>>And they actually had the advantage of not really having to actually pay for their own production. They just had to make their people survive - there wasn't any need for any weapons manufacturer to make any money, it's all within the family (aka state), and profit wasn't anywhere on the horizon, and wasn't actually needed as motivation - Hitler gave them all the incentive they needed.
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>If Hitler was providing all the incentive why did the NKVD work so hard to keep people motivated?

It depends which people. Ordinary Pyotr Petrovich went to work simply because he feared the Germans more, because there was food in the factory when it couldn't be found anywhere else, and a few other basic things.

The specialized workers - engineers, precise mechanics etc - probably felt they had some bargaining power and tried to gain some position (maybe even regular meals, with weekly steak, who knows). NKVD probably felt some disillusioning was in order.