Well I used to attend christmas parties but I wasn't exactly celebrating it, or doing anything unislamic, but those parties were a lot of fun and there is no harm joining in with someone during their celebration :) Just like you can invite a non muslim over for eid, they aren't celebrating eid with our intent but they join in on the party/gathering.
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.