Henry Flescher was born in Vienna and escaped to France during WWII, only to be captured while trying to buy grapes at a market in Lyon.
He was sent to seven different German concentration camps over three years.
Mr Flescher, who did not know what Reddit was before his AMA, said his grandson helped him through the session, which received more than 7,000 questions.
“I hope this gives everyone a little perspective on life,” he said.
Mr Flescher still has a tattoo on his arm with his camp serial number 177153, used for identification at Auschwitz — the only camp where prisoners were tattooed.
When asked about the tattoo, Mr Flescher said he chose not to have the tattoo removed like other Holocaust survivors, as it would be like “removing a part of history”.
“It’s a testament to the past. It shows I survived. And I’m here, and loving life!” he said.
Mr Flescher narrowly avoided being sent to death at Auschwitz by sheer luck.
At 18, he was one of many being transported on a cattle car packed with prisoners with no food, water and just one bucket to use as a toilet.
“The smell was unfathomable,” Mr Flescher said.
After six days on the train, the guards selected 300 men. Mr Flescher was number 298.
Those 300 men were taken off the train while the others continued to Auschwitz where they were all killed.
“I will never forget the number 298.”
Day-to-day life in concentration camps
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*Warning - graphic post*
It's stories like this that make me so furious when people use the word 'Nazi' in a flippant sense, or in any sense at all to describe someone who wasn't actually goose stepping all over Europe. Breastfeeding Nazi. Grammar Nazi. And (my favourite), feminazi.
Nazis were people who tortured and murdered millions of people with the hope of exterminating all those who didn't meet their Aryan agenda. My grandfather was one of those who was imprisoned (though not because he was Jewish, but because he was a member of the resistance in Holland). He told me about how he was forced to watch a prisoner be torn apart by a German Shepherd. How he had to sit in on interrogations where prisoners were tortured for information - being good with languages he had to interpret for the Germans.
Nazis aren't anything other than those people. They're not women who are a bit too pro breastfeeding, to the detriment of mothers. They're not people like me who really want to see apostrophes placed correctly. They're not feminists who may be more strident than others are comfortable with (although these days the word feminazi can be thrown in the face of any woman who dares to question the gender status quo).
Mr Flescher shows in his AMA what real Nazis are. I thank him for his candour, and am genuinely glad that he survived the Holocaust.
I had a friend in high school in Year 7 and I used to go over to his place and hang out. His Dad had a number tattooed (he had an elderly Dad) which I thought was weird at the time. He was a intimidatingly serious dude, so I never asked its meaning.
It was not until some years later, after changing high schools and dropping out of contact with my friend, did I realise what that number tattoo entailed and why his father was a such a sombre man. The things he'd survived and seen. I wonder how much of his experiences he related to his children.
This reminds me of a post I read on here a few months back after Shane Warnes daughter attending that party where someone dressed as a Nazi. Someone commented that they couldn't understand why it was a big deal, and that it was funny. I don't think there is anything remotely funny about the torture of innocent people. I too, cannot stand when people throw the term around so loosely.