Graphic (London, England) [Magazine]

Special issue of Graphic, an illustrated periodical published in London in 1899, dedicated to "The Martyrdom of Alfred Dreyfus: A Historical Summary of the Whole Case." The Dreyfus Affair was an antisemitic French political scandal that inflamed public opinion worldwide in the late 19th century. Alfred Dreyfus was an army captain found guilty of treason in 1894 for selling military secrets. Antisemitic publications used Dreyfus as a symbol of the disloyalty of all French Jews. Emile Zola wrote a letter to protest the verdict, titled "J'Accuse," in which he accused the French Army of covering up its unjust conviction of Dreyfus. Zola was charged with libel and the Dreyfus Affair grew into a national political crisis. An Army intelligence officer was found to have forged the document proving Dreyfus's guilt. But in a second trial, despite the confession of the traitor, the Army again convicted Dreyfus. He was sentenced to prison for another ten years. The verdict was met with outrage around the world. Dreyfus was offered a pardon by the president to end the crisis, which he accepted September 19. The magazine is one of the more than 900 items in the Katz Ehrenthal Collection of antisemitic artifacts and visual materials.