Nicolae Cristea (communist)

During the Great Depression he participated in the protests organized by the Romanian Communist Party in Bucharest, afterwards being forced by the Siguranța (Romania's secret police) to move back to his native town.

In December 1937, during the latter confrontation, his leg was injured, but Cristea refused to be hospitalized, deciding instead to remain present on the battlefield.

Along with Joseph Boczov, Mihail Patriciu and other Romanians, he escaped the latter camp on 28 March 1941, after the onset of German occupation.

On 16 October 1942, he — along with other two Romanian volunteers —, attacked a group of German pilots who were taking part in a military exercise in Montrouge, near Paris, making use of hand grenades.

Arrested by the Gestapo on 19 October 1942, Cristea was executed in March 1943 at Fort Mont-Valérien, after months of torture in the Fresnes prison.