Sounds like its a point of difference for you so yes, its you being pretentious theres plenty I do thats out of the ordinary but those things don't become a point of conversation maybe, just maybe you should consider just what does motivate you in how you present yourself to the world youre not fooling me and I don't even know you.
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.