Yes provided you prime first with a stain killer such as kills, a light sanding before the primer would also help,instead of sanding you could wipe the surface with liquid sandpaper.
Speaking as an artist you shouldn't paint acrylics over the top of oils as this will lead the oil paint to possibly crack as it takes a lot longer to dry than acrylic. However, I guess it might be different with paints used on furniture but personally I wouldn't risk it - I would try and sand down the old paint first to get most of it off.
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.