It's a lot scarier looking than it is... 'sz' and 'cz' are both phonemes, somewhat similar in sound to the English 'sh'. Still not easy to pronounce, sure.
No, it comes from a common Slavic root of unclear origin chet- or shet- with meanings, in various languages, of "comb", "picket fence", "bristle", "fir needles", etc.
For non-Polish Slavic speakers Polish is not difficult to pronounce, just funny. It's very soft sounding and even normal words often have forms that would be diminutive in other Slavic language. So everything sounds like a baby talk.
It's Szczecin, and it's not entirely impossible to pronounce, but it does require practice. The inital szcz is pronounced about the same way as sh ch in fresh cheese.
Aaargh! I had a sinking feeling I had it wrong, should have checked the map. It's a border town between Poland and Germany, I've crossed that border quite a few times and I still can't remember the spelling... Polish is hard for foreigners!
Polish has some of the best tongue breakers in the world, there is the word for toothbrush that I won't even try to spell because I'll mess it up.