Lions were actually fairly well known in Europe. The Romans had imported them from India and Africa for the games in the Coloseum. Some games with gladiators were held in many places in Europe, not just Rome.
Pictures and descriptions were passed around. Many encountered lions and pictures of them while on the Crusades in the Middle East. Furthermore there were lions in some parts of southern Europe until the IIIrd Century B.C.
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.