In 1894, Captain Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason on false charges and forced into exile in French Guiana. This conviction took place against a backdrop of deep-rooted anti-Semitism in the French society at the time.

The French National Assembly voted unanimously on Monday in favor of MP Gabriel Attal’s bill to elevate Alfred Dreyfus to the rank of Brigadier General, 130 years after his unjust condemnation.

The 197 lawmakers present adopted the text on first reading, described by its promoters as an “act of reparation”.

“Promoting Alfred Dreyfus to the rank of brigadier general today would be an act of reparation, a recognition of his merits and a tribute to his republican commitment”, stressed Attal, a former Prime Minister and President of the governing Renaissance political group, in the text’s explanatory memorandum.

Rapporteur Charles Sitzenstuhl, hailed a vote “that will go down in history” and urged senators to examine the text quickly.

A career shattered by anti-Semitism

In 1894, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a native of Mulhouse, was convicted of treason on false charges and forced into exile in French Guiana. This conviction took place against a backdrop of deep-rooted anti-Semitism in the French society at the time.

Cleared by a Court of Cassation ruling in 1906, Dreyfus was reinstated in the army and appointed squadron leader by a law taking immediate effect. However, this partial rehabilitation constituted an “injustice”, according to the rapporteur, as it did not correspond to “a complete reconstitution of his career”.

Alfred Dreyfus himself had unsuccessfully demanded a full career upgrade. He left the army in 1907, only to serve again during the First World War.

According to Charles Sitzenstuhl, the question of Alfred Dreyfus’s full rehabilitation “has long been concealed and ignored, outside his family and specialists in the affair.’’

A step forward was taken in 2006, when then French President Jacques Chirac paid tribute to Dreyfus, acknowledging that “justice [had]not been fully rendered” and that he had not been able to “benefit from the reconstitution of his career to which he was entitled”.

Monday’s unanimous vote aims to complete a historic reparation that has been awaited for over a century.