What Will Become of Us
by Karen Pecota

Frank Lowy is a Holocaust survivor who moved to Australia and over time built a thriving business empire. Lowy is the founder of the shopping mall giant Westfield. Documentary filmmaker Steven Cantor takes a walk down memory lane with Lowy, now in his late 80s and close to retirement, in What Will Become of Us, as he talks about his entrepreneurial beginnings with one Australian store that grew into a global, billion-dollar enterprise. Lowry explains the past and present events that molded him into the philanthropist, fighter and survivor he is today.

In order to understand Lowy's journey, Cantor follows him back to his early beginnings, revisiting the sites of his childhood and adulthood. Born into a Jewish family in 1930, Lowy lived in Slovakia from 1938–1943, and was often beaten because of his heritage. He lived in Budapest from 1943–1945, praying often and asking God, "Who will live and who will die? And, what will become of us?" He recalls his father crying out to God to keep the family alive. Through various circumstances, his father gave up his own life to save his family.

Though Lowy's success has been overwhelming, he is deeply aware of the challenges of the future for himself and his family. His story is one of amazing achievements despite being a product of the ghetto in Budapest and living as a refugee in Palestine. Lowy often says, "If you don't know here you've come from, then you don't know where you are going" when sharing life lessons or mentoring those his path crosses. Cantor gives the audience a genuine look at the impact one life has if one practices what one preaches.