On this day in 1898 Emile Zola published his "J'Accuse" letter on the Dreyfus Affair in the French newspaper L'Aurore. In his letter Zola listed eight politicians and military personnel (including the President of the Republic) whom he held responsible for the scapegoat, anti-Semitic conviction of Captain Dreyfus for treason three years earlier. Before the morning was out over 300,000 copies of the newspaper had been sold -- ten times the usual -- not a few to those so outraged at Zola's charges that they made bonfires. The letter set off a chain of events that would force Zola to flee to England to avoid his own prison term for defamation, but also force authorities to return Dreyfus from Devil's Island for retrial and, ultimately, exoneration ... FULL STORY »
