the source of all this abominable business? It’s Ambition and
greediness of General Mercier and the racism of the staff. Defending the
nation, eh? In reality they have almost triggered a civil war! And how much
sorrows have they inflicted to the Dreyfusards and their families?
Once again,
Robert Harris didn't disappoint his readers. Almost all of the events and
characters in this book are real. Harris only filled in the gaps with his
imagination to weave it into an enjoyable novel, which is narrated by Georges Picquart. If you want to learn more about
Dreyfus Affair, and/or more about Georges Picquart, this book will satisfy you.
5/5 is my
final verdict.
