Alfred Dreyfus, Five years Devil's Island, pref. Mark Dorr, trans. Paul Fontana, Medusa 200, Euro 18.00.
A trial of a people of Massimo Sestili
Bernard Lazare, the Jewish anarchist intellectual who raised her in solitude coltre degli intrighi e ingiustizie che portarono alla condanna annunciata del capitano dell’esercito francese Alfred Dreyfus, in apertura del suo pamphlet L’affaire Dreyfus, une erreur judiciaire, a proposito delle spaventose abitudini giudiziarie che consentirono di celebrare il processo a porte chiuse, afferma: “Ciò che appare più di tutto incredibile è che degli uomini gelosi della propria indipendenza e che si dicono liberi, accettino simili violazioni della libertà e sopportino che si possa così, attentando al diritto altrui, attentare alla propria persona ed ai propri diritti”.
Il bersaglio della polemica di Lazare è in primo luogo il Consiglio di Guerra, il tribunale militare che stravolgendo tutte le regole del diritto e dimostrandosi più sensibile ai richiami del corporativismo totalitario piuttosto che della giustizia, emette una durissima condanna nei confronti di Dreyfus solo perché ebreo. Ad essere giudicato non è un uomo sulla base di prove e di un movente certi, ma un intero popolo contro il quale convergono odi e antipatie ataviche: l’accusa al popolo deicida distillata dal millenario antigiudaismo, attraverso la correlazione con le forti pulsioni nazionaliste e xenofobe torna a nuova vita trasformandosi nell’antisemitismo moderno.
Tuttavia, la critica di Lazare riguarda la maggioranza dell’opinione pubblica e della classe dirigente francese che, di fronte ad un tale scempio della dignità umana, of freedom and justice, or closes in an awkward and uncomfortable silence, or openly supports the anti-Semitic campaign and antidreyfusard. In this majority that yields to the lowest instincts in the streets of Paris shouting "Death to the Jew!" Lazare opposes an ethic of responsibility and legality based on the principle that deny freedom and rights of one man means undermining the freedom and the rights of the entire community.
anarchist writer in the controversy in favor of Dreyfus anchored his argument to a solid tradition of enlightened and libertarian writers had been involved with the likes of Alessandro Manzoni History of the infamous column , With Voltaire's Essay on Tolerance and Victor Hugo with the little Napoleon . Whether the hunting of spreaders which was followed by arrests, torture and death sentences, which in the rental Calas, this one ended tragically with the death penalty, or in the coup of Napoleon III, Lazare identifies common features that emerge clearly Dreyfus in the business: the prevalence of superstitions and prejudices on the right, religious intolerance, contempt of the Constitution and rules. L'affaire Dreyfus is obvious, therefore, the watchful eye of Lazare as a reflection of a profound social and political crisis that threatens to seriously undermine the republican institutions: the denial of justice once again is a symptom of a deep attack on freedom. A free man, Lazare commitment to truth and justice while creating the conditions for the birth of the movement Dreyfusard and a wider front in defense of Enlightenment values \u200b\u200band the Republicans. It is precisely this clash of civilization, carried out especially against a seasoned bunch of anti-Semites, who persuades Emile Zola to take a stand, with the first article Pour les Juifs and then with J'accuse.
But the Dreyfus affair, in addition to the terrible threat of anti-Semitic, reveals the failure of the process of assimilation of the Jews, bankruptcy that will be reason to reflect on Theodor Herzl, who just a jew from the condemnation of innocent belief that the draw for the people there can be no security if not within a state.
the centenary of the final acquittal of Dreyfus (July 12, 1906), Paolo Fontana again that Alfred translated the diary he wrote while in prison Devil's Island (Sonzogno first edition 1901). In correspondence with his wife, and reflections on his sentence, striking the immense suffering of a desperate man who proclaims his innocence but at the same time also includes the interests of those who sought death. The people who railed at his address at the time journeyed to the station of La Rochelle to be taken to the island of Ré, says: "We only know that I heard the legitimate cries of a people against those who believe a traitor, that is to say, the last of the wretched." Throughout the diary never appears no reference to his Jewish descent, nor a word about anti-Semitic movement, once speaks of God, and it does quoting Schopenhauer: "If God created the world, I would not be God." Dreyfus was a lay perfectly assimilated and had a love of country French at the edge of fanaticism, as Lazare, had forgotten to be a jew, to remind them will be anti-Semites.
Il bersaglio della polemica di Lazare è in primo luogo il Consiglio di Guerra, il tribunale militare che stravolgendo tutte le regole del diritto e dimostrandosi più sensibile ai richiami del corporativismo totalitario piuttosto che della giustizia, emette una durissima condanna nei confronti di Dreyfus solo perché ebreo. Ad essere giudicato non è un uomo sulla base di prove e di un movente certi, ma un intero popolo contro il quale convergono odi e antipatie ataviche: l’accusa al popolo deicida distillata dal millenario antigiudaismo, attraverso la correlazione con le forti pulsioni nazionaliste e xenofobe torna a nuova vita trasformandosi nell’antisemitismo moderno.
