rrogated mainly by du Paty de Clam. The case maybe would have never been made public, if Edouard Drumont hadn't published an article on the Affair. He published it in his anti-Semitic newspaper "La Libre Parole," on November 1. Dreyfus was found guilty of treason in a closed court-martial on December 22. The Army stripped him of his rank in a humiliating ceremony, in front of many soldiers and other officers, in the courtyard of the Ecole Militaire on January 5, 1895. Almost everyone, except the family of the convicted officer, believed that he was the traitor. Mathieu Dreyfus, brother of Alfred Dreyfus, protested against the decision of the court, but without success. Dreyfus was sent on the Devil's Island and it looked like the case was closed.
             On July 1, 1895 Major Picquart was named Chief of the Intelligence Bureau. In March 1896, he discovers a letter called "petit bleu," which was written by Schwartzkopfen and addressed to Major Walsin-Esterhazy, another high-ranking officer. The letter, which was never sent, requested additional information from Esterhazy. Picquart first thought that Esterhazy was another culprit but after he compares the "bordereau" to the handwriting of Esterhazy he noticed that in fact he is the only offender. He reported this to the Acting Chief of General Staff, hoping that he would shed light on this mysterious case. To his great surprise, after a couple of months Picquart was ordered to duty in North Africa which was an order usually given to the officers that were not wanted in France.
             After this, Colonel Henry, officer in charge of Counter-Espionage, began to produce fake letters to strengthen the impression that Dreyfus was the traitor. Henry justified this claiming that he was thinning the "secret dossier," thus doing a great favor to France. In the meantime, Esterhazy insisted on a court-martial for himself. He was tried and acquitted on January 1...