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J'accuse by Emile Zola

Letter to Mr. Félix Faure,
Mr. President of the Republic, may I, in my gratitude for the kind welcome you once extended to me, express my concern for your well-deserved glory and tell you that your star, so bright until now, is threatened by the most shameful, the most indelible of stains? You have emerged unscathed from the vile calumnies, you have won hearts. You appear radiant in the apotheosis of this patriotic celebration that the Russian alliance has been for France, and you are preparing to preside over the solemn triumph of our Universal Exposition, which will crown our great century of work, truth, and liberty. But what a stain of mud on your name—I was about to say on your reign—is this abominable Dreyfus affair! A court-martial has just dared, by order, to acquit Esterhazy, the ultimate blow to all truth, to all justice. And that's it, France bears this stain on its cheek. History will record that it was under your presidency that such a social crime could be committed. Since they dared, I too will dare. I will tell the truth, for I promised to tell it, if the justice system, duly seized, fails to do so, fully and completely. My duty is to speak; I refuse to be complicit. My nights would be haunted by the specter of the innocent man expiating, there, in the most horrific torture, a crime he did not commit. And it is to you, Mr. President, that I will cry out this truth, with all the force of my honest man's outrage. For your honor, I am convinced that you are unaware of it. And to whom else can I denounce the malevolent rabble of the true culprits, if not to you, the highest magistrate of the land?
The truth first about the trial and the conviction of Dreyfus. A nefarious man led everything, did everything, it was Lieutenant-Colonel du Paty de Clam, then a simple commander. He is the entire Dreyfus affair; we will only know it when a fair investigation has clearly established his actions and responsibilities. He appears as the most hazy, the most complicated mind, haunted by romantic intrigues, indulging in the means of serialized novels, stolen papers, anonymous letters, rendezvous in deserted places, mysterious women who peddle, at night, damning evidence. It was he who conceived the idea of ​​dictating the memorandum to Dreyfus; it was he who dreamed of studying it in a room entirely covered with mirrors; it is he whom Commander Forzinetti represents to us armed with a dark lantern, wanting to be brought near the sleeping accused, to project a sudden flood of light onto his face and thus surprise his crime, in the excitement of waking up. And I don't have to say everything; if you look, you'll find. I simply state that Commander du Paty de Clam, in charge of investigating the Dreyfus affair, as a judicial officer, is, in order of dates and responsibilities, the first culprit of the appalling judicial error that was committed. The memorandum had been in the hands of Colonel Sandherr, director of the intelligence office, for some time, and has since died of general paralysis. "Leaks" were taking place, papers were disappearing, as they still do today; and the author of the memorandum was being sought, when a preconception gradually emerged that this author could only be a staff officer, and an artillery officer: a manifest double error, which shows with what superficial spirit this memorandum had been studied, for a reasoned examination demonstrates that it could only be a troop officer. So we searched the house, we examined the writings, it was like a family affair, a traitor to be caught in the offices themselves, in order to expel him. And, without wanting to retell a story that is partly known, Commander du Paty de Clam enters the scene as soon as the first suspicion falls on Dreyfus. From that moment on, he invented Dreyfus, the case became his case, he made it his mission to expose the traitor, to bring him to a full confession. There is indeed the Minister of War, General Mercier, whose intelligence seems mediocre; there is indeed the Chief of Staff, General de Boisdeffre, who appears to have given in to his clerical passion, and the Deputy Chief of Staff, General Gonse, whose conscience has been able to accommodate many things. But, in the end, there is only the commander of Paty de Clam, who leads them all, who hypnotizes them, because he also deals with spiritualism, occultism, he converses with spirits. One cannot imagine the experiments to which he subjected the unfortunate Dreyfus, the traps into which he wanted to make him fall, the mad investigations, the monstrous imaginings, a whole torturous madness. Ah! This first case is a nightmare for anyone who knows the true details! Commander du Paty de Clam arrested Dreyfus and put him in solitary confinement. He runs to Madame Dreyfus, terrorizes her, and tells her that if she talks, her husband is lost. Meanwhile, the unfortunate man was tearing at his own flesh, screaming his innocence. And the investigation was conducted in this way, as in a 15th-century chronicle, amidst mystery, with a complication of fierce expedients, all based on a single childish charge, this foolish memorandum, which was not only a vulgar betrayal, but also the most shameless of swindles, for the famous secrets delivered were almost all found to be worthless. If I insist, it is because the egg is here, from which will later emerge the real crime, the