If no one has fire arms, self defense is all theoretical, anyway.
I think that there are a number of reasons for this. First off, I think that there was a belief that people are basicly good, and that the terrible things that the Jews and other "undesirables" were suffering would end in time. They wanted to believe that they were being "relocated." There was also the belief, especially in Germany, that these Jews were first and formost, good Germans! The "Reform Judaism" movement began there, and one of the things that Reform Jews are known for is assimilation with the local people. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing. What I mean is that they want to "blend in," as opposed to "standing out," as the Orthodox sects tend to do.
It was only when they realized that they were going to die that SOME Jews fought back. Either through partisan groups, the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, or the revolt at the Treblinka concentration camp.
But most, as I believe would be the case with most people, didn't fight back.
Mark
Good points - I was also thinking that many Jews were identifying themselves as Germans first, and didn't imagine that the government would exterminate them for that reason.
And people have a tendency to want to think the best of a situation - rose colored glasses, and all that. "No! It couln't possibly be *that* bad!"
As in "there couldn't possibly be another bad terrorist attack".