My gerbil Spice died of a stroke at around 1 year old. She died suddenly and ended up on her side with her legs stretched unnaturally, which sounds like what you're describing. Sounds weird, but I buried her in an old spice jar.
And sadly, yes, they can die from a broken heart. This happened to Spice's twin Sugi, but after the loss of her lifelong mate, not Spice.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.