WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Hundreds of Poles have gathered in Warsaw to express their solidarity with Jews who perished in the Holocaust, were expelled from Poland 50 years ago or feel targeted by a new wave of anti-Semitism today.

Speakers at the demonstration denounced policies of the current Polish government that have led to a dispute with Israel and sparked a wave of anti-Semitic rhetoric.

They gathered late Sunday afternoon at the Gdanski train station, the departure point for thousands of Poles of Jewish descent who were forced to leave the country in March 1968 by the communist regime of the time.

The rally was part of a larger initiative by Polish civic groups that also published an open letter describing the government policies as "radical and inappropriate."