Local History Columns
Local History: Scranton Army officer defects to East Germany upon marriage rejection
Photo: N/A, License: N/A "He loved me, but I didn't love him," Angelika Baechle told the board of five Army officers. Described as a "curvaceous brunette," the young German woman was called as a defense witness before the court martial board in Frankfurt. Capt. Alfred E. Svenson, a Scranton resident, was being tried on desertion and larceny charges, accused of stealing an Army jeep and driving it across the border into East Germany on May 4, 1963. (read more)
Local History: Scranton man's defection heated up Cold War
Photo: N/A, License: N/A May 4, 1963. Army Capt. Alfred Svenson was assigned to the 2nd Medium Tank Battalion, 1st Cavalry, of the 3rd Armored Division, northwest of Frankfurt. He donned his full dress uniform, got into an Army jeep and drove it across the barricaded border between East and West Germany, near the town of Kleinensee (read more)
Local History: How Scranton became electric
Flat-bottom railroad cars were an ordinary sight in Scranton in 1886. But the ones that arrived on Sunday, Nov. 28, attracted a good deal of attention. They carried three electric trolley cars for the Scranton Suburban Street Railway. (read more)