He was born near Vienna, Austria to Artur and Gertrude Low (née Burger) who had a prosperous manufacturing business. He was educated in private schools in Switzerland and England. His father died in 1934. When Nazi Germany occupied Austria in 1938, Low's family — being Jewish — emigrated to the United States. In 1943, Low graduated from Forest Hills High School, Forest Hills, New York, and entered Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). He joined that college's Delta Phi fraternity. However, his college education was interrupted by the Second World War. From 1944 to 1946, he served in the United States Army. During his military service time, he became a naturalized American citizen, and legally changed his name to George Michael Low.