On January 13th 1898, celebrated French writer Émile Zola published a letter, J'accuse, in the newspaper L'Aurore.

In it, Zola accused the President of France and the government of anti-Semitism regarding the imprisonment of Alfred Dreyfuss, a French-Jewish artillery officer who had been sentenced to life for espionage and treason.

Evidence that pointed to another officer was hidden and Dreyfus was convicted. Zola's action caused a massive uproar known as the Dreyfus affair, and risked himself by writing the letter.

Image: By Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaïsme (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22J’accuse…!%22,_page_de_couverture_du_journal_l%E2%80%99Aurore,_publiant_la_lettre_d%E2%80%99Emile_Zola_au_Pr%C3%A9sident_de_la_R%C3%A9publique,_M._F%C3%A9lix_Faure_%C3%A0_propos_de_l%E2%80%99Affaire_Dreyfus.jpg)