By Peace Hero Museum Vienna
Ute Bock was an Austrian philanthropist, educator and the founder of ‘Refugee Project Ute Bock’. She is known as ‘Mama Bock’ because of her efforts in helping refugees and asylum seekers. She was born in 1942 in Linz, Upper Austria, and died in 2018, in Vienna.
Ute Bock started working in a center for refugees in Vienna in 1969 and become the Director of the center in 1976. She helped refugees from Yugoslavia and Africa by providing shelter and education.
After retiring in 2000, she spent all of her time working with refugees. She established the Refugee Project Ute Bock on May 21, 2002, to provide accommodation and help refugees integrate in Vienna.
Since 2011, the Ute Bock Club has turned into a dormitory. In 2012 the club moved to an apartment, where Ute Bock herself lived. Currently, the Ute Bock House accommodates hundreds of refugees. Also, the center provides legal advice, counseling services, and mailing addresses for more than a thousand refugees. The association is now supported by the Municipal Council of Vienna.
She has received several national and international awards, including the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Refugee Award in 2000, the Bruno Kresky Award in 2002, the International Human Award in 2003, Prize of Austrian Red Cross in 2004, World Human Award in 2007, and the Golden Merit Sign of the Republic of Austria in 2012. Two films, “Bock for President” in 2009, and “The Crazy World of Ute Bock” in 2010, were produced about her.