Are there any circumstances in which locked-in funds can be withdrawn as a lump sum payment (i.e. hardship or shortened life expectancy, commutation of small amounts of pension benefit credits)?

No one has the authority to grant an exception to the locking-in rule regardless of the circumstances, including financial hardship.

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.