Dreyfuss Trial: French lawmakers call for  posthumous promotion

A group of French parliamentarians led by former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, himself a Jew, are calling for Alfred Dreyfuss, the Jew framed for treason due to antisemitism in 1895, to be posthumously promoted to Brigadier General, according to a report today (Tuesday) by France 24.

Dreyfuss was framed for treason in 1895 based on allegations that his handwriting matched that of a known spy within the French Army. He was stripped of his ranks and exiled to Devil's Island, as a wave of antisemitism swept through the country.

When another French officer discovered the real identity of the spy, he was cast out of the army and jailed for a year.

Dreyfuss was only exonerated and reinstated in 1906 when the Liberals took over. He served in WWI as a Captain and died in 1935.

Attal and others argue that Dreyfuss would have naturally risen through the ranks of the French Army to Brigadier General were it not for his false imprisonment and demotion, and that he should therefore be granted that rank by the French Parliament.