appalling denial of justice from which France is sick. I would like to show how the miscarriage of justice could have been possible, how it arose from the machinations of Commander du Paty de Clam, how General Mercier, Generals de Boisdeffre and Gonse could have been taken in, gradually engaging their responsibility in this error, which they later felt compelled to impose as the holy truth, a truth that is not even up for discussion. At first, therefore, there is nothing but negligence and unintelligence on their part. At most, one senses them giving in to the religious passions of the environment and the prejudices of the esprit de corps. They let the foolishness happen. But here is Dreyfus before the court-martial. The most absolute secrecy is required. If a traitor had opened the border to the enemy to lead the German emperor to Notre-Dame, no stricter measures of silence and secrecy would have been taken. The nation is struck with astonishment, terrible facts are whispered, monstrous betrayals that outrage History; and naturally the nation bows down. There is no punishment severe enough; she will applaud the public degradation; she will want the guilty man to remain on his rock of infamy, consumed by remorse. Is it true then, that unspeakable things, dangerous things, capable of setting Europe ablaze, had to be carefully buried behind this closed door? No! Behind it all, there were only the romantic and demented imaginings of Commander du Paty de Clam. All of this was done only to hide the most ludicrous of serialized novels. And to be sure of this, one only needs to carefully study the indictment, read before the court-martial. Ah! The utter emptiness of this indictment! That a man could be condemned for this act is a marvel of iniquity. I defy honest people to read it without their hearts leaping with indignation and crying out in revolt, thinking of the excessive expiation there, on Devil's Island. Dreyfus knows several languages, crime; no compromising papers were found at his home, crime; he sometimes goes to his country of origin, crime; he is industrious, he is concerned with knowing everything, crime; he does not get flustered, crime; he gets flustered, crime. And the naive writing, the formal assertions in the void! We were told about fourteen charges: in the end we only find one, that of the memorandum; and we even learn that the experts did not agree, that one of them, Mr. Gobert was subjected to military pressure because he dared not to conclude in the desired direction. There was also talk of twenty-three officers who had come to overwhelm Dreyfus with their testimonies. We do not yet know their interrogations, but it is certain that not all of them had implicated him; and it should also be noted that all of them belonged to the war offices. This is a family trial, we are here among ourselves, and we must remember that: the general staff wanted the trial, judged it, and they have just judged it a second time. So, all that remained was the slip, on which the experts had not agreed. It is said that, in the council chamber, the judges were naturally going to acquit. And, therefore, how can we understand the desperate obstinacy with which, to justify the condemnation, they now assert the existence of a secret, damning document, the document that cannot be shown, which legitimizes everything, before which we must bow, the invisible and unknowable God! I deny it, this play, I deny it with all my might! A ridiculous play, yes, perhaps the play about little women, and about a certain D... who becomes too demanding: some husband, no doubt, feeling that his wife wasn't being paid enough...
The famous Picquart file, about which so much has been said, was in fact nothing more than the Billot file—I mean the file compiled by a subordinate for his minister, the file which must still exist at the Ministry of War. The investigation lasted from May to September 1896, and what must be stated clearly is that General Gonse was convinced of Esterhazy's guilt, and that General de Boisdeffre and General Billot had no doubt that the memorandum was in Esterhazy's handwriting. Lieutenant-Colonel Picquart's investigation had led to this certain conclusion. But the commotion was great, because Esterhazy's conviction would inevitably lead to a review of the Dreyfus trial; and that was something the General Staff wanted to avoid at all costs. There must have been a moment of intense psychological anguish. Note that General Billot was not implicated in anything; he arrived fresh from the start, he could uncover the truth. He didn't dare, no doubt terrified by public opinion, certainly also by the fear of betraying the entire general staff, General de Boisdeffre, General Gonse, not to mention the subordinates. Then, it was only a minute of struggle between his conscience and what he believed to be the military interest. When that minute was over, it was already too late. He had committed himself, he was compromised. And since then, his responsibility has only grown; he has taken upon himself the crime of others, he is as guilty as the others, he is more guilty than they are, because he was in charge of dispensing justice, and he did nothing. Do you understand that! For a year now, General Billot, Generals de Boisdeffre and Gonse have known that Dreyfus is innocent, and they have kept this appalling truth to themselves! And these people sleep soundly, and they have wives and children they love...
