Surviving the Holocaust with Type 1 diabetes

" To the best of my knowledge, I am the only

diabetic who survived years of imprisonment

in German concentration camps. This is my story "

The above words are the beginning of Ernest Sterzer memoirs written over a dozen pages that can be read in entirety at Dlife .

Ernest was born in Vienna, Austria on April 28^th, 1925 and diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 3.

His family were taken eventually to Auschwitz in Poland, and luckily able to bring some of their belongings.  In a small case around his neck, he brought his syringe, needles, and six bottles of insulin.

During his travels by train, they were lost.

What follows after that, makes my complaints of having to use glass syringe, and a needle sharpened on a stone  in the 1980’s seem like a luxury when I returned to the UK for awhile. 

I won't reveal much more than this, but I hope you take the time to read his words.