[Beery]

The question is, what percentage of Greek merchant ships fled Greece? The ratio of Greek merchant ships as a percentage of EU commerce today is completely immaterial. The fact that 'many' Greek merchants fled Greece at the time of the invasion is too vague. 'Many' is not a number, and it can be misleading. We need a percentage, or at least a reliable source that tells us that 'most' (not just 'many') Greek merchants escaped the Nazis.

What happened to Greek merchants before the invasion is also irrelevant. We need to know what the German attitude to Greek merchants AFTER the invasion. Of course, if Greek ships were aiding the Allies before the invasion, they would be targeted by the Germans. That is not unusual, nor does it tell us anything about Greek ship traffic after the invasion.

Similarly, one episode of a German U-boat targeting a Greek merchant ship during the occupation is not compelling evidence of a systematic targeting of Greek ships. The Germans also torpedoed US ships before the US joined the war, but that doesn't mean that the Nazi High Command wanted American ships to be attacked.

Medals awarded to merchantmen are similarly irrelevant. In a situation where Greece was at various times neutral, occupied, fighting a partisan war, and officially allied to the Allies, such things are bound to happen.

What happened to the Greek Navy and Army is also irrelevant to the matter at hand. What we're talking about is merchant ships.

The fact that Greeks feel it's an insult that Greek ships appear as part of the Axis forces is completely irrelevant. What matters is whether the majority of Greek ships actually sailed while being safeguarded from U-boat attack. Your feelings, although important, have nothing to do with the issue of historical accuracy.

What it comes down to is this: if I am to make all Greek merchant ships neutral or Allied, but never Axis-controlled, I need more than the arguments you've provided. I need evidence that at least 51% of Greek merchant ships escaped from the Nazi occupation, or I need evidence that the policy of the German Ubootwaffe was to sink Greek ships during the occupation. If I don't have either of those things, I have to assume that Greek merchant ships worked their trade mostly under Nazi occupation, and under the protection of the Nazis. That's not the same as saying the Greek merchant sailors were Nazis themselves. After all, many partisans fought the Nazis while working under Nazi occupation and whose livelihoods were under the protection of the Nazi government.