Tonight when PSV host Inter in the Champions League in front of a sold-out Philips stadium except for one seat that will be empty.
The seat in question will be in section D, number 43 of the 22nd row. That seat has since 2005 been eternally reserved for Frits Philips, son of the co-founder of the Philips cooperation.
Milano based newspaper Corriere della Sera explains why and who Frits Philips was: “Frits was a PSV fan and at 5 years of age, in 1911, he kicked off the game that opened the stadium exactly where it lies today, and for the rest of his life he came back and watched his beloved PSV. Where? Together with the rest of the fans, although he did not lack the means to buy the best seats in the arena.”
The newspaper continues: “Mr Philips, who passed away on December 5th 2006 at the age of 100, was a relative of Karl Marx, the economy-philosopher was in fact the cousin of his grandfather Frederik, but Frederik’s place in history was due to the fact that he, during World War II convinced the Germans that the 382 Hebrew factory workers employed by him were needed for the production (something Hitler was using), thereby saving them from the Holocaust. For this he was awarded the prize “Righteous Among The Nations”, by Israel. An award reserved for non-Jews who has saved even one person from the Holocaust.”
