Autographs
Alfred Dreyfus Signed Photo Postcard in Uniform French Jew Sentenced to lifetime Imprisonment on Devil's Island
ALFRED DREYFUS (1859-1935). French military officer whose central role in the Dreyfus

Affair, which tore French society apart and shook their faith in the military, thrust him into the international spotlight.
Rare Real Photograph Postcard Signed, "A. Dreyfus" in deep black ink in the lower left margin of an image of Dreyfus in his military uniform, no place or date, Unused, Choice Crisp Extremely Fine to Near Mint. This impressive Portrait of Dreyfus nearly fills this 5.5" x 3.5" Photo Postcard, and his tight signature measures about 1.25." It is believed that Dreyfus was targeted for the false claim of treason because he was the only Jew in the department, making him an easy scapegoat. Despite his claims to innocence, he was found guilty of treason in a secret court marshal. During this trial, he was not provided with the same rights as others would have been granted. He was stripped of his rank in a humiliating public ceremony and sentenced to life imprisonment. Dreyfus was sentenced to serve out his time on the dreaded Devil's Island, a brutal French penal colony off the coast of South America. A great portrait image with a wonderful vivid signature "A. Dreyfus" of this much-maligned, but ultimately vindicated, military figure.
Those interested in the Politics and history of Europe in the years before World War I, as well as those who study Anti-Semitism of the period, are well acquainted with the particulars of the Scandal known as the Dreyfus Affair.



Alfred Dreyfus was a French nationalist Jew working for the French Army holding the rank of Captain. In 1894, a series of confidential documents were found in the wastepaper basket of a German military attach and it appeared that the documents were of French origin. This signaled French military intelligence that there was a spy among their ranks providing the German government with French military secrets. Since the information was of the same nature that Dreyfus had access to and since his family was originally from Alsace (a territory that was annexed by Germany), suspicion fell upon Dreyfus as the key suspect.



Anti-Semitism in the French Military also played a large part in the course of the badly botched investigation by the French Intelligence service. It is believed that he was targeted because he was the only Jew in the department, making him an easy scapegoat. Despite his claims to innocence, he was found guilty of treason in a secret court marshal. During this trial, he was not provided with the same rights as others would have been granted. He was stripped of his rank in a humiliating public ceremony and sentenced to life imprisonment. Dreyfus was sentenced to serve out his time on the dreaded Devil's Island, a brutal French penal colony off the coast of South America.



Given the extensive anti-Semitism within the ranks of the French military, it seemed as if Dreyfus would spend the remainder of his days on Devil's Island. Two years after Alfred Dreyfus was sentenced, an unlikely individual, Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart (a blatant anti-Semite) was reviewing the Dreyfus file. He found that it was not Dreyfus but another officer who was guilty of the crime for which Dreyfus was imprisoned. He pursued his conclusion that the wrong man was sent to prison not because of compassion, but because an injustice had been served against a good and loyal solider.



When it was brought to the attention of the higher ranks of the French military, Picquart was made to understand that it was more important to preserve the army's image than to revisit the case. If not for the intervention of Emile Zola, who published an article on the army cover-up in a daily paper, the affair would have ended with an innocent man in prison and the guilty spy on the loose inside French intelligence. There was a worldwide public outcry against the horrific actions of the French Military regarding the Dreyfus Affair and in support of a new trial for Captain Dreyfus. In 1899 another court marshal was convened to retry Dreyfus but, in short, this trial too was also a fiasco and Dreyfus was found guilty with "extenuating circumstances" and again sent back to Devil's Island. Later that year, the president of France pardoned Dreyfus. This pardon made it possible for Alfred Dreyfus to return to Paris. However, it was not until twelve years later (1906) that he was absolved of the charges and his rank returned. The "Dreyfus Affair" had a major impact on France as a nation, pitting the republicans, radicals and socialists against the church and army. Aside from the personal trauma experienced by Alfred Dreyfus, this event might have gone into the history books as just another anti-Semitic incident of 19th century Europe. However, during the ceremony where Dreyfus was publicly humiliated and stripped of his rank prior to being shipped to Devils Island, there was one particular journalist from Vienna reporting the events. This reporter was the young Theodore Herzl. The Dreyfus Affair had a tremendous personal impact on Herzl, and it is often cited as the catalyst that inspired Herzl to write "The Jewish State," which would become the "manifesto" or center point of the rise of modern Zionism. On July 12, 1906, Dreyfus was officially exonerated by a military commission. The day after his exoneration, he was readmitted into the army with the rank of Squadron Chief. A week later, he was made a Knight in the Legion of Honor, and subsequently named to the artillery command at Vincennes.