A Russian-born activist who protested against the Nazi regime in Germany during World War II has been canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.

Alexander Shmorel was a member of the White Rose organization, a nonviolent resistance group consisting mostly of Munich University students that distributed leaflets with anti-Nazi messages beginning in June 1942. The publications called Hitler a liar and drew attention to the hardships of Jews under the Nazi regime.

"We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will not leave you in peace!" one of the leaflets said.

The group's activity was stopped by Nazi police in February 1943, and Shmorel was imprisoned and later put to death for his participation in the group.

Shmorel was born in 1917 in Orenburg, Russia, and his family, which raised him as a member of the Russian Orthodox Church, moved to Munich in 1921.

The canonization ceremony took place on Sunday at a church in Munich, where Shmorel is buried.