Nestled among the most exclusive designer shops on Vienna’s Graben Square in the city center is a narrow-doored boutique. Inside spread over 600 square meters are row upon row of handcrafted fur coats and luxury fashion items. The ceilings are high the lighting bright and the collection beckons. This is the flagship store of the Liska family’s fur empire a label that’s achieved an international following among the well-heeled and fashion-forward. But the prologue to this glitzy story transpired far away from the world of haute couture. Michael Fuchs was 27 years old when he jumped off a cattle car leading from his hometown near Chust to Auschwitz. Using a small saw that he’d managed to smuggle on board he cut open the window bars and together with about 20 other men leapt from the speeding train. Only a handful survived the jump. Michael then joined a band of partisans and spent the rest of the war years living in the forest doing his best to hinder the Nazi war effort. A family legacy — let alone a thriving business — was the furthest thing from his mind in the darkened forest where getting through the day was the only goal and throwing a wrench in the Nazi war machine the closest thing to sweet victory.

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