The translation is below, the most interesting part as far as K98k are concerned is:
"Further significant savings must be achieved by lowering all other excessive requirements. Above all, the acceptance conditions must be relaxed wherever the tolerances required so far go beyond what is absolutely necessary for the intended use of the device individually or as a whole."
In German: "Weitere ins Gewicht fallende Ersparnisse müssen erreicht werden durch eine Herabsetzung aller sonst noch vorhandenen überspannten Anforderungen. So sind vor allem die Abnahmebedingungen überall dort zu lockern, wo die bisher geforderten Toleranzen über das für den Verwendungszweck des Gerätes im einzelnen oder im gesamten unbedingt erforderliche Maß hinausgehen."
The full decree:
Simplification and increase in the performance of our armaments production
The current and upcoming war and economic situation require the systematic combination of all forces of construction and production in order to carry out the armaments tasks I have ordered. A further increase of our armaments by pure measures of allocating workers is - except through meaningful involvement of remaining European production capacities, either to produce defence equipment itself or to relieve our own industry through the production of generally indispensable basic consumer items - achievable in Germany only through the additional use of prisoners of war. In addition, an increased supply of raw materials is, at least initially, still very tight.
The necessary increases in the performance of our weapons and equipment production must therefore be achieved:
1) by an adjustment going into the details of the design of our weapons and equipment for the purposes of enabling a sustainable mass production on modern standards and the rationalization of our production methods which could be achieved separately;
2) by the allocation and concentration of orders to the companies which are respectively the best equipped and operating most economically for their assigned purpose;
3) by building new factories - if necessary - with an exclusive restriction to a single military device that can best be manufactured by mass production .
The recent requirements of the Wehrmacht’s departments of the various weapons and equipment have their origin in a smaller Wehrmacht and a lower wear and tear; it was also required technically and aesthetically perfect equipment of the best craftsmanship. The design elements and manufacturing methods therefore corresponded to these aspects. In contrast, the necessary conversion to mass production requires a fundamental change in that the designs are adjusted to mass production and the manufacturing methods are set up accordingly.
It is therefore our duty to check and correct even the design elements of our weapons and equipment and correct them so that they are suited to the production with substantially simplified fabrication methods. It shall thus lead to a simplification of working methods both as a whole and in details and through that to savings of raw materials, qualified workforce and time. This requires a strict inspection of the individual weapons and devices with regard to the materials available to us, the reasonably expected use and the simplest shape that is fit for purpose.
Further significant savings must be achieved by lowering all other excessive requirements. Above all, the acceptance conditions must be relaxed wherever the tolerances required so far go beyond what is absolutely necessary for the intended use of the device individually or as a whole.
Basically, the fitness for purpose, the ease of manufacture, as well as the saving of materials are to be given priority over the aesthetics which are not a reasonable thing at war or other exaggerated requirements not needed by wartime use.
Finally, each existing device, albeit in modest and in an even less powerful version is better than a non-executable ideal solution that will result in major supply needs and limit our raw materials and workforce.
The working groups set up by the Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition, as well as the industrial rings of the Luftwaffe, have already been given the task of increasing the output of certain weapons and devices by simplifying the designs and thereby increasing the rationalization of production. The work started here is to be expanded further and to include all other military equipment, especially general Wehrmacht equipment, which has not yet been subjected to such an inspection.
I therefore order:
I. The branches of the Wehrmacht have to check weapons and equipment with the present demands so that:
1.) the technical requirements are limited to performances that will be enough for a use on the battlefield;
2.) the demands on the appearance, durability and fittings are determined by the needs of war;
3.) to concentrate the total production on the items that are indispensable for the warfare and to relieve any further demands.
II. To meet the demands on simplified production, production experts are to be involved at the development stage of weapons and equipment.
III. All companies manufacturing military equipment as well as similar businesses and qualified technicians are asked for suggestions in an appropriate form to make such production improvements that will cover primarily the following topics:
1.) Removal of obvious technical deficiencies and weaknesses of designs previously existing, about to be launched or being processed;
2.) Simplification to the utmost of the individual design elements in favour of a light processing mode suitable for mass production;
3.) Utmost generalisation of the standardization for all individual parts, provided that this does not impair the effectiveness and usefulness of the individual weapons and devices;
4.) Avoidance of exaggerated demands that prevent the current production to run as fast as possible;
5.) Remediation of such excessive manufacturing requirements and acceptance conditions, especially in tolerances for parts of weapons and devices, which can be in this regard more generously accepted without difficulty.
But especially:
Suggestions for saving manpower by abandoning excessive, more visual than useful, non-essential finally revised design parts of weapons and implements.
These suggestions are to be followed massively. At the same time, however, an attempt should be made under all circumstances to ensure that the effectiveness and usability of the weapons and the military equipment are not impaired as a result, insofar as this could result in important or even combat-decisive disadvantages.
Implementation regulations are issued in mutual agreement for the military sector by the High Command of the Wehrmacht, in the manufacturing sector the Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition in consultation with the Wehrmacht section involved.
The Chief of the High Command of the Wehrmacht and the Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition report to me continuously about the current results.
Signed, Adolf Hitler