Tuttavia, la critica di Lazare riguarda la maggioranza dell’opinione pubblica e della classe dirigente francese che, di fronte ad un tale scempio della dignità umana, of freedom and justice, or closes in an awkward and uncomfortable silence, or openly supports the anti-Semitic campaign and antidreyfusard. In this majority that yields to the lowest instincts in the streets of Paris shouting "Death to the Jew!" Lazare opposes an ethic of responsibility and legality based on the principle that deny freedom and rights of one man means undermining the freedom and the rights of the entire community.
anarchist writer in the controversy in favor of Dreyfus anchored his argument to a solid tradition of enlightened and libertarian writers had been involved with the likes of Alessandro Manzoni History of the infamous column , With Voltaire's Essay on Tolerance and Victor Hugo with the little Napoleon . Whether the hunting of spreaders which was followed by arrests, torture and death sentences, which in the rental Calas, this one ended tragically with the death penalty, or in the coup of Napoleon III, Lazare identifies common features that emerge clearly Dreyfus in the business: the prevalence of superstitions and prejudices on the right, religious intolerance, contempt of the Constitution and rules. L'affaire Dreyfus is obvious, therefore, the watchful eye of Lazare as a reflection of a profound social and political crisis that threatens to seriously undermine the republican institutions: the denial of justice once again is a symptom of a deep attack on freedom. A free man, Lazare commitment to truth and justice while creating the conditions for the birth of the movement Dreyfusard and a wider front in defense of Enlightenment values \u200b\u200band the Republicans. It is precisely this clash of civilization, carried out especially against a seasoned bunch of anti-Semites, who persuades Emile Zola to take a stand, with the first article Pour les Juifs and then with J'accuse.
But the Dreyfus affair, in addition to the terrible threat of anti-Semitic, reveals the failure of the process of assimilation of the Jews, bankruptcy that will be reason to reflect on Theodor Herzl, who just a jew from the condemnation of innocent belief that the draw for the people there can be no security if not within a state.
the centenary of the final acquittal of Dreyfus (July 12, 1906), Paolo Fontana again that Alfred translated the diary he wrote while in prison Devil's Island (Sonzogno first edition 1901). In correspondence with his wife, and reflections on his sentence, striking the immense suffering of a desperate man who proclaims his innocence but at the same time also includes the interests of those who sought death. The people who railed at his address at the time journeyed to the station of La Rochelle to be taken to the island of Ré, says: "We only know that I heard the legitimate cries of a people against those who believe a traitor, that is to say, the last of the wretched." Throughout the diary never appears no reference to his Jewish descent, nor a word about anti-Semitic movement, once speaks of God, and it does quoting Schopenhauer: "If God created the world, I would not be God." Dreyfus was a lay perfectly assimilated and had a love of country French at the edge of fanaticism, as Lazare, had forgotten to be a jew, to remind them will be anti-Semites.
Massimo Sestili
Author: Alfred Dreyfus
Born in 1859 in Mulhouse, in Alsace, after the defeat of Sedan in 1870, his family moved to Paris where the young Dreyfus began his military career to the rank of captain. He married Lucie Hadamart and has two sons, Pierre and Jeanne. Since April 13, 1895 July 1, 1899 Devil's Island prisoner. After the presidential pardon of the republic was reinstated in the army in 1906 with the rank of major and received the Legion of Honor. He died July 12, 1935.
Back cover
This is the "Diary" that Alfred Dreyfus was held from day to day in the five years that saw him prisoner all’Isola del diavolo. Anni di macerazione interiore, di riflessione sulle ingiustizie umane, e sulle ragioni di un antisemitismo che annunciava tempi peggiori. Ma anche annotazioni sul tempo, sulla vita in carcere, divagazioni fantastiche su di sé, arricchite dalle numerose lettere che scambiava con l’amatissima moglie Lucie. Il racconto in prima persona della lotta di un uomo solo, sostenuto unicamente dalla volontà di veder riconosciuta la propria innocenza e di essere risarcito nell’onore. Un libro che si legge come un romanzo, e forse a suo modo anche lo è.
Indice del volume
“Sacrificate sacrificium justitiae et sperate in Domino” di Marco Dotti; Nota del traduttore di Paolo Fontana; Cinque anni della mia vita.
L’editore
Edizioni Medusa Viale Abruzzi 82 – 20131 Milano – edizionimedusa@tiscalinet.it
Born in 1859 in Mulhouse, in Alsace, after the defeat of Sedan in 1870, his family moved to Paris where the young Dreyfus began his military career to the rank of captain. He married Lucie Hadamart and has two sons, Pierre and Jeanne. Since April 13, 1895 July 1, 1899 Devil's Island prisoner. After the presidential pardon of the republic was reinstated in the army in 1906 with the rank of major and received the Legion of Honor. He died July 12, 1935.
Back cover
This is the "Diary" that Alfred Dreyfus was held from day to day in the five years that saw him prisoner all’Isola del diavolo. Anni di macerazione interiore, di riflessione sulle ingiustizie umane, e sulle ragioni di un antisemitismo che annunciava tempi peggiori. Ma anche annotazioni sul tempo, sulla vita in carcere, divagazioni fantastiche su di sé, arricchite dalle numerose lettere che scambiava con l’amatissima moglie Lucie. Il racconto in prima persona della lotta di un uomo solo, sostenuto unicamente dalla volontà di veder riconosciuta la propria innocenza e di essere risarcito nell’onore. Un libro che si legge come un romanzo, e forse a suo modo anche lo è.
Indice del volume
“Sacrificate sacrificium justitiae et sperate in Domino” di Marco Dotti; Nota del traduttore di Paolo Fontana; Cinque anni della mia vita.
L’editore
Edizioni Medusa Viale Abruzzi 82 – 20131 Milano – edizionimedusa@tiscalinet.it
