'A final injustice' corrected, says local mayor

Alfred Dreyfus statue finds permanent home in Paris, 120 years after his exoneration

At ceremony for wrongfully convicted officer, Macron warns ‘old demons of antisemitism’ never fully vanished; statue had effectively been hidden for decades after proposed sites rejected

A statue honoring French army captain Alfred Dreyfus arrived at its new permanent home in Paris on Sunday, 120 years after his sentence for treason was overturned.

The 3.5-meter (12-foot) bronze sculpture of Dreyfus, wrongly convicted of treason in 1894, in a notorious act of antisemitism, now stands outside the Court of Cassation in Paris, the court that overturned the Jewish army captain’s conviction on July 12, 1906.

Its unveiling on July 12 coincided with France’s national day of commemoration for Dreyfus, established by President Emmanuel Macron last year.

“We know that the old demons of antisemitism have never completely disappeared from our country,″ the French president said at Sunday’s ceremony, calling for constant vigilance to prevent acts that ″target people because of who they are.″

Dreyfus’ 99-year-old grandson Charles was among those in attendance.

“I must sadly admit that I would not have imagined, at my age, seeing antisemitism resurface with such virulence in our country,″ Charles Dreyfus said.

His sorrow, however, was tempered by what he called ″the deep joy″ at seeing his grandfather’s statue erected outside the Palace of Justice, depicting Dreyfus proudly wielding a broken sword.

Created in 1985 by artist Louis Mitelberg, the statue was effectively hidden from the public for decades after proposed sites were repeatedly rejected.

The new location corrects “a final injustice” to Dreyfus, said Paris Center Mayor Ariel Weil, a descendant of the Dreyfus family.

Dreyfus was convicted by a secret military court in 1894 after he was falsely accused of spying for Germany, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Prominent intellectuals at the time, including novelist Emile Zola, argued that Dreyfus had been made a scapegoat by the French military.

Evidence later proved another officer was responsible, but the military concealed the discovery in an affair that divided France.

After he was exonerated, Dreyfuss rejoined the French army and served in World War I. He died in 1935.

The affair famously led then-journalist Theodore Herzl to found the Zionist movement, convinced that a solution for antisemitism would never be found without an independent Jewish state.

Last year, France’s parliament approved a bill promoting Dreyfus posthumously to the rank of brigadier general.