What you can do is convert both of your dates to Unix epoch times, that is, the equivalent number of seconds since midnight on the 31st of December 1969. From that you can easily deduce the amount of time elapsed between the two dates. To do this you can either use mktime() or strtotime().
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.