Macron commemorates Dreyfus and urges vigilance against antisemitism

Paris – 12.07.2026: France is marking a national day of remembrance for the recognition of the innocence of Alfred Dreyfus for the first time. President Emmanuel Macron is thereby honouring the Jewish officer who was wrongly convicted of treason, as well as those who fought for years for his rehabilitation. The state commemoration is also intended to reaffirm the commitment to resolutely oppose antisemitism, racism and conspiracy ideologies.

12 July refers to the ruling of the Court of Cassation on 12 July 1906. France’s highest court permanently overturned the convictions at the time and established Dreyfus’ innocence. The case had deeply divided the Third Republic since 1894. Following a military trial, Dreyfus was stripped of his rank and deported to Devil’s Island in French Guiana.

The affair was far more than a judicial error. It revealed how antisemitic campaigns, political interests and institutional insularity could obstruct the search for truth. Writers, politicians, jurists and military figures advocated for Dreyfus; the defining figures included Emile Zola, Georges Clemenceau and former intelligence officer Marie-Georges Picquart. The conflict became a key event in the history of the republican rule of law.

The government act issued on 7 July permanently establishes the day of remembrance in the state calendar. It provides for a national ceremony every 12 July and gives prefects the option of holding corresponding events in the departments. The first Paris ceremony will take place near the Palais de Justice, the site where the rehabilitation became legally final 120 years ago.

The City of Paris is linking the date to the inauguration of a new location for the sculpture Hommage au capitaine Dreyfus in front of the Court of Cassation. This choice of location underscores the institutional dimension of remembrance: the focus is not solely on the fate of an individual officer, but on a state governed by the rule of law’s ability to correct its own injustice following public and legal pressure.

Macron had already announced the annual commemoration in July 2025. In November 2025, Parliament posthumously elevated Dreyfus to the rank of brigadier general. This granted him the rank whose loss he had regarded as continuing discrimination after his reinstatement in the army. The retrospective promotion complements the judicial rehabilitation with symbolic military recognition.

Today’s occasion comes amid renewed social awareness of antisemitism. The historical lesson of the Dreyfus Affair does not lie in simply equating different eras. Rather, it points to the importance of independent courts, verifiable facts and a political public sphere that does not allow collective prejudice to become a justification for exclusion.