It was more likely the pumping on the hand pump that did it for you.
Cranking for a minute or more is not good on your starter. The battery is big in these cars because when starting you are powering glow plugs and a starter that has to run a motor with compression that is much higher than a gas engine.
Sometimes they will self prime but the odds of this working are not real good.
Moral: Don't run out of fuel...
