The free event, open to all U.P. residents, will begin at 7 p.m. Feb. 10 on the Zoom platform. Individuals are asked to contact Evelyn Gathu in advance at egathu@uproc.lib.mi.us or 906-875-3344.

The Crystal Falls Community Library, in partnership with the U.P. Publishers and Authors Association, has scheduled author events with the winners of the U.P. Notable Book List. The Kopecky session will mark the 14th such event.

Kopecky is a graduate of Manistique High School and holds bachelor of science, master of arts and reading specialist degrees from Northern Michigan University. She has taught in the Utica Community Schools, Minneapolis Public Schools, Tahquamenon Area Schools and Manistique Area Schools, where she retired.

According to the UPPAA, Kopecky is a history buff who belongs to the Michigan Historical Society and the Newton Township Historical Society in Mackinac County, and is curator of the Schoolcraft County Historical Society in Manistique. Her interest in conscientious objectors spurred her to apply for a position on the Selective Service Board. She served on that board for 20 years, the maximum time allowed.

Jane Kopecky is the author of “World War II Conscientious Objectors: Germfask, Michigan — The Alcatraz Camp.” (Photo courtesy of the Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association)

Kopecky, who lives in Manistique, also is the author of “Huntspur and Along the Tracks,” the history of a small Upper Michigan community whose past comes to life through interviews with local residents and countless historical photographs, the UPPAA said.

“I had heard local rumors about a draft dodger’s camp in Germfask during World War II so I decided to find out about it,” Kopecky said in an email. “The local people I initially interviewed all had negative comments about the men and the camp, but none see

“One person told me, ‘They were young men from rich families who paid the government to keep them out of war. We’re so far in the boonies no one would find them.’ How could this happen? It was a mystery I was determined to solve.”

She said she began the project in 1980 before the days of computers, using old- fashioned research techniques that included using library cards, microfiche, and letter writing, and ended in 2005 with the aid of computers.

“The research became a passion that lasted over 40 years,” Kopecky said. “In addition to discovering the history of the camp, I had the opportunity to meet interesting people and gain a new perspective about life.”

The UPPAA provided this testimonial about the World War II book from Howard Brick, a Louis Evans professor of history at the University of Michigan:

“Here Jane Kopecky reveals the nearly-forgotten story of Camp Germfask, where some of the most ardent war-resisters among World War II conscientious objectors were held for 13 months in 1944 and 1945. Opponents of the war and conscription on a variety of religious, pacifist or political grounds, these recalcitrant dissenters dared imprisonment as they refused to cooperate with rules of Selective Service. Instead of jail, they ended up in what some men called the Alcatraz of CO camps and their sympathizers elsewhere in the country called ‘American’s Siberia.’

“In interview transcripts, memoirs and documents collected by Jane Kopecky, their lives and their relationships with their Germfask and other Upper Peninsula neighbors come alive. This book is a great read and a great service to historical understanding.”

Another testimonial comes from Deborah K. Frontiera, author of “Superior Tapestry: Weaving the Threads of Upper Michigan History.”

She said, “Another issue the author spends a good deal of time on was prejudice and violence toward these men. While I understand that under the conditions of World War II, with so many men leaving their families to take up arms, people would have angry and negative feelings against those who chose not to fight, and prejudice was extreme.

“Kopecky relates several instances recorded in newspapers and in the statements of those men. Leonard Lewis, one of the COs, said, ‘After they got to know us, they liked us.’ To me, this speaks volumes — all over again in today’s world. The author also documents instances of false reporting in news media at that time. It is no wonder that the author received an award from the Historical Society of Michigan for her book. I am proud to have added it to my personal collection.”

More information about the U.P. Notable Book list, U.P. Book Review and UPPAA can be found on www.UPNotable.com.

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.