Was the Nazi government practicing racism at the beginning of the 20th century?

Well, racism is the belief that characteristics and abilities can be attributed to people simply on the basis of their race and that some racial groups are superior to others. Racism and discrimination have been used as powerful weapons encouraging fear or hatred of others in times of conflict and war, and even during economic downturns. Racism is also a very touchy subject for some people, as issues concerning free speech and Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights come into play. Some people argue that talking about supporting racial discrimination and prejudice is just words and that free speech should allow such views to be aired without restriction. Others point out that these words can lead to some very dire and serious consequences, the Nazi government policies being one example.

From the institutionalized racism especially in colonial times, when racial beliefs were not considered something wrong, to recent times where the effects of neo-Nazism is still felt, Europe is a complex area with many cultures in a relatively small area of land that has seen many conflicts throughout history. Many of these conflicts have had trade, resources and comercial rivalry at their core, but national identities have often added fuel to some of these conflicts. Racism has also been used to justify exploitation.

In the century of total war, and the new millennium, Europe was seeing an alarming resurgence in xenophobia and racial hatred. In various places throughout Western Europe, in 2002, racist attacks and sentiments against both Arabs and Jews were rising. Earlier in 1998, in an area of Germany a right wing racist party was winning an unprecedented number of votes. In Italy, there were attempts to try and deal with the rise in undocumented immigrants from Tunisia. The reactions were being labeled by some as “openly racist”. Spain was seeing increased racial violence. The growing economy invites immigrants from North African countries, however, the poor conditions that immigrants have had to endure and the already racially charged region has led to friction and confrontations. In 1997, Human Rights Watch noted that the UK had one of the highest levels of racism and the problem was getting worse.

1) A long action in the past was interrupted by a shorter action (usually expressed in the Simple past).

Examples:
• The guests were having dinner when they heard a horrible scream.
• When the murder took place, she was hiding between the statues.
• The murder occurred while the guests were having dinner.

Notice that, in these cases, the time connector when is used with the simple past and the connector while is used with the past continuous.

2) A long action in the past was taking place or interrupted at a specific time.

Examples:
• She was hiding between the statues at the time of the murder.
• Last night at 6 pm, I was eating dinner.

3) Several actions are taking place at the same time in the past (“parallel actions”).

Examples:
• Detective Hercule Poirot was questioning a witness while Superintendent.
• Sugden was observing the crime scene.
• While Ellen was reading, Tim was watching the news.

4) Parallel actions in the past continuous are often used to describe the atmosphere of a particular time in the past.

Examples:
• When Hercule Poirot entered the carriage, the passengers were already waiting for him.
• Two men were sitting stern-faced at the table on the right, a woman was whispering something to her husband, and the maid was crying in a corner.

Look at the word order in the positive form:

Subject	I	She	We	They
Auxiliary To Be (Past Tense)	was	was	were	were
Verb + ING	watching	reading	playing	doing
Complement	T.V.	a book	in the park	the exam
When	when	when	when	when
Subject	the lights	her father	it	the principal
Verb (Past tense)	turned off.	called	started	arrived
Complement		her.	to rain.	to the classroom.