The Letter in the Basement: A 1939 Act of Kindness That Connected Two Luggage Dynasties

What if the man whose life was saved by the founder of Lieber's Luggage came from a family that would go on to build one of the most respected luggage brands in the world — and what if his grandson is still running that company today?

That's not a hypothetical. That's what happened.

August 2017 — A Basement Discovery

Richard Krulik wasn't looking for anything extraordinary. He was sorting through old family documents in his mother's basement when he found a letter he didn't recognize.

It was dated July 1, 1939. Printed on the ornate letterhead of "Max Lieber, Inc. — Manufacturers and Designers of Fine Leather Goods" out of Cleveland, Ohio, with a handwritten notation in the corner: Name Changed To Lieber's Luggage Shops.

The letter was addressed to the Honorable American Consul in London, England. It was an affidavit of sponsorship — a legal guarantee written by Max Lieber, the original founder of Lieber's Luggage, on behalf of a Jewish refugee named Hans Ax, then living at 21 Albert Bridge Road, London.

Max wrote:

"Although we are not related, I have been in correspondence with him and because of present conditions abroad I am extremely anxious to assist him in coming to the United States... I have a lovely home which I will gladly share with Mr. Ax, and he shall be as part of my own family. In addition, he will be given a monthly allowance of $75.00 a month for as long as is necessary."

Notarized. Signed. Sent.

Richard Krulik stared at that letterhead — Lieber's Luggage Shops — and felt the floor shift beneath him.

Hans Ax was his grandfather.

The Man Max Lieber Saved

Hans Ax had been operating a leather goods business in Vienna when the Nazis annexed Austria in 1938. Like hundreds of thousands of others, he was desperately trying to find a way out. Getting to America required a sponsor — an American citizen willing to put their name, their home, and their finances on the line for a refugee.

Max Lieber did exactly that. And here's what makes it extraordinary: Max and Hans almost certainly didn't know each other.

Max was deeply involved in a Cleveland Jewish refugee organization, believed to have been writing sponsorship letters for complete strangers — people whose names came to him through the organization, whose faces he had never seen. He guaranteed a home and $75 a month to a man he'd never met, because it was the right thing to do.

Hans Ax made it to America in 1940. He survived. He started over — founding London Leather, building a new life and a new business in his adopted country.

What Hans Ax's Family Built

Hans's grandson, Richard Krulik, grew up in that family business orbit — the leather goods and luggage world his grandfather had rebuilt from nothing after escaping Vienna.

Richard took over executive leadership in the 1990s, and in August 2000, he acquired Briggs & Riley Travelware — founded in 1993 and now one of the most iconic luggage brands in the world — under the umbrella of U.S. Luggage LLC. Today, Richard Krulik serves as CEO, guiding a brand known globally for its obsessive quality standards and legendary lifetime repair guarantee.

The grandson of the man Max Lieber saved from Nazi-occupied Europe now runs one of the great luggage companies of the modern era.

And Lieber's Luggage — the store that still carries Max's name — carries Briggs & Riley on its shelves.

A Friendship Forged in Retail

By 1943, Max Lieber had reached his own crossroads. After a falling out with a business partner, he sold the entire Lieber's Luggage operation to his closest friend: Sam Fine, a fellow entrepreneur he trusted completely.

Sam ran the Cleveland store for nearly five decades. His grandson, Frank Fine, grew up working those aisles — stocking shelves, learning the craft, developing a passion for retail and travel goods that never left him.

In the late 1970s, Frank relocated to Albuquerque to start fresh. In 1978, he formally adopted the Lieber's Luggage name — for its alliteration, its industry cachet, and the history it carried. Sam eventually closed the original Cleveland location around 1989, but the name had already found a permanent home in New Mexico.

September 2017 — Three Families, One Table

Just weeks after Richard's discovery in that basement, descendants of Max Lieber, Sam Fine, and Hans Ax gathered for dinner in New York City. They brought documents. They shared stories. They pieced together a history that none of them had fully known.

Three families. Three legacies. One letter that connected them all across nearly 80 years.

The Full Circle

Today, Dustin and Felicia Boyd operate Lieber's Luggage at 6515 Menaul Blvd NE in Albuquerque.

When you walk in and pick up a Briggs & Riley bag, you're holding a piece of that story. The brand was built by the grandson of a man who survived the Holocaust because a Cleveland luggage store owner — a complete stranger — signed his name to a piece of paper and said: he shall be as part of my own family.

Max Lieber saved a life. That life built a legacy. That legacy is on our shelves.

Some stories are too good to make up. This one is real — and it's ours.

Lieber's Luggage. Since the beginning. Built for the journey.