Ute Bock facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ute Bock
Born	27 June 1942  Linz
Died	18 January 2018  (aged 75) Vienna

Ute Bock (born June 27, 1942 – died January 19, 2018) was an amazing Austrian teacher. She became famous for her projects that helped people seeking safety in a new country. These people are called asylum seekers.

Early Life and Career

Ute Bock was born in Linz, a city in Austria. After she finished high school, she applied for a job in Vienna. She started working as an educator, which means she helped teach and guide young people.

From 1962 to 1969, she worked at a school in Vienna. Later, she began working at the Zohmanngasse youth care center. This center was in the Favoriten area of Vienna. In 1976, she became the director of this center.

Helping Asylum Seekers

In the early 1990s, more and more young people from other countries came to Ute Bock's center. Many of them were seeking asylum. This meant they were looking for a safe place to live because they couldn't stay in their home countries. Other schools had turned them away.

Ute Bock saw their need and started to help them. She became very involved in humanitarian work. This means she worked to improve the lives of others.

At one point, she faced difficulties because of her work. She was not allowed to house some of the young people in her center. But Ute Bock did not give up. She found a new way to help. She organized private homes for these young people. She used her own money and time to make sure they had a place to stay.

Founding Her Own Organization

In 2000, Ute Bock retired from her job at the center. But she kept working on her project to help asylum seekers. In 2002, she started her own non-profit organization (NGO). An NGO is a group that works for a cause, not for profit. Her organization was called Flüchtlingsprojekt Ute Bock, which means "refugee project Ute Bock."

Her organization helped many people. Over 350 asylum seekers found homes in apartments that Ute Bock arranged. Another 1,000 homeless asylum seekers used her NGO's address for their mail. She also made sure they could get legal advice. This helped them understand their rights and the rules for staying in Austria.

Support and Recognition

Ute Bock's NGO relied on donations from people who wanted to help. In Vienna, a special campaign called Bock auf Bier was started. This campaign helped raise money for her projects. A small part of the price of a beer was given to Ute Bock's housing projects. The name Bock auf Bier is a fun play on words. It sounds like "Wanting a beer," but "Bock Beer" is also a type of strong beer.

In 2012, the president of Austria, Heinz Fischer, gave Ute Bock a very special award. It was the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria. This is Austria's highest national award. It showed how much her country appreciated her work.

In December 2013, Ute Bock became ill. She was not able to be as active as before. This caused some money problems for her NGO. Some apartments could not be paid for, and some asylum seekers had to move. But Ute Bock started working again in 2014 to help raise more donations. She passed away in Vienna in 2018, at the age of 75.

Movies About Ute Bock

Ute Bock's inspiring work led to two films being made about her:

• The documentary Bock for President was released in 2019. A documentary is a film that tells a true story. This film was first shown during student protests in Austria in 2009. It officially premiered at the Vienna International Film Festival.
• In November 2010, a feature film called Die verrückte Welt der Ute Bock (The crazy world of Ute Bock) was released. This type of film tells a story with actors. It was directed by Houchang Allahyari. Many famous actors were in the movie, including Josef Hader and Karl Markovics. The film showed Ute Bock's work and the stories of people she met.

Awards and Honors

Ute Bock received many awards for her dedication to helping others:

• 1999: Ute Bock Award for Moral Courage
• 2000: UNHCR-Refugee-Award
• 2002: Bruno Kreisky Award
• 2003: Karl Renner Prize and Greinecker Seniorenpreis
• 2005: She was chosen as one of five Austrian women for the Peace Women Across the Globe 2007 project.
• 2007: International Human Award
• 2012: Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria

Publications

• With Cornelia Krebs (editor): Ute Bock. Die Geschichte einer Flüchtlingshelferin. Vienna: Molden, 2010, ISBN: 978-3-85485-268-1. This book tells the story of Ute Bock and her work helping refugees.

Images for kids

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See also

In Spanish: Ute Bock para niños