PARIS, France — The Dreyfus affair, subject of the new Roman Polanski film which is premiering at the Venice Film Festival, triggered a national crisis over anti-Semitism in France in the late 19th century.
Here is an account of the scandal, which had wide international repercussions.
Alfred Dreyfus was a 36-year-old Jewish French army captain, from the Alsace region of eastern France which was at the time occupied by Germany.
He was accused in October 1894 of passing secret information on new artillery equipment to the German military attache.
The accusation was based on a comparison of handwriting on a document found in the German’s waste paper basket in Paris.
On trial
Dreyfus was put on trial, against the background of a virulent anti-Semitic press campaign.
