A Perennial Burden to the Conscience essays

A Perennial Burden to the Conscience essays When the Dreyfus case is ended, and nobody knows when that will be, there will be a relief to mankind all the world over- The General Advertiser of New South Wales, Australia, 19 August 1899 (Prisoners of honor-Dreyfus affair, David Levering Lewis). Never in the history of humanity, did a case of treason have such a profound impact on the entire state, from the government to the youngest child. The Affair penetrated, slowly but steadily, the conscience of the people not only in France but worldwide. Not only did it affect the government of France and its Army, but it also influenced the intellect and the religious framework, organizations and societies, as well as the ordinary citizens and the so-called little Frenchmen. Laffair split families, societies, organizations, friendships and the people in two tabors: The Dreyfussards those who were on the side of Captain Dreyfus and anti Dreyfussards those in favor of anti-Semitism. The Dreyfus Affair and its aftermath were remembered long after the case itself was officially closed. The Dreyfus Affair actually started in the second half of September 1894, when a letter containing some secret information about the French Army was brought at the Statistical Section of the French War Office. The letter called bordereau was stolen from the waste paper basket of the German Military Attach von Schwartzkopfen. It contained a list of notes on the new artillery weapons and a Firing Manual. The officers of the General Staff were convinced that a probationer officer could have written it, since only they could have such a variety of information. Among these officers, Alfred Dreyfus was the only Jew and had a bad report. After a brief interview by Major the Marquis du Paty de Clam, he was accused of high treason and arrested a few minutes past nine oclock in the morning of October 15th, 1894. He was secretly kept in prison and inte...