What was going on when I was born?

Chancellor Helmut Kohl, at a ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, said today that he accepted Germany's ''historical responsibility for the crimes of the Nazi tyranny.'' Standing beside a looming stone obelisk on the site of the Nazi camp where more than 50,000 people died, the Chancellor declared: ''This responsibility is reflected not least in never- ending shame. We shall not let anything to do with this be falsified or made light of.'' The Chancellor gave his speech - one of the most forthright and unflinching a West German leader has made about the Hitler era - surrounded by senior political figures, ambassadors, local people and survivors of the camp. The survivors had made emotionally painful pilgrimages here from Israel, the United States and other countries.

An Israeli gunboat sank an Arab ''terrorist vessel'' with 28 people aboard in an exchange of fire off the Israeli coast Saturday night, a military spokesman announced early today. Eight Arabs were captured, one body was recovered and 19 people were missing and presumed drowned, according to a communique.

For a business whose fortunes once seemed boundless, the long-distance telephone industry has reported its share of disturbing news recently. The GTE Sprint Communications Corporation has closed more than two dozen sales offices, Allnet Communication Services Inc. has furloughed about 15 percent of its work force and Satellite Business Systems has said it continues to lose money after 10 years of existence. The MCI Communications Corporation, although profitable, has gone through a number of wrenching changes, including an overhaul of its marketing program and a dispute leading to the resignation of its top marketing executive, Edward W. Carter. Now the long-distance companies have suffered yet another setback. On Wednesday the American Telephone and Telegraph Company said it would seek to cut prices on its long-distance telephone service by 5.6 percent.

AFTER dinner one evening during the 1963 Masters tournament, Gene Sarazen phoned the Augusta National Golf Club to learn his tee time for the next day's round. After he hung up, the golfer whose double-eagle 2 had put the Masters on the map in 1935 turned to his friend Fred Raphael and smiled. ''Tomorrow,'' he said, ''the old legend Gene Sarazen is playing with the new legend Arnold Palmer.'' Although the Legends of Golf tournament was not born until 1978, it was conceived that evening by Gene Sarazen's remark. And as the eighth Legends awaits Thursday's opening round at Onion Creek in Austin, Tex., it is credited with having inspired one of the sports phenomena of the '80s - the Senior PGA Tour. With 27 tournaments worth $6 million in prize money this year, the Senior PGA Tour has provided a mulligan in life for dozens of golf's touring pros of an earlier era.

New York State court officials intend to reorganize the way judges are assigned criminal and civil cases in an effort to speed dispositions, better measure judicial productivity and hold lawyers and prosecutors more accountable. Cases now are often disposed of piecemeal. They bounce to different sets of courtrooms, which are designated to handle particular legal procedures such as motions or trials - each presided over by different judges. To relieve caseloads elsewhere and to spread work and experience, the judges assigned to those courtrooms, or ''parts,'' are rotated, too. Switch Planned This Year Under the new approach cases would generally be handled by one judge from start to finish within each level of the court system.

The Brazilian President-elect, Tancredo Neves, died tonight from complications following intestinal surgery that had prevented him from taking office as the country's first civilian ruler in 21 years. He was 75 years old. The Vice President, Jose Sarney, who was sworn in as acting President in place of Mr. Neves on March 15, automatically became President tonight, although many politicians believe that new elections may be held within two years.

They came to renew their faith, to hold out their arms, to reach down into their souls for the voice of the Spirit that they felt rested within them. About 6,000 Roman Catholics gathered at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum this weekend to celebrate their charismatic renewal - a return to a fundamental, spiritual expression of the Gospel. ''Charismatic Catholicism refers to a recognition of the Holy Spirit's presence in the world,'' said Bishop John McGann, head of the Rockville Centre Diocese on Long Island and a concelebrant of the mass today at the Tri-Diocesan Catholic Charismatic Conference. ''In the Catholic Church, we have always had the sacrament of confirmation. But what we have here is a new emphasis on basic recognition of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.''

Donald Shay's father is retired now. Donald's little sister has two young children of her own. His fiancee finally married someone else. And Donald's mother doesn't bake his favorite apple pie much anymore; the good smell brings back too many bad memories. Mr. Shay doesn't know any of this. And he may never know. In fact, his family may never know where he is, or where he was when he died, if he died. For Mr. Shay is one of 2,477 Americans still missing in action from the Vietnam War. Ten years after the fall of Saigon and 15 years after that smiling, 24-year-old lacrosse player flew off a radar screen into his family's memory somewhere over Indochina, no one knows for sure what happened to any of the missing Americans.

Corporate profits in the first quarter, mirroring the weak 1.3 percent economic growth rate figure released by the Commerce Department last week, generally appear to be disappointing, according to economists. ''Earnings are not shaping up to be anything close to robust at all,'' said Robert A. Gough, a senior vice president at Data Resources Inc., an economic consulting firm. ''Earnings in toto will probably be flat for the first quarter.'' Analysts said the weakness in profit growth for the first three months of the year was not unexpected in light of the surprisingly low 1.3 percent annualized growth rate in the nation's gross national product - the total output of goods and services - reported by the Government for the first quarter last Thursday. It was the smallest increase in G.N.P. since the recovery began in late 1982.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz declared today that Arab leaders were prolonging the suffering of Palestinians by not supporting direct negotiations between Israel and Jordan. ''How ironic and tragic it is,'' he said, ''that those who claim to act on behalf of the Palestinians have continued to block negotiations - the only course that can achieve a just settlement for the Palestinians.'' With Richard W. Murphy Jr., the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, arriving in Syria today as part of his two- week trip Middle East trip, Mr. Shultz said recent statements by King Hussein of Jordan and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt had been encouraging. Praise Mixed With Annoyance ''Today, for the first time in years,'' he said, ''there are signs of a new realism and a new commitment on the part of key regional actors.''

''Reconciliation with the survivors and descendants of the victims is only possible if we accept our history as it really was, if we Germans acknowledge our shame and our historical responsibility, and if we perceive the need to act against any efforts at undermining human freedom and dignity.'' - Chancellor Helmut Kohl at the site of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. (A8:2-3.)

A picture caption in Business Day Saturday accompanying an article on a recession in Saudi Arabia misidentified an airport. It was King Fahd International Airport in Riyadh.