The official order for the creation of the Ghetto was issued on April 9, 1941 by Stabshauptmann Richard Wendler. In addition to Jews from Częstochowa, more Jews were being brought in from nearby towns and villages including Krzepice, Olsztyn, Mstów, Janów, Przyrów, as well as hundreds of expellees from Polish lands annexed into the Reich at the beginning of war, mostly from Płock and Łódź. The ghetto inhabitants were forced to work as slave labor in the armaments industry, majority in the expanded Polish foundry "Metalurgia" located on Krotka Street (which had been taken over by the German manufacturer HASAG), as well as in other local factories or workshops.