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. Sources disagree on the exact date of his death: either the 9th,Philippe Ganier-Raymond, El cartel rojo, Txalaparta, 2008, p. 93 the 10th,Victor Stănculescu, Constantin Ucrain. Istoria artileriei române în date. Editura Ştiinţifică şi Enciclopedică, Bucharest, 1988. p. 130 or the 13th.Valter Roman. Evocări. p 107Nicolae Balint. Un mureșean... Upon the end of World War II, he was posthumously promoted a Lieutenant-Colonel of the Romanian Army.