“Dreyfus was condemned for treason by a court-martial, therefore he is guilty; and we, the court-martial, cannot declare him innocent; yet we know that to recognize Esterhazy's guilt would be to proclaim Dreyfus's innocence.” Nothing could sway them from this position. They handed down an unjust sentence, one that will forever weigh upon our courts-martial, that will henceforth cast suspicion upon all their judgments. The first court-martial may have been unintelligent, but the second is necessarily criminal. Its excuse, I repeat, is that the supreme commander had spoken, declaring the matter judged unassailable, sacred, and superior to all men, so that inferiors could not say the contrary. We are told of the army's honor; we are expected to love it, to respect it. Ah! Certainly, yes, the army that would rise at the first threat, that would defend French soil, it is the entire nation, and we have nothing but tenderness and respect for it. But this isn't about her, whose dignity we so desperately seek in our quest for justice. It's about the sword, the master we may be given tomorrow. And to devoutly kiss the sword's hilt, the god, no! I've demonstrated this elsewhere: the Dreyfus affair was a matter for the War Office, a staff officer denounced by his colleagues, condemned under pressure from the Chiefs of Staff. Once again, he cannot be found innocent without the entire General Staff being guilty. Thus, the War Office, by every imaginable means—press campaigns, communications, influence—only protected Esterhazy in order to ruin Dreyfus a second time. What a clean sweep the Republican government should give to this Jesuitical establishment, as General Billot himself calls them! Where is the truly strong and wisely patriotic ministry that will dare to overhaul and renew everything? How many people I know who, faced with the possibility of war, tremble with anguish, knowing in whose hands national defense lies! And what a nest of base intrigues, gossip, and squandering has become this sacred sanctuary, where the fate of the nation is decided! One is horrified by the terrible light cast upon it by the Dreyfus Affair, this human sacrifice of an unfortunate man, a "dirty Jew"! Ah! All the madness and folly that has stirred there, the wild imaginings, the practices of low policing, the morals of the Inquisition and tyranny, the whims of a few high-ranking officers putting their boots on the nation, forcing its cry of truth and justice down its throat, under the lying and sacrilegious pretext of reasons of state! [...]
But this letter is long, Mr. President, and it is time to conclude.
I accuse Lieutenant-Colonel du Paty de Clam of having been the diabolical architect of the miscarriage of justice, unconsciously, I want to believe, and of having then defended his nefarious work, for three years, by the most ludicrous and culpable machinations.
I accuse General Mercier of having made himself an accomplice, at least through weakness of mind, to one of the greatest iniquities of the century.
I accuse General Billot of having had in his hands certain proofs of Dreyfus's innocence and of having stifled them, of having made himself guilty of this crime against humanity and against justice, for political purposes and to save the compromised general staff.
I accuse General de Boisdeffre and General Gonse of having made themselves accomplices in the same crime, one undoubtedly through clerical passion, the other perhaps through that esprit de corps which makes the war offices the holy ark, unassailable.
I accuse General de Pellieux and Commander Ravary of having conducted a wicked investigation, by which I mean an investigation of the most monstrous partiality, of which we have, in the report of the latter, an imperishable monument of naive audacity.
I accuse the three handwriting experts, Messrs. Belhomme, Varinard and Couard, of having made false and fraudulent reports, unless a medical examination declares them to be suffering from a disease of sight and judgment.
I accuse the war offices of having conducted an abominable campaign in the press, particularly in L'Éclair and L'Écho de Paris, to mislead public opinion and cover up their wrongdoing.
Finally, I accuse the first court-martial of having violated the law, by convicting an accused person on a document that remained secret, and I accuse the second court-martial of having covered up this illegality, by order, by in turn committing the legal crime of knowingly acquitting a guilty person.
By making these accusations, I am fully aware that I am placing myself under the jurisdiction of Articles 30 and 31 of the Press Law of July 29, 1881, which punishes defamation. And I am voluntarily exposing myself to this.
As for the people I accuse, I don't know them, I've never seen them, and I harbor neither resentment nor hatred towards them. To me, they are merely entities, spirits of social malevolence. And the act I am performing here is simply a revolutionary means to hasten the explosion of truth and justice.
I have but one passion, the passion for light, in the name of humanity, which has suffered so much and has a right to happiness. My impassioned protest is but the cry of my soul. Let them dare to bring me before the Assize Court and let the investigation be conducted in broad daylight! I await it.
Please accept, Mr. President, the assurance of my deepest respect.