Angela Jong

APE period 7
April 5, 2009

History is continually being created. Whether we look to the past to glorify our deeds or
to learn from our mistakes, one thing is for sure- we will never be able to alter the past. The
Dreyfus affair serves to exemplify our inability to fully repay historical wrongs. These scandals
and moments of dishonor in history will always be a token of our misdeeds to be learned from,
but will never be compensated for. The physical losses and social ripples evoked by these
historical blunders such as the Holocaust can never be made right and attempts to repay are only
attempts to alleviate our conscience.
In the case of the Dreyfus affair, Captain Dreyfus is offered a mere promotion and badge
of honor in compensation for his time on the wretched Devil’s Island. (Source A). The army and
country of France itself seems misguided by the idea that the time lost and the frustration
underwent by Dreyfus could ever be repaid. The misdeed itself can never be made right because
he has lost invaluable time and effort something that will never be returned to him. A better
example is shown through the Holocaust. Under Hitler’s regime, millions were killed as a
consequence of ethnic cleansing. This despicable wrong can never be fully made right because
those lives lost will never be revived. Saying that a few Nazi leaders were brought to justice
cannot will not bring back the loved ones of millions of families. Those 14 Nazi leaders brought
to justice will not bring back a generation of Jewish people.
Today we look at the event with horror and shock. People write about it, hoping to bring
justice to the lives lost through literature and movies. However just as the trial of the Nazis will
never bring back the lives of the millions of Jews, flowery writing fails to bring back the dead. In
the event of the Dreyfus affair, the president of the French republic writes a century later,
describing the whole mishap as one of nobility and act of Emile Zola to speak up for the truth,
has become ‘incarnation of the best of the intellectual fashion’. (Source C) Although writings
may draw attention to the long ago injustice, it will never bring it to right or change the effects
that it had on society.
Alongside the physical damages that can never be brought back, society itself cannot
overcome the social ripples created by the mishap. The fallible nature of mankind forces us to
continue to create and find ourselves encounter injustice. The historical misfortunes do not teach
us a lesson and in the case of the Dreyfus affair, the prejudice and ethnic discrimination against
Jews that unjustly put Dreyfus behind bars still lingers today and ironically, the “anti-Semitism
has seen a marked increase”. (source F). Patterns of racism and ill will continue on today. Look
to the genocide that occurs in Rwanda and the blind eye that nations are turning to it. IN General
Mourrut’s speech where he admits the French army’s guilt in the Dreyfus affair, an optimistic
president of the central consistory of Jews, sees this admittance as a turn of events in this tragic
affair. However there is clear contradiction to this sentiment. This is apparent through the
dichotomy of opinions concerning the affair (Source B) and the vulgar vandalizing of the
symbolic statue of Dreyfus with the words ‘dirty Jew’.
The lives of the millions in the Holocaust and the 12 years of exile faced by Captain
Dreyfus can never be brought back. The past shall always be a vital part of our future, but our
futile attempts to repay these misdeeds will only lead to disillusionment without any actual results.
Perhaps literature and statues will alleviate the injustice felt by the victim, but it will never replace
their pain.