Just a thought, but you could invert (xor) over the item without making the tree into an owner-draw control. I think it works something like the following.
Have a timer toggle the state of the blinking nodes, i.e.
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.