Show her a good article about it , its probably very difficult to explain verbally especially since you will probably be kind of anxious and emotional. Just tell her you are , give her the article and tell her that you want to talk about it when she is done. However don't be surprised if she reacts with something like: Sorry but to me that just means you are a member of one sex that doesn't let societies norms influence him or her as much.
I mean no matter how good the article or your explanation is people will have their own ideas and I of course don't know your mother. I mean some people just deal very poorly with info like this, and some people just have their own perspectives.
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.