I hate to agree with NG but I would think that's it in a nutshell. Smells bring back memories. The smell of toffee apples may remind you of the time you went to the fair many years earlier.
Get rid of the cage and anything to do with your pet. Clean with disinfectant. When the smell is completely gone, you will stop remembering every day.
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.