Lea Niako (1908-1945), real name Maria Kruse. Was a German actress and ballerina.

She worked within the choreographic movement called nackttanz , in which its protagonists sometimes came to act practically naked before the public, which has been interpreted by some researchers as a “gesture of emancipation
During a private party held at the end of February 1934 he was arrested together with the agent and officer of the Army of the Second Polish Republic Jurik von Sosnowski (1896-c. 1942 ) with whom he had had a certain romantic relationship since the previous year.

Niako was rehabilitated for the German secret service thanks to the offer of the leader of the SS Walter Schellenberg and the consequent approval of the then director of the Gestapo Reinhard Heydrich.​

Be that as it may, since the fall of Berlin in May 1945 there was no news of the artist -who was around 37 years of age at that time-, which triggered the most varied speculations (many of which pointed to the possibility of having suffered a violent death).

She was known for her work on La carta (1931), Zwischen Hamburg und Haiti (1940) and Carl Peters (1941).
Many of her photos were taken by Atelier Willinger (photographer Laszlo Willinger)