Vasilios Patsios grew up in Greece during WWII. Since his village was occupied by the Nazis, he was forced to experience horrible atrocities on a regular basis. In addition to the violence, his family was poor and he had no chance of getting a better education. Vasilios worked as a tailor's apprentice to pay the bills. There was also a general lack of opportunity in Greece because his village and many others were completely decimated by the Nazis. Due to these factors, he left his homeland and immigrated to the United States.