Well the term atheist wasn't created until scientific beliefs and alchemy started to form. Basically cave men did not necessarily believe anything. When people started wondering how the earth was created, they resorted to religion, for they had no logical explanations like the big bang theory.
So technically you could say atheism came first or religion.
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.