I'm planning a sequel to Retribution which takes place during World War II. I like to plan out future scenes as if they were taking place in a movie. There will be a scene in the Retribution sequel where the characters learn of the fall of Paris and the Nazi occupation of France and in this scene, I imagine Pompeii by Bastille playing because the lyrics seem fitting.
"And the walls come tumbling down in the city that we love"- the fall of Paris
"Great clouds come over the hills bringing darkness from above"- the Nazi invasion and occupation
"But if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing changed at all. But if you close you eyes, does it almost feel we've been here before."
Many of the adults alive during WW2 would have been alive during, maybe even fought during, WW1. Trauma from the Great War made people try to appease the Third Reich in order to avoid another such blood bath. I imagine that when WW2 started, there was a feeling of "how could this happen again?"