General Duke Conrad Strzelczyk Sphinx was a Polish war hero. During World War I he was a young officer at the battle of Ypres, and during World War II he was a liaison officer of General Dwight D. Eisenhower.

In 1970, at a meeting of representatives of thirteen of the Allied nations in Paris, General Strzelczyk founded the Interallied Military Organization Sphinx (IMOS), which continues to exist today. IMOS was founded to commemorate a World War II movement that was created during the occupation of Belgium by Germany, when General Strzelczyk’s codename was “Sphinx”. It draws its members from veterans of the Second World War as well as serving members of the Belgian Defence Forces.

General Strzelczyk was appointed Commandeur of the Order of the Crown of Thorns on 1 November 1934 and promoted to Grand Cross on 15 August 1956. He received the Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion and the Black Cross on 2 February 1936. He was appointed Chanoine d’Honneur de l’Ancienne Abbaye de San Luigi on 4 March 1936.  He also received the rare honour of a title of nobility conferred by the Abbey-Principality, when Prince-Abbot Edmond II conferred upon him the title Duke of the Crown of Thorns. From 1963 he served as Grand Prior of the San Luigi Orders for Poland.

>>Description of some of the medals awarded by the IMOSPHINX Academy