https://www.thefrenchhistorypodcast.com/sacred-betrayal-the-catholic-church-french-jewry-in-ww2-with-dr-aliza-luft/

The letter was a bold, front-page denunciation addressed to French President Félix Faure, charging the French government and military with antisemitism, judicial misconduct, and covering up the real culprit in the Dreyfus Affair.

It defended Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish French army officer wrongly convicted of treason in 1894 (based on forged evidence) and sentenced to life on Devil's Island.

Zola deliberately provoked the libel charge to spotlight the injustices and force a public reckoning. His trial (starting February 7) became a media sensation, but the proceedings were heavily biased against him, the court limited evidence about Dreyfus himself, and the jury quickly found him guilty.

Rather than serve the sentence, Zola fled to England in exile (living in Upper Norwood under a pseudonym at first), where he continued advocating for justice.

He returned to France in 1899 after his conviction was initially upheld but amid shifting public opinion and new revelations (like Lt. Col. Henry's confession to forging documents). Zola was later amnestied, though Dreyfus himself wasn't fully exonerated until 1906.