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French president Emmanuel Macron has announced that July 12 will be a national day of remembrance for captain Alfred Dreyfus, the Jewish officer unjustly convicted of treason due to public anti-Semitism, starting in 2026.

“From now on, July 12 will be Dreyfus Day, a day of truth and justice triumphing over hatred and anti-Semitism,” the Elysee Palace said in an official statement. The date was chosen to commemorate the decision of the French Court of Cassation on July 12, 1906, which fully acquitted Dreyfus. On the same day in 1935 Dreyfus died at the age of 76.

Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish captain in the French army, and was the victim of a fabricated case in 1894. He was accused of passing secret documents to Germany. Despite the lack of evidence, he was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to hard labor in Guyana. The case was accompanied by mass anti-Semitic demonstrations.

It was only after the publication of the famous open letter “J’accuse…!” by Emile Zola in 1898, and then thanks to new evidence, that the prosecution’s case began to crumble. Nevertheless, the court martial again found him guilty in 1899, but reduced his sentence. It was not until 1906 that the case was finally reviewed, and Dreyfus himself was reinstated to his rank and continued his military service, including participation in the First World War.

Dreyfus’s descendants welcomed the initiative. “This is not just the recognition of a victim, it is the recognition of a hero, a man who fought for the truth,” said his great-granddaughter Anne-Cecile Levy. Great-grandson Michel Dreyfus emphasized this day will also be a celebration of the rule of law, again under threat today.

In June the French parliament voted unanimously to award Dreyfus posthumously the rank of brigadier general. The French embassy in Israel said: “The French nation does not forget. This is an act of justice and a tribute to the memory of a warrior, a symbol of the fight against anti-Semitism.” As Ynet notes, it was the Dreyfus Affair which pushed Theodor Herzl towards the idea of political Zionism. As a reporter at a Viennese newspaper, he covered the trial and witnessed a crowd chanting “Death to the Jews” in central Paris. This episode became a turning point in his worldview and in the history of the Jewish people.

Against the backdrop of increasing anti-Semitism in France–more than 500 incidents have been recorded in the first five months of 2025–the presidential initiative is especially important. France remains the country with the largest Jewish population in Europe.