Verify that you're using the event dispatch thread correctly. The debugger sometimes slows things down just enough to expose such anomalies.
Maybe the problem is that you have an empty JPanel, I mean, you have to use frame. SetLayout(new GridLayout(1, 1)); //also in the initComponents method. Can you show both initComponents(); methods?
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.