Emmanuel Macron established, on Saturday, a national commemoration day, on July 12, of the rehabilitation by the justice of Alfred Dreyfus, an officer of Jewish confession unjustly accused of betrayal – and condemned to the prison to perpetuity – at the end of the XIXe century, by calling for ” always “ vigilant “Against the old demons” anti -Semitism.
“Now, every July 12, a commemoration ceremony will be held for Dreyfus, for the victory of justice and the truth against hatred and anti -Semitism”wrote the head of state in a press release transmitted by the Elysée.
The first ceremony will take place in 2026, for the 120e Anniversary of the recognition by the Court of Cassation of the officer’s innocence. “Thus, Alfred Dreyfus and those who fought through him for freedom, Equality and Fraternity will continue to be the example that must inspire our conduct”underlines the President of the Republic.
The initiative of the Head of State was notably welcomed by the Bas-Rhin Renaissance deputy, Charles Sitzenstuhl, rapporteur of the bill calling for raising Alfred Dreyfus to the rank of brigadier general, unanimously adopted on June 2 by the National Assembly. “The Senate must now vote for the text definitively, and I hope it will be done in the fall”said to the Monde M. seating.
504 anti -Semitic acts identified between January and May
“The Dreyfus affair” has torn French opinion for more than a decade against the backdrop of anti-Semitism and politico-military conspiracy. From 1894, the year of his arrest, on July 12, 1906, the date of the judgment putting an end to the case, Alfred Dreyfus will have experienced two trials, imprisonment and the prison on the island of the devil in Guyana.
“Alas, the parentage of the heirs of the anti -depusards, anti -republicans and anti -Semites from the beginning and the middle of the XXe century has never died out “continues the head of state. “We know that we must always prove vigilance and perseverance against these old anti -Semitic demons caused by hatred. And today more than ever “he adds.
Between January and May 2025, 504 anti -Semitic acts were identified in France, according to the Ministry of the Interior, a drop of 24 % over a year, but a doubling compared to the same period in 2013.