Nicolae Dabija (soldier)

Major Nicolae Dabija (born April 13, 1907 or April 18, 1907; died October 28, 1949), knight of Order of Michael the Brave, was an officer of the Romanian Royal Army and a member of the anticommunist armed resistance in Romania. He was the leader of the resistance group The National Defense Front - The Haiduc Corps.

During World War II, he served as an officer in the Romanian Army, participating in the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, commanding 5th Company/38th Infantry Regiment from the 10th Infantry Division. He distinguished himself on the Eastern Front, notably at the Taman bridgehead, and he was awarded the Order of Michael the Brave, 3rd class, and the German Cross in Gold.

The Romanian authorities learned about the location of this fighter after an arrested rebel revealed their location on Muntele Mare and their strength. On March 4, 1949. Security forces led by Colonel Mihai Patriciu charged the peak where the fighters were located, with a gunfight and later hand-to-hand combat occurring but many anticommunist fighters escaped. The Security forces suffered three deaths and three others wounded. Dabija was arrested on March 22, 1949 after a local villager, whose barn he was sleeping in, notified the communist authorities of his presence. All partisans and their aids were captured. They were subject to inquiries in Turda, Bucharest and in Sibiu. Later they were tried and convicted - sentence no. 816 / October 4th, 1949 of Military Tribunal of Sibiu.

On October 28, 1949, seven members of the group: Titus Onea, Ioan Scridon, Gheorghe Oprița, Traian Mihălțan, Augustin Rațiu, Silvestru Bolfea and Nicolae Dabija, were executed in Sibiu.