FRENCH BRONZE ALFRED DREYFUS “TRAITOR” MEDAL.

1906

By J. Baffier. Struck by Janvier-Duval. Triangle edgemark. Obverse: Uniformed bust of War Minister Auguste Mercier, ‘Judge of the Traitor Dreyfus by National Subscription.’ Reverse: Gnarled oak wreath encloses Mercier’s passionate 12-line refusal to accept the French National Assembly’s exoneration of Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Diam: 2 inches.

The French military officer Alfred Dreyfus was falsely accused of espionage and his subsequent prosecution triggered a huge upsurge of anti-Semitism in France. Auguste Mercier and many others rejected all proof of Dreyfus’s innocence and thus became heroes to the right-wing anti-Semitic forces in France, as exemplified by this medal, paid for by “National Subscription.”