Introduction: humanitarian memories in German–American relations

Setting the stage for the special section, this introduction suggests that humanitarian memories have been important for transatlantic relations after the Second World War. It is only in recent years that historians have begun to pay attention to the history of memories, heritages, and public histories across the Atlantic. By placing this emerging scholarship in conversation with studies of humanitarianism and foreign relations, the introduction shows that a look at humanitarian memories opens up new critical insight about the relationships between transnational humanitarianism and memory, the changing forms of German and U.S. memory cultures, and the forming of humanitarian imaginaries in Germany and the USA.