 In the 1990s, critical questions arose as to the role of Bertelsmann in the Third Reich.It was precipitated by a speech given by the chairman and chief executive officer, Thomas Middelhoff, on the occasion of his receiving the Vernon A. Walters Award 1998 in New York City.Thomas Middelhoff portrayed Bertelsmann as one of the few non-Jewish media companies shut down by the National Socialists because it allegedly published subversive literature.