You do not need to hire someone where you are. You need to hire somewhere where the research needs to be done, usually wherever the family lived during the time period for which the most research is needed. I can do some research using online databases, and have been hired to do so in the past, but if you need research that cannot be done online, then you need someone where the records to be researched are.
More.
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.