Try looking at foreign names (either people or places) You could look at old Roman place names, or Greek names, or Turkish, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Russian etc etc. If you have a feel for the place/person, you can just decide if you think it fits in Italian culture or something, and then just google some random names. (I really like Japanese, so I would start there, but that is up to you) Also, you might create own names. If you think of the character you're creating, just think of some sounds that pop into your mind that you associate with him/her.
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